Antoon Vrints

320,000 out of 360,000 mobilized Belgian soldiers survived the First World War. Once back home, these war veterans formed a powerful social movement that put significant pressure on the Belgian establishment. In this book, Martin Schoups and Antoon Vrints analyze the persistent political dynamism of the Belgian veterans.

Living through a military occupation also means living with the enemy. The contributions presented here examine this idea, in 1914-18 just as in 1939-45 or during the periods of 'leaving wars'; in France and Belgium just as in Poland, Central Africa, or Germany. Between dialogue and power struggles, occupiers and occupied alike adapted to a ...