Fallen Soldiers: Reshaping the Memory of the World WarsOxford University Press, 12 déc. 1991 - 272 pages At the outbreak of the First World War, an entire generation of young men charged into battle for what they believed was a glorious cause. Over the next four years, that cause claimed the lives of some 13 million soldiers--more than twice the number killed in all the major wars from 1790 to 1914. But despite this devastating toll, the memory of the war was not, predominantly, of the grim reality of its trench warfare and battlefield carnage. What was most remembered by the war's participants was its sacredness and the martyrdom of those who had died for the greater glory of the fatherland. War, and the sanctification of it, is the subject of this pioneering work by well-known European historian George L. Mosse. Fallen Soldiers offers a profound analysis of what he calls the Myth of the War Experience--a vision of war that masks its horror, consecrates its memory, and ultimately justifies its purpose. Beginning with the Napoleonic wars, Mosse traces the origins of this myth and its symbols, and examines the role of war volunteers in creating and perpetuating it. But it was not until World War I, when Europeans confronted mass death on an unprecedented scale, that the myth gained its widest currency. Indeed, as Mosse makes clear, the need to find a higher meaning in the war became a national obsession. Focusing on Germany, with examples from England, France, and Italy, Mosse demonstrates how these nations--through memorials, monuments, and military cemeteries honoring the dead as martyrs--glorified the war and fostered a popular acceptance of it. He shows how the war was further promoted through a process of trivialization in which war toys and souvenirs, as well as postcards like those picturing the Easter Bunny on the Western Front, softened the war's image in the public mind. The Great War ended in 1918, but the Myth of the War Experience continued, achieving its most ruthless political effect in Germany in the interwar years. There the glorified notion of war played into the militant politics of the Nazi party, fueling the belligerent nationalism that led to World War II. But that cataclysm would ultimately shatter the myth, and in exploring the postwar years, Mosse reveals the extent to which the view of death in war, and war in general, was finally changed. In so doing, he completes what is likely to become one of the classic studies of modern war and the complex, often disturbing nature of human perception and memory. |
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Page 4
... criss-crossed the landscape. The distance between the enemy trenches, separated by no man's land, varied from one hundred to four hundred yards, though it could be as little as five yards and as much as 4 Introduction.
... criss-crossed the landscape. The distance between the enemy trenches, separated by no man's land, varied from one hundred to four hundred yards, though it could be as little as five yards and as much as 4 Introduction.
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... enemy has been chased from the territory of the Republic, all the French will be requisitioned for the service of the armies.” A report from one of the French departments tells us that this levée en masse did not provide as many men as ...
... enemy has been chased from the territory of the Republic, all the French will be requisitioned for the service of the armies.” A report from one of the French departments tells us that this levée en masse did not provide as many men as ...
Page 23
... enemy was close at hand. Between battles, they celebrated their own feasts, which were amply financed by the richer members of the corps. When the war had ended and the “heart-rending” moment came to take leave of their comrades, a ...
... enemy was close at hand. Between battles, they celebrated their own feasts, which were amply financed by the richer members of the corps. When the war had ended and the “heart-rending” moment came to take leave of their comrades, a ...
Page 28
... enemy but instead appealed to social and individual concerns: rifle-shooting contests with their prizes were more important than national glory, while the force, in order to retain its men, offered social and recreational facilities as ...
... enemy but instead appealed to social and individual concerns: rifle-shooting contests with their prizes were more important than national glory, while the force, in order to retain its men, offered social and recreational facilities as ...
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Adolf Hitler appeared army associated attempted battle battlefield became become Berlin brutalization buried called camaraderie century Christian closely confrontation continued Corps created crosses cult dead death defeat dominated earlier enemy England English enthusiasm Ernst von Salomon example existed Experience fallen fighting films force fought France Free French front German graves heroes honor ideal important individual Italy joined lives manliness mass means memorials military cemeteries monuments mountain movement Munich Myth names nation nature Nazis never officers once organizations Paris patriotic peace picture played political popular postcards postwar present reality remained Republic Right role sacred Second World seemed served showed social society soldiers symbols themes thought tion tomb took traditional trivialization Unknown veterans victory volunteers War Experience Wars of Liberation wartime wrote young youth