that this might discredit the movement. In particular, the activisten hoped that Flemish independence could be realised with German support. In February 1917, a Raad van Vlaanderen (RVV or the "Council of Flanders") was formed with tacit German support. Its members, all activisten, were broadly supported by the Germans but were condemned by other flamingants and the Church. The Germans subsequently made Flanders and Wallonia separate administrative regions in June 1917. On 22 December 1917, without prior consultation with the occupation authorities, the RVV declared Flanders to be independent and dissolved itself to prepare for elections for a new Flemish government. The German authorities viewed the declaration ambivalently and in January 1918 rejected a draft Flemish constitution presented by the RVV. 50,000 people registered to vote in the coming elections but there were clashes with opponents in Mechelen, Antwerp and Tienen. The Belgian court of appeal sent out warrants for the arrest of two leading members of the council, Pieter Tack and August Borms, but the Germans freed them and instead deported the judges responsible. In protest, judges at the Court of Cassation, the Belgian supreme court, refused to try cases and other judges also went on strike. Faced with mounting opposition, the Germans stopped the planned elections in March 1918. Political repression Public opposition to the German occupiers was heavily repressed. Displays of patriotism, such as singing the national anthem, La Brabançonne, or celebrating Belgian National Day were banned and those breaking the rules risked strict prison sentences. Newspapers, books and mail were all tightly censored and regulated. Numerous high-profile Belgian figures, including Adolphe Max, the mayor of Brussels, and the historian Henri Pirenne, were imprisoned in Germany as hostages. The aftermath of the Battle of Verdun in 1916 marked a turning point in the occupation and was followed by more repressive measures by the administration, including the deportation of workers to Germany. From the time of the invasion, significant numbers of Belgian men had attempted to flee the occupied territories to join the Belgian army on the Yser front, via the Netherlands which were neutral. To stop this, the Germans began work on a barbed wire and electric fence across the length of the border. The fence, dubbed the Wire of Death (Dodendraad), was also guarded by German sentries. Between 2,000 and 3,000 civilians are believed to have been killed attempting to cross the border during the conflict.