War dead : Western societies and the casualties of war / Luc Capdevila and Danièle Voldman ; translated by Richard Veasey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Capdevila, Luc.

Contributor:

Voldman, Danièle.

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

War casualties--History.

War casualties.

War casualties--Public opinion.

Public opinion.

History.

Physical Description:

xix, 200 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of color plates ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 2006.

Language Note:

Translated from the French.

Summary:

Wars in the industrial age kill large numbers of people. What do societies involved in these conflicts do with all the corpses? How do they show them respect? How do they dispose of them? What is their attitude to the bodies of the enemies?

In the 19th century, those who died on the battlefield were pushed into mass graves, their identities unknown. Today, their remains are held in such high esteem that they are tracked down in order that last respects might be paid. As a historical account of the way in which war and death intersect, this book describes the complex attitude societies have towards death.

Lured by the concept of eternal youth, tempted to deny death as well as physical decay, faced with longer life expectancy, we retain the hope of going off to war without loss of life. But does not our own expectation of 'zero death' imply 'more deaths' for the other side?

Contents:

1 War dead 1

Death in combat 2

Helping the wounded; collecting up bodies 6

From hero to victim 10

Images of battles 14

2 Identifying the dead to mourn them properly? 22

Identity discs 22

Recognising civilians as well 26

Counting the dead 29

3 Armies and states faced with their dead 37

The actions of the authorities 38

Responding to the expectations of families 46

Every dead man has a face 52

'Vast cemeteries beneath the moon' 58

4 What should be done with enemy corpses? 76

The way international law evolved 77

Practices ranging from respect to transgression 80

Using enemy bodies as a weapon 84

Killing the dead 90

Destroying the living through the dead 98

5 Ways of bidding farewell 114

Traditions which are difficult to keep 115

Towards the invention of new rituals 120

Impossible cremations 128

The religious dimension 132

Public funerals, official ceremonies 137

6 Ritualised mourning in acts of commemoration 149

From temporary war graves to national cemeteries 150

Associations for the remembrance of the dead 156

Creating a commemorative environment 162

Towards private forms of ritual 172

Epilogue: The presence of dead bodies 180.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0748622977

9780748622979

0748622985

9780748622986

OCLC:

65765752