The Germans in the occupied zone

The lives of the occupying troops were organised behind the front. Every occupied town constituted a haven of peace for the occupier. In fact, the French and British were afraid of killing civilians and thereby encouraging a rapprochement between the occupiers and the occupied population. Lille was the most important town to be captured by the German armies. It received particular attention. This being the case, it was visited by the highest authorities of the German State, among them Kaiser Wilhelm II, King Louis III of Bavaria and his heir, Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, who commanded the Bavarian troops. Life was organised around the centre of the town, something of a haven of rest before the return to the front. There were theatres, concerts, community centres for soldiers, newspapers etc. The War also imposed its own trail of suffering. It was behind the front, in military hospitals, that the wounded were cared for. Fallen soldiers were sometimes buried in civilian cemeteries, as was the case in Lille where their graves are sited in a designated plot.