Fallen Soldiers: Reshaping the Memory of the World Wars

272 Pages·1991·11.378 MB·English

by  George L. Mosse

Fallen Soldiers

FALLEN
SOLDIERS
Reshaping the Memory
of the World Wars
GEORGE L MÜSSE
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York Oxford
Oxford University Press
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Copyright © 1990 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
First published in 1990 by Oxford University Press, Inc.,
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016-4314
First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1991
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mosse, George L. (George Lachmann), 1918-
Fallen Soldiers: reshaping the memory of the World Wars
George L. Mosse.
p. cm. Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-19-506247-7
ISBN 0-19-507139-5 (PBK.)
1. War—Psychological aspects.
2. War and civilization.
3. Europe Civilization 20th century.
— —
4. Europe—History, Military—20th century.
5. World War, 1914-1918 Europe—Psychological aspects.
—
6. War memorials—Europe. I. Title.
U22.3.M63 1990 303.6'6'09409041-dc20 89-36202 CIP
10 9 8 7 6
Printed in the United States of America
Acknowledgments
This book grew out of my concern with modem nationalism and
its consequences. It seeks to provide a better understanding of,
and hopefully new insights into, the cheapening of human life and
the mass deaths which have degraded so much of our own century.
I owe a great debt to Howard Fertig who, as on so many other
occasions, made me refine, focus, and at times rethink my argu­
ments. The constant dialogue with Dr. J. M. Winter of Pembroke
College, Cambridge University, has been especially rewarding over
the years. My colleague Stanley Payne of the University of Wis­
consin read the manuscript and gave me the benefit of his great
learning. I have made extensive use of Meinhold Lurze’s descrip­
tion of German war monuments for which I am grateful, and I
await with anticipation the complete inventory of such monuments
which Professor Reinhard Kosseleck of the University of Bielefeld
is undertaking. I first started to address the Myth of the War Ex­
perience in 1977 when I gave the Charles Phelps Taft Memorial
Lectures at the University of Cincinnati. As a fellow in the History
of Ideas Unit, Research School of Social Science, Australian Na­
tional University in 1979,1 was able to make use of the excellent
First World War collection at the Australian War Memorial. A
fellowship at the Institute of Advanced Studies of the Hebrew
University in 1986 gave new dimensions to my thinking about the
conseqeunces and iconography of war.
A book which has been so long in the making accumulates debts
of gratitude to many libraries and their staff. I want to single out
as especially helpful the libraries of Columbia University and the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as the Hebrew National
vi Acknowledgments
and University Library, the Imperial War Museum, the Biblio­
thèque Nationale, and the Bayrische Staatsbibliothek.
Some of the material used in this book first appeared in the
Journal of Contemporary History; Chapter 4 was first published in
a somewhat changed form in Germany in the Age of Total War,
ed. Volker R. Berghahn and Martin Kitchen (Croom Helm, Lon­
don, 1981); and Chapter 8 is a much expanded version of an arti­
cle printed in Demokratie und Diktatur, ed. Manfred Funke et al.
(Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf, 1987). Some of what I have to say
about volunteers in war appeared first in Religion, Ideology and
Nationalism in Europe and America (The Historical Society of
Israel and the Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History, Jeru­
salem, 1986).
Finally, Lois Corcoran showed exemplary patience in typing
and retyping the manuscript.
I dedicate this book to David Berkoff who has given me the
greatest and most committed support over the years.
Madison, Wise. G. L. M.
June 1989
Contents
1. Introduction: A Different Kind of War, 3
PART I. THE FOUNDATIONS
2. Volunteers in War, IS
3. Building the Myth: Tangible Symbols of Death, 34
PART II. THE FIRST WORLD WAR
4. Youth and the War Experience, S3
5. The Cult of the Fallen Soldier, 70
6. The Appropriation of Nature, 107
7. The Process of Trivialization, 126
PART III. THE POSTWAR AGE
8. The Brutalization of German Politics, 1S9
9. Building on War, 182
10. The Second World War, the Myth, and the
Postwar Generation, 201
Notes, 227
Index, 2S2

Fallen Soldiers