A century ago today, a tempest in a teapot occurred that echoes down to us today. It was a bell weather of monstrous events to come. In German it is called the Zabern Affair, in French, the Saverne Affair. A hot-headed 19 year old second lieutenant named Forstner spouted off disparagingly about the inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine, which had been occupied by his army, the Prussia army. (The occupation was agreed to in 1871, over the objections of Otto von Bismark, as a result of the victory of Prussia in the Franco-Prussian war. Bismark had foreseen that Prussian occupation of the province would lead, inevitably to the next war.)
After the story hit the papers, the German officer was given a slap on the wrist, fueling discontent among the populace and resulting in popular demonstrations. The German governors of the province demanded that the indiginous police force act to supress these peaceful demonstrations, a demand that was declined. On November 28th, a gathering outside an army barracks was illegally broken up by the German army. The silence fom Germany on the issue of her troops acting illegally in the occupied province was deafening.
On December 2nd, a second incident involving Forstner occurred. During military maneuvers, a local shoe maker couldn't restrain his laughter at the sight of the extravagantly dolled up Forstner in Prussian army dress. If you've ever seen a fully decked out Prussian officer of the time, you can surely sympathize with him. The enraged Foerster struck the shoe maker with the side of his saber and severely injured him. Forstner was adjudged by the military authority as having acted properly to defend the honor of the army.
Wikipedia for the Zabern/Saverne Affair
