Between the devil and the deep blue sea - University of Canterbury

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Map 18: The "state of war" (light grey) and "siege" (dark grey) from 1914 to 1918
(Source: General Headquatters, "Lijst van aile gemeenten der provincien, met aanduiding, welke gemeenten, of onderdeelen daarvan, in staat van
oOl'log of in staat van beleg zijn verklaard en met vermelding van de gezagsgebieden, waattoe zij behooren, alsmede van de Koninklijke bcsllliten,
waarbij het in staat van oorlog of in staat van beleg verklaren plaats vond," I September 1917, in SMGIDC, "Hanclschrift nr: 39" 93/l)
Inevitably, subordinating the authority of municipal councils and local bodies to
the military, an institution without any expertise in, or understanding of, local government,
caused concerns. The War Law had only ever been intended as a tempormy measure, to
handle short-term crises swiftly and restore nonnal order as quickly as possible. It was an
extremely useful tool at the start of the war. But, the legislation could not cope with the
strains and stresses of more than four years of neutrality. "State of siege" commanders put
in place all manner of regulations ranging from the control of smuggling to the supervision