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 likethose 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.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
