Author: Ruth Larsen
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 152750526X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 133
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Book Description
This book considers the diversity of the experiences and legacies of the First World War, looking at the actions of those who fought, those who remained at home and those who returned from the arena of war. It examines Edwardian ideals of gender and how these shaped social expectations of the roles to be played by men and women with regards to the national cause. It looks at men’s experiences of combat and killing on the Western Front, exploring the ways in which masculine gender ideals and male social relationships moulded their experience of battle. It shows how the women of the controversial White Feather campaign exploited traditional ideas of heroism and male duty in war to embarrass men into volunteering for military service. The book also examines children’s toys and recreation, underlining how play helped to promote patriotic values in children and thus prepared boys and girls for the respective roles they might be called upon to make in war. A strong sense of British identity and a faith in the superiority of British values, customs and institutions underpinned the collective war effort. The book looks at how, even in captivity at the Ruhleben internment camp, the British gave expression to this identity. The book emphasises the extent to which this was a conflict in which Britain sought to defend and even extend its imperial dominion. It also discusses how different political and cultural agendas have shaped the way in which Britain has remembered the War. As such, the book reflects the diversity of popular experience in the War, both at home and in the empire. Britain’s entry into the War in 1914 helped to ensure that it became a truly global conflict. The contributors here draw attention to the significant social, cultural and political legacies for Britain and her empire of a conflict which, one hundred years later, continues to be the subject of considerable controversy.
Author: Peter Liddle
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473891639
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 729
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Book Description
How can we begin to make sense of the Great War now that over 100 years have passed since it ended with the defeat of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman empire and Bulgaria, and the collapse of Tsarist Russia? The conflict had such a profound influence on world history that is it difficult to reconcile the different perspectives and draw clear conclusions. That is why this thought-provoking collection of original essays on the outcome of the war and its aftermath is of such value.It completes the trilogy of ground-breaking volumes conceived and edited by Peter Liddle which presents the latest scholarly thinking about the Great War from an international perspective. The first two volumes Britain Goes to War and Britain and the Widening War made this stimulating new writing accessible to a broad readership and this final volume has the same aim.A group of over twenty expert contributors reconsider the military reasons for the outcome of the fighting and look at the consequences for the principal nations involved. They explore the way the war and the peace settlement shaped the twentieth century and had an enduring impact within Europe and beyond.
Author: Ross J. Wilson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317156463
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256
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Book Description
As the hundredth anniversary approaches, it is timely to reflect not only upon the Great War itself and on the memorials which were erected to ensure it did not slip from national consciousness, but also to reflect upon its rich and substantial cultural legacy. This book examines the heritage of the Great War in contemporary Britain. It addresses how the war maintains a place and value within British society through the usage of phrases, references, metaphors and imagery within popular, media, heritage and political discourse. Whilst the representation of the war within historiography, literature, art, television and film has been examined by scholars seeking to understand the origins of the 'popular memory' of the conflict, these analyses have neglected how and why wider popular debate draws upon a war fought nearly a century ago to express ideas about identity, place and politics. By examining the history, usage and meanings of references to the Great War within local and national newspapers, historical societies, political publications and manifestos, the heritage sector, popular expressions, blogs and internet chat rooms, an analysis of the discourses which structure the remembrance of the war can be created. The book acknowledges the diversity within Britain as different regional and national identities draw upon the war as a means of expression. Whilst utilising the substantial field of heritage studies, this book puts forward a new methodology for assessing cultural heritage and creates an original perspective on the place of the Great War across contemporary British society.
Author: James E. Connolly
Publisher: Cultural History of Modern War
ISBN: 9781526117809
Category : Civilians in war
Languages : en
Pages : 333
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Book Description
This study considers the ways in which locals of the occupied Nord responded to and understood their situation across four years of German domination, focusing in particular on key behaviours adopted by locals, and the way in which such conduct was perceived. Behaviours examined include forms of complicity, misconduct, disunity, criminality, and resistance. This local case study calls into question overly-patriotic readings of this experience, and suggests a new conceptual vocabulary to help understand certain civilian behaviours under military occupation. Drawing on extensive primary documentation - from diaries and letters to posters and police reports - this book proposes that a dominant 'occupied culture' existed among locals. This was a moral-patriotic framework, born of both pre-war socio-cultural norms and daily interaction with the enemy, that guided conduct and was especially concerned with what was considered acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Those who breached the limits of this occupied culture faced criticism and sometimes punishment. This study attempts to disentangle perceptions and reality, but also argues that the clear beliefs and expectations of the occupied French comprise a fascinating subject of study in their own right. They provide an insight into national and local identity, and especially the way in which locals understood their role within the wider conflict. This book will be useful to undergraduates, post-graduates and academics interested in an understudied aspect of the history of modern France, the First World War, and military occupations.
Author: Jay Winter
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781306857734
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 321
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Book Description
Jay Winter's powerful 1998 study of the 'collective remembrance' of the Great War offers a major reassessment of one of the critical episodes in the cultural history of the twentieth century. Dr Winter looks anew at the culture of commemoration and the ways in which communities endeavoured to find collective solace after 1918. Taking issue with the prevailing 'modernist' interpretation of the European reaction to the appalling events of 1914 18, Dr Winter instead argues that what characterised that reaction was, rather, the attempt to interpret the Great War within traditional frames of reference. Tensions arose inevitably. Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning is a profound and moving book of seminal importance for the attempt to understand the course of European history during the first half of the twentieth century."
Author: Elizabeth A. Galway
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000554481
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 250
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Book Description
Over the past century, much attention has been paid to the literature written for adults in response to the First World War, but there has been comparatively little consideration of how the war influenced literature for young readers at the time. Based on extensive archival research, this study examines an array of wartime writing for young people and provides a new understanding of the complexities and nuances within children’s literature of the period. In its discussion of nearly 150 primary sources from Britain, Canada, and the United States, this volume considers some well-known texts but also brings to light forgotten children’s literature of the era, providing new insights into how WWI was presented to the young people whose lives were indelibly impacted by the crisis. Paying special attention to the varied ways in which child figures were depicted, it reflects on what these portrayals reveal about adult conceptualizations of youth, and it considers how these may have shaped young readers’ own views of armed conflict, citizenship, and childhood. From the helpless victim to the heroic combatant, child figures appeared in many guises, exposing a range of adult concerns about nation, empire, and children’s citizenship. Exploring everything from alphabet books for beginning readers, to recruitment materials for high school students, this book examines works from multiple genres and provides a uniquely comprehensive study of transatlantic children’s literature produced during the first global war.
Author: Jason Crouthamel
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1789200199
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 418
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Book Description
During the First World War, the Jewish population of Central Europe was politically, socially, and experientially diverse, to an extent that resists containment within a simple historical narrative. While antisemitism and Jewish disillusionment have dominated many previous studies of the topic, this collection aims to recapture the multifariousness of Central European Jewish life in the experiences of soldiers and civilians alike during the First World War. Here, scholars from multiple disciplines explore rare sources and employ innovative methods to illuminate four interconnected themes: minorities and the meaning of military service, Jewish-Gentile relations, cultural legacies of the war, and memory politics.
Author: Adrian Gregory
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521450373
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 355
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Book Description
A groundbreaking new history of the British home front during the First World War.
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004393544
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 375
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Book Description
In A World At War, 1911-1949, leading and emerging scholars of the cultural history of the two world wars begin to break down the traditional barriers between the historiographies of the two conflicts, identifying commonalities as well as casting new light on each as part of a broader mission, in honour of Professor John Horne, to expand the boundaries of academic exploration of warfare in the 20th century. Utilizing techniques and approaches developed by cultural historians of the First World War, this volume showcases and explores four crucial themes relating to the socio-cultural attributes and representation of war that cut across both the First and Second World Wars: cultural mobilization, the nature and depiction of combat, the experience of civilians under fire, and the different meanings of victory and defeat. Contributors are: Annette Becker, Robert Dale, Alex Dowdall, Robert Gerwarth, John Horne, Tomás Irish, Heather Jones, Alan Kramer, Edward Madigan, Anthony McElligott, Michael S. Neiberg, John Paul Newman, Catriona Pennell, Filipe Ribeiro de Meneses, Daniel Todman, and Jay Winter. See inside the book.
Author: Lesley Milne
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443887684
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 292
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Book Description
War is no laughing matter. During a war, however, laughter can play a vital role in sustaining morale, both in the armies at the Front and in their homelands. Among wars, the 1914–18 conflict has left a haunting legacy, and remains a central topic in modern European history. This book offers a comparative study of the impact of the war in four countries, and breaks new ground by exploring this through the medium of what their respective populations laughed at. By searching the pages of four humorous-satirical magazines, Punch in the UK, Le Rire (France), Simplicissimus (Germany), and Novy Satirikon (Russia), all of which supported the national war efforts, it examines the ways in which humour made an important contribution to the propaganda war. All four magazines were famous for their cartoons, a selection of which is included, but much of the humour was expressed through the written word, in skits, squibs, comic tales, and light verse. Translated into English, these snapshots of the moment are brought together to chart the responses on both sides of the conflict to issues and unfolding events, identifying the stories that nations liked to tell about themselves and also the ones they liked to be told.
