Remove non-neutral points of view: horn and kramer give an explanation of these unbelievable crimes: ''the source of the collective fantasy of the peoples war and of the harsh reprisals with which the german army (up to its highest level) responded are to be found in the memory of the franco-prussian war of 1870-1, when the german armies indeed faced irregular republican soldiers (or francs-tireurs), and in the way in which the spectre of civilian involvement in warfare conjured up the worst fears of democratic and revolutionary disorder for a conservative officer corps.
horn and kramer give an explanation of these crimes: ''the source of the collective fantasy of the peoples war and of the harsh reprisals with which the german army (up to its highest level) responded are to be found in the memory of the franco-prussian war of 1870-1, when the german armies indeed faced irregular republican soldiers (or francs-tireurs), and in the way in which the spectre of civilian involvement in warfare conjured up the worst fears of democratic and revolutionary disorder for a conservative officer corps.