--- title: 'The Illustrated War News, 2 September 1914: "The Oxford of Belgium burnt by the German ''Huns''" (Louvain)' url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/iwn-louvain-huns-1914/ description: A full-page photograph of a town skyline under the headline 'The Oxford of Belgium burnt by the German "Huns"'. section: Collection --- [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) **Content note:** Wartime British caption labelling German troops 'Huns' and describing the burning of Louvain, over a photograph of the town's skyline. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) [![The Illustrated War News, 2 September 1914: "The Oxford of Belgium burnt by the German 'Huns'" (Louvain)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/iwn-louvain-huns-1914.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/iwn-louvain-huns-1914.jpg) # The Illustrated War News, 2 September 1914: "The Oxford of Belgium burnt by the German 'Huns'" (Louvain) A full-page photograph of a town skyline under the headline 'The Oxford of Belgium burnt by the German "Huns"'. The caption quotes the Kaiser's 'Gain a reputation like the Huns under Attila' and applies the label to German troops. Tells: the loaded label sits in the headline; the photograph shows roofs and spires with no visible fire damage, so the image does not itself show the burning the headline states. ## Text on the object Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked ``` THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, SEPT. 2, 1914.—27 THE OXFORD OF BELGIUM BURNT BY THE GERMAN "HUNS": LOUVAIN, "THE INTELLECTUAL METROPOLIS OF THE LOW COUNTRIES." An inconceivable act of vandalism has been committed by the Germans in Belgium, who have well acted up to the Kaiser's former advice: "Gain a reputation like the Huns under Attila." The beautiful old city of Louvain, "the Oxford of Belgium," was cleared of its population and given to the flames. A German guard at the entrance to the town, says the Belgian Foreign Secretary, fired on some German troops by mistake, and, to cover their blunder, the Germans pretended that some of the inhabitants had done it. The splendid church of St. Pierre, the University and other public buildings, were burnt. "Several notable citizens were shot. A town of 45,000 inhabitants, the intellectual metropolis of the Low Countries since the 15th century, is now . . . a heap of ashes."—[Photo. by C.N.] ``` Caption read from a 1600-pixel crop; the printed text is clear. The photograph itself carries no text. [← Breisgauer Zeitung, Telegramme: "Die französische Armee geschlagen" (The French army beaten), August 1914](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/breisgauer-zeitung-franzoesische-armee-geschlagen-1914/) [Политика (Politika), Belgrade, 6 September 1914: "Србија је победила!" (Serbia Has Won!) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/politika-6-september-1914/) ## Using the same techniques - [Passional Christi und Antichristi: the emperor kisses the pope's foot (leaf 'Antichristus')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/passional-christi-antichristi-emperor-kisses-pope-1521/) (Electoral Saxony · 1521 · Name-calling, Card stacking) - [Anacoana fut pendue sans raison (engraving in Le miroir de la cruelle et horrible tyrannie espagnole)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/anacoana-hanged-miroir-tyrannie-espagnole-1620/) (Dutch Republic · 1620 · Fear appeal, Name-calling). Content note: Engraving of a hanged, bare-breasted Taino woman, burning huts and people being killed by Spanish soldiers. - [Ondersoeckt de Geesten, ofse van den Duyvel syn, of niet (the De Witt brothers as devils)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ondersoeckt-de-geesten-de-witt-devils-1672/) (Dutch Republic · 1672 · Scapegoating, Name-calling) - [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (Great Britain · 1746 · Name-calling, Transfer) - [The North Briton, No. XLV, 23 April 1763 (John Wilkes), opening page](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/north-briton-no-45-wilkes-1763/) (Kingdom of Great Britain · Apr 23, 1763 · Name-calling) - [The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/revere-bloody-massacre-king-street-1770/) (Province of Massachusetts Bay · Mar 1770 · Name-calling, Card stacking). Content note: Hand-coloured engraving of bloodied dead and wounded colonists after soldiers fired on a crowd. - [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (France · 1791 · Name-calling, Transfer) - [Sans-Culottes, feeding Europe with the Bread of Liberty (James Gillray)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sans-culottes-bread-of-liberty-gillray-1793/) (Kingdom of Great Britain · Jan 12, 1793 · Fear appeal, Name-calling)