Life, 1914-10-29 · page 21 of 44
Life — October 29, 1914 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes German military practices during World War I, specifically the use of captured civilians as human shields. The "Historical Fragment" text mockingly describes how German forces placed captured enemy women and children in front of their own soldiers—a tactic that apparently "worked so well" until supplies of captives ran low. The satire's dark humor lies in its deadpan presentation: the text ironically suggests German generals faced a "critical situation" when they exhausted their supply of civilian shields and had to rely on "ordinary and accepted implements of war" instead. The cartoon above depicts military officers observing this practice, while the photograph below ("Please Don't Hurt Him") shows a child, emphasizing the human cost of such tactics. This reflects contemporary Allied propaganda criticizing German military conduct, particularly during their invasion of Belgium and France, where documented atrocities against civilians occurred.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
I i Historical Fragment HE practice of placing captured women and children in front of our own soldiers having worked so well, ept possibly a few sentimen- everybody in the Fatherland, es talists, was naturally praising God. Then it was discovered that the women and children of the enemy were running low. It was quite obvious that, if they gave out altogether, there would be nothing with which to charge the enemy except the ordinary and accepted implements of war, unless possibly we used our own women and children, which was naturally not to be seriously considered. The generals in charge, however, having promised to do the best they could with such implements as they had, it was resolved to put a brave face on what by some might have been re- garded as a critical situation. “PLEASE DON’T HURT HIM” comicbooks.com