Author: Lisa Kirchner, Institut für Geschichte (Department of History), Universität Wien (University of Vienna)

Abstract: »The violence of the First World War, conceptualised as a modern ‘people’s war’, sometimes extended to female civilians, including sexual violence. This article examines selected autobiographical accounts by soldiers and non-combatants of the Austro-Hungarian army. It argues that the authors did not completely obscure wartime sexual violence in their accounts. Sexual violence was addressed, but in specific literary configurations: the victims were female, embodying characteristics of purity and vulnerability, while the male aggressors were ‘othered’ and usually belonged to the enemy camp. The authors tended to portray themselves as uninvolved and sexually abstinent observers. Writing about sexual violence primarily served to construct and affirm morally upright versions of themselves. Such discursive mechanisms may have contributed to the fact that the perpetration of sexual violence by the Austro-Hungarian army during the First World War is still largely ignored in Austria today.« (Source: L'Homme)

Contents:

	1. Einleitung (p. 85)
	2. Geschlechterbilder und Berichte über sexuelle Kontakte (p. 90)
	3. Sexuelle Gewalt, Auslassungen und Ungewissheiten (p. 64)
	4. Fazit (p. 99)

Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of Austria / Austria-Hungary | Sex and the law: Wartime sexual violence | War: World War I / World War I crimes by Austria-Hungary