First World War.com - Battles - The Capture and Punishment of Dinant, 1914

On August 23, 1914, Gen von Hausen ordered the execution of 612 inhabitants (men, women, and children) of Dinant, Belgium. An excerpt from the article:

"Although the town fell to von Hausen's troops on 23 August the occupation was not initially peaceful. German soldiers who were repairing the town bridge were allegedly fired upon by local inhabitants. In retaliation therefore the German authorities rounded up 612 men, women and children and shot them together; the youngest victim was a three-week-old baby.

The town was subsequently pillaged and many of its buildings destroyed by the rampant German force. Although the massacre shocked public opinion around the world - particularly in neutral countries such as the U.S. - it merely formed part of the German army's strategy of intimidating occupied Belgian territories as a means of securing maximum civilian co-operation.

Although a notorious incident in itself the massacre of Dinant was eclipsed by a similar, wider-scale action at Louvain two days later. Both were exploited to the full by Allied propaganda."