Editing Edith Cavell (section)

==International reaction==
{{see also| British propaganda during World War I}}
[[File:British Empire Union WWI poster.jpg|thumb|An anti-German post-First World War poster from the [[British Empire Union]], including Cavell's grave]]
[[File:The Cavell Case.jpg|thumb|''The Cavell Case'' (1919), an American film]]
[[File:Edith Cavell - Uccle.jpg|thumb|Edith Cavell sculpture ([[Uccle]] 2015) by Nathalie Lambert, marking the centenary of her death]]
In the months and years following Cavell's death, countless newspaper articles, pamphlets, images, and books publicised her story. She became an iconic propaganda figure for military recruitment in Britain, and to help increase favourable sentiment towards the Allies in the United States. Along with the invasion of Belgium, and the [[Sinking of the RMS Lusitania|sinking of the ''Lusitania'']], Cavell's execution was widely publicised in both Britain and North America by [[Wellington House]], the British War Propaganda Bureau.{{sfn|Peterson|1939|p=61}} She was a popular icon because of her sex, her nursing profession, and her apparently heroic approach to death.{{sfn|Judson|1941}} Her execution was represented as an act of German barbarism and moral depravity - very much at variance with Cavell's own clearly stated wish to have "no hatred or bitterness towards anyone."

News reports shortly after Cavell's execution were found to be only true in part.{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}} Even the ''[[American Journal of Nursing]]'' repeated the fictional account of Cavell's execution in which she fainted and fell because of her refusal to wear a blindfold in front of the firing squad.{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}} Allegedly, while she lay unconscious, the German commanding officer shot her dead with a revolver.{{sfn|Scovil|1915}}

Because of the British Government's decision to publicise Cavell's story as part of its propaganda effort, she became the most prominent British female casualty of the First World War.{{sfn|Hughes|2005}}  The combination of heroic appeal and a resonant atrocity-story narrative made Cavell's case one of the most effective in British propaganda of the First World War.{{sfn|Peterson|1939|p=61}}

Before the First World War, Cavell was not well known outside nursing circles.{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}} This allowed two different depictions of the truth about her in British [[propaganda]], which were a reply to enemy attempts to justify her shooting, including the suggestion that Cavell, during her interrogation, had given information that incriminated others. In November 1915, the British Foreign Office issued a denial that Cavell had implicated anyone else in her testimony.

One image commonly represented was of Cavell as an innocent victim of a ruthless and dishonourable enemy.{{sfn|Hughes|2005}} This view depicted her as having helped Allied soldiers to escape, but innocent of 'espionage', and was most commonly used in various forms of British propaganda, such as postcards and newspaper illustrations during the war.{{sfn|Hughes|2005}}  Her story was presented in the British press as a means of fuelling a desire for revenge on the battlefield.{{sfn|Hughes|2005}} These images implied that men must enlist in the armed forces immediately in order to stop forces that could arrange the judicial murder of an innocent British woman.

Another representation of a side of Cavell during the First World War saw her described as a serious, reserved, brave, and patriotic woman who devoted her life to nursing and died to save others. This portrayal has been illustrated in numerous biographical sources, from personal first-hand experiences of the Red Cross nurse. Pastor Le Seur, the German army chaplain, recalled at the time of her execution, "I do not believe that Miss Cavell wanted to be a [[martyr]]{{nbsp}}... but she was ready to die for her country{{nbsp}}...  Miss Cavell was a very brave woman and a faithful [[Christians|Christian]]".{{sfn|Hoehling|1957}} Another account from Anglican chaplain, the Reverend Gahan, remembers Cavell's words, "I have no fear or shrinking; I have seen death so often it is not strange, or fearful to me!"{{sfn|Scovil|1915}} In this interpretation, her stoicism was seen as remarkable for a non-combatant woman, and brought her even greater renown than a man in similar circumstances would have received.{{sfn|Hughes|2005}}

===German justification===
The Imperial German Government thought that it had acted fairly towards Cavell. In a letter, German Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Alfred Zimmermann (not to be confused with [[Arthur Zimmermann]], German Secretary for Foreign Affairs) made a statement to the press on behalf of the German government:
{{blockquote|It was a pity that Miss Cavell had to be executed, but it was necessary. She was judged justly ... It is undoubtedly a terrible thing that the woman has been executed; but consider what would happen to a State, particularly in war, if it left crimes aimed at the safety of its armies to go unpunished because they were committed by women.{{sfn|Zimmermann|1916|p=481}}}}
From the perspective of the German government, had it released Cavell there might have been a surge in the number of women participating in acts against Germany because they knew they would not be severely punished. It took the view that it was up to the responsible men to follow their legal duty to Germany and ignore the world's condemnation. Its laws did not make distinctions between sexes; the only exception to this being that, according to legal customs, women in a "delicate" (probably this means "pregnant") condition should not be executed.{{sfn|Zimmermann|1916|p=481}} However, in January 1916, [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|the Kaiser]] decreed that, from then on, capital punishment should not be carried out on women without his explicit prior endorsement.{{sfn|Hull|2014|pp=108–09}}

The German government also believed that all of the convicted people were thoroughly aware of the nature of their acts. The court paid particular attention to this point, releasing several people because there was doubt as to whether the accused knew that their actions were punishable.{{sfn|Zimmermann|1916|p=481}} The condemned, in contrast, knew full well what they were doing and the punishment for committing their crimes because "numerous public proclamations had pointed out the fact that aiding enemies’ armies was punishable with death."{{sfn|Zimmermann|1916|p=481}}