« Conspuez l’espion ! C’est l’Allemand qu’il nous faut ! » : Fausses nouvelles et fabrique de l’espion dans l’Ouest de la France durant la Première Guerre mondiale
During the war, the accumulation of tensions, anguish and collective traumas form a "breeding ground" most conducive to the birth and proliferation of false news, rumors and legends. The first of them, spy mania, explodes in the first hours of the conflict. The home front becomes the scene of a veritable jingoistic outburst, leading many civilians to relentlessly hunt down this "enemy from within" demonized by propaganda focusing on German barbarism. In Brittany, this psychosis was cleverly prepared by pre-war publications denouncing the presence on the coast of a "vanguard of the German army". In this context, rumors and fantastic gossip abound and create suspicion towards anything that seems strange. These elements of false news, sometimes relayed by newspapers, are mainly spread orally, through wounded soldiers on leave or even refugees. They generally pass through the main communication crossroads, especially train stations. Thus, fed with rumors and legends, the population of the home front is actively involved in the hunt for spies, often degenerating into vengeful and irrational popular violence all the more embarrassing for the authorities that, as in this case, these spies are simply imaginary.