Testimonies concerning sexual abuse were collected by Allied commissions of inquiry, but it remains impossible to provide precise figures on the extent of the phenomenon. The so-called "German atrocities" of August 1914 in Belgium and France were not only characterized by the destruction of towns and the execution of 6,427 civilians, but were also accompanied by numerous cases of rape. The first instances of sexual intercourse between these two groups took place during the outburst of violence that accompanied the initial offensive of the German army in the west. These two groups of people could have been characterized by gender complementarity, but were first and foremost enemies as well as strangers to each other. It was foreign, it was the occupier and, thus, it was the controlling element. The second group was almost exclusively male (except for the presence of nurses and employees of the occupational administration). It was local, under occupation and, therefore, under control. The first group was characterized by a gender imbalance in favor of women due to the fact that the local men had gone to war. Two populations were therefore forced to live side by side in the occupied territories. The occupation of enemy territory also required the presence of a certain number of staff, assigned to administrative, operational and control activities. However, the military occupations provided a particular space for war sexuality, especially for the German soldiers, who did not generally operate in friendly territory but instead often fought, moved around or rested in enemy territory. War exposed women and men to a significant reconfiguration of their sexuality, and even of their gender identity, and opened the door to new sexual experiences.
World War I caused upheavals in the sexual order of all the warring societies.
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