Desertion
Deserters made the worst mistake a soldier could make at that time. They gave up supporting the country, and preferred to save their lives rather than help their comrades.
Each deserter found was shot, because he had committed an act of abandonment according to the court-martial, and it was she who condemned him to die. There were a lot of prisoners sentenced to death during the first two years of the war. They were soldiers who already saw the absurdity and the uselessness of these fights, and who were looking for a way to leave them before losing their lives.
Voluntary mutilation
Sébastien Japrisot's book, adapted for the cinema by Jean-Pierre Jeunet:A long engagement Sunday recounts the fate of the voluntary mutilated. Manech, the character of Japrisot, was voluntarily injured by the enemy in the hand. This was taken as an act of abandonment, and there was immediate talk of shooting him, along with four other soldiers who were also recognized as "cowards".
The suspects of voluntary mutilation were also sentenced to dead, even if their case was doubtful. Especially at the beginning of the war, they were executed in front of other soldiers to dissuade them from imitating them.
The fallback
But most surprisingly, and again an absurd point, was the condemnation of those who fell back. During the desperate assaults launched by the French or enemy assaults, if a soldier was caught backing down in the face of combat, this too was seen as a refusal to obey in the presence of the enemy. Indeed, even if a soldier found himself alone against an enemy troop, he had no right to retreat, and he had to continue to fight for his country.
Here too, those shot for reasons of withdrawal were above all examples for the other soldiers, who had to remain "strong and courageous" to correspond to the image they were given at the time. 'back.
Condemnation and dishonor
In the end, the condemned - especially when it was not a question of miscarriage of justice - had only one desire:to leave this Hell with modern weapons and murderous efficiency. Twelve soldiers shot at a single condemned man because his act had been considered shameful, since he was not worthy of the strong and courageous soldier that we wanted him to be.
But the condemned also feared dishonor, even more than death. It was a value that had more importance than today, and soldiers were more compelled to respect it. They were talked about in the commune as if they were cowards, and the whole family was dishonored. Thus, the sentence continued after the killing.