The Belgian Army and Society from Independence to the Great War PDF Download
Are you looking for read ebook online? Search for your book and save it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Download The Belgian Army and Society from Independence to the Great War PDF full book. Access full book title The Belgian Army and Society from Independence to the Great War by Mario Draper. Download full books in PDF and EPUB format.
Author: Mario Draper
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319703862
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 287
Get Book Here
Book Description
This book explores Belgian state-building through the prism of its army from independence to the First World War. It argues that party-politics, which often ran along geographical, linguistic, and religious lines, prevented both Flemings and Walloons from reconciling their regional identities into a unified concept of Belgian nationalism. Equally, it obstructed the army from satisfactorily preparing to uphold Belgium’s imposed neutrality before 1914. Situated uneasily between the two powerhouses of nineteenth-century Europe, Belgium offers a unique insight into the concepts of citizenship and militarisation in a divided society in the era of fervent nationalism. By examining the composition, experience, and image of the army’s officer corps and rank and file, as well as those of the auxiliary forces, this book shows that although military and civilian society often stood aloof from one another, the army, as a national institution, offered a fleeting glimpse into the dichotomy that was pre-war Belgium.
Author: Mario Draper
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319703862
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 287
Get Book Here
Book Description
This book explores Belgian state-building through the prism of its army from independence to the First World War. It argues that party-politics, which often ran along geographical, linguistic, and religious lines, prevented both Flemings and Walloons from reconciling their regional identities into a unified concept of Belgian nationalism. Equally, it obstructed the army from satisfactorily preparing to uphold Belgium’s imposed neutrality before 1914. Situated uneasily between the two powerhouses of nineteenth-century Europe, Belgium offers a unique insight into the concepts of citizenship and militarisation in a divided society in the era of fervent nationalism. By examining the composition, experience, and image of the army’s officer corps and rank and file, as well as those of the auxiliary forces, this book shows that although military and civilian society often stood aloof from one another, the army, as a national institution, offered a fleeting glimpse into the dichotomy that was pre-war Belgium.
Author: Matthew Glencross
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 331989515X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Get Book Here
Book Description
This volume challenges the traditional view that the First World War represents a pivotal turning point in the long history of monarchy, suggesting the picture is significantly more complex. Using a comparative approach, it explores the diverse roles played by monarchs during the Great War, and how these met the expectations of the monarchic institution in different states at a time of such crisis. Its contributors not only explore less familiar narratives, including the experiences of monarchs in Belgium and Italy, as well as the Austro-Hungarian, Japanese and Ottoman Empires, but also cast fresh light on more familiar accounts. In doing so, this book moves away from the conventional view that monarchy showed itself irrelevant in the Great War, by drawing on new approaches to diplomatic and international history - ones informed by cultural contextualization for instance - while grounding the research behind each chapter in a wide range of contemporary sources The chapters provide an innovative revisiting of the actual role of monarchy at this crucial period in European (indeed, global) history, and are framed by a substantial introductory chapter where the key factors explaining the survival or collapse of dynasties, and of the individuals occupying these thrones, are considered in a wide-ranging set of reflections that highlight the extent of common experiences as well as the differences.
Author: Guy Vanthemsche
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521192412
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 397
Get Book Here
Book Description
"The nation-state Belgium, born in 1830, and the polities that preceded it since ancient times, have played an important role in European and even global history. This introductory history offers a synthetical and non-specialist yet academically based view on the social, economic, political, and cultural aspects of its evolution"--
Author: Maartje Abbenhuis
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107037603
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 301
Get Book Here
Book Description
outside the continent. --Book Jacket.
Author: Chris Baker
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1526749327
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 369
Get Book Here
Book Description
The sector north of Ypres is best known for the inundation of much of the ground to the east of the Yser that acted as a block to the German advance in the autumn of 1914. From that time on military activities were extremely limited. Much of this line was manned by Belgian troops, with some assistance from the French army at its southern end and of the British army on the Channel coast. The role of the Belgian army in the Great War is little known, apart from the opening months, when 'brave little Belgium' held on to its important fortified cities, notably Liege and Antwerp, for longer than German planning had anticipated. It was not until mid October 1914 that the Belgian army was forced back to the area of the Yser, when its defences were bolstered by French troops whilst Haig's I Corps came up on its southern flank. At this crucial phase of the campaign, the harsh decision was taken to open the dykes at the end of October 1914 and thereby flooding much of the low lying ground east of the Yser and so effectively halting major German offensive operations. For almost four years the Belgian army rested reasonably secure behind this sodden landscape, although certain key points were the scene of frequent, if limited, tussles. 'Free' Belgium was reduced to two significant towns that could be regarded as secure and out of the range of most German artillery - the coastal resort of La Panne (De Panne) and the much bigger settlement of Furnes (Veurne), Over these years the Belgian army was rebuilt under the dynamic leadership of the king, Albert I, and by the time of the general allied advance in September 1918, the Belgian army was able to take its place in the Advance to Victory, in an allied Army that was commanded by King Albert. Although this phase of the war is outside the scope of the book, it is important to realise that the Belgian army was a very active player in these last few months. Amongst the achievements of Belgian troops at this stage of the war was the final capture of Passchendaele. This book concerns itself with the years of defence and the reconstruction of the army behind the Yser. Relatively little of Belgium's efforts in the Great War remained, but recent years have seen action to preserve what does. Most significant of these, perhaps, is the so called Trench of Death near Diksmuide. Although always preserved, it has recently been very successfully refurbished and is now most effectively and informatively presented. Other remains from the war have also been developed so as to be more informative and the result is that touring this area provides a fascinating insight into one of the most unusual sectors of the Western Front and which is conveniently close to the much visited Ypres Salient. In this book Chris Baker brings his extensive knowledge of the Belgian army (helped by his ability to read French and Dutch) and of the Flanders region to produce a much needed insight into Belgium's army role for most of the war as the protector of the northern flank of the whole of the Allied line.
Author: Karine Varley
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040046126
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 204
Get Book Here
Book Description
The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 has traditionally been seen as a limited conflict between French and German forces. This edited volume challenges this view and shows that it was a war of ideas, values, and perceptions, which transformed the political, diplomatic, and military culture across Europe. Based on interdisciplinary research, the book suggests that the war raised new questions about power, the nation, violence, and notions of civilization, which brought about a decisive shift in how warfare was experienced and perceived. While the Franco-Prussian War may have begun as a traditional dynastic struggle, it became a modern war and an important precursor to the First World War in its use of new weaponry and industrialized warfare. At the same time, the development of humanitarian movements and international law on the conduct of war meant that the fighting was subjected to unprecedented scrutiny, while new technologies accelerated the pace at which narratives about the war were constructed and consumed. This volume will appeal to scholars in the fields of war studies, international relations and diplomacy, and intellectual and cultural history. It will also be a useful addition to undergraduate and postgraduate courses on nineteenth-century European history and cultural studies.
Author: Maarten Van Ginderachter
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 1503609707
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 339
Get Book Here
Book Description
The Everyday Nationalism of Workers upends common notions about how European nationalism is lived and experienced by ordinary people—and the bottom-up impact these everyday expressions of nationalism exert on institutionalized nationalism writ large. Drawing on sources from the major urban and working-class centers of Belgium, Maarten Van Ginderachter uncovers the everyday nationalism of the rank and file of the socialist Belgian Workers Party between 1880 and World War I, a period in which Europe experienced the concurrent rise of nationalism and socialism as mass movements. Analyzing sources from—not just about—ordinary workers, Van Ginderachter reveals the limits of nation-building from above and the potential of agency from below. With a rich and diverse base of sources (including workers' "propaganda pence" ads that reveal a Twitter-like transcript of proletarian consciousness), the book shows all the complexity of socialist workers' ambivalent engagement with nationhood, patriotism, ethnicity and language. By comparing the Belgian case with the rise of nationalism across Europe, Van Ginderachter sheds new light on how multilingual societies fared in the age of mass politics and ethnic nationalism.
Author: Margaret MacMillan
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1984856146
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 332
Get Book Here
Book Description
Is peace an aberration? The New York Times bestselling author of Paris 1919 offers a provocative view of war as an essential component of humanity. NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW “Margaret MacMillan has produced another seminal work. . . . She is right that we must, more than ever, think about war. And she has shown us how in this brilliant, elegantly written book.”—H.R. McMaster, author of Dereliction of Duty and Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World The instinct to fight may be innate in human nature, but war—organized violence—comes with organized society. War has shaped humanity’s history, its social and political institutions, its values and ideas. Our very language, our public spaces, our private memories, and some of our greatest cultural treasures reflect the glory and the misery of war. War is an uncomfortable and challenging subject not least because it brings out both the vilest and the noblest aspects of humanity. Margaret MacMillan looks at the ways in which war has influenced human society and how, in turn, changes in political organization, technology, or ideologies have affected how and why we fight. War: How Conflict Shaped Us explores such much-debated and controversial questions as: When did war first start? Does human nature doom us to fight one another? Why has war been described as the most organized of all human activities? Why are warriors almost always men? Is war ever within our control? Drawing on lessons from wars throughout the past, from classical history to the present day, MacMillan reveals the many faces of war—the way it has determined our past, our future, our views of the world, and our very conception of ourselves.
Author: David J. Hensley
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031109171
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 371
Get Book Here
Book Description
This book examines the efforts of the French-speaking minority in Flanders, Belgium, to maintain a legal and social presence of the French language in Flemish public life. Chronologically, the study is bookended by two developments, almost exactly a century apart. In 1873, the first laws were passed which required the use of Dutch in some aspects of public administration in Flanders, challenging the de facto use of French among the Flemish ruling class. One hundred and one years later, the last French daily newspaper in Flanders collapsed, marking the end of a once-vibrant French-language public sphere in Flanders. The author contends that the methods and arguments by which French speakers defended the role of French in Flemish public life changed along with the social and political situation of this minority. As the Flemish movement grew over the course of the twentieth century, French speakers’ appeals to the “free choice” of language lost traction, and they put forward claims that they represented an ethnolinguistic minority who deserved protection for their mother tongue. Providing new insights for scholars of European history, and in conversation with the literature on liberalism, national identity, and Francophonie, this book demonstrates how the debate over the role of French in Flanders was at the center of Belgium’s ethnolinguistic conflict – the repercussions of which continue to be felt to this day.
Author: Simon John
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
ISBN: 1783277637
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 251
Get Book Here
Book Description
Offers new insights into the political and modern uses of public monuments devoted to figures from the past and the role of historical culture in the creation of national identity.
