The people's war : histories of violence in the German lands, 1820-1888 / Mark Hewitson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hewitson, Mark, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War and society.

History.

Germany--History--1789-1900.

Germany.

Germany--History, Military--19th century.

History, Military.

War and society--Germany--History--19th century.

Genre:

History.

Military history.

Physical Description:

xii, 567 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press 2017.

Summary:

"How did ministers, journalists, academics, artists, and subjects in the German lands imagine war during the nineteenth century? The Napoleonic Wars had been the bloodiest in Europe's history, directly affecting millions of Germans, yet their long-term consequences on individuals and on 'politics' are still poorly understood. This study makes sense of contemporaries' memories and histories of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic campaigns within a much wider context of press reportage of wars elsewhere in Europe and overseas, debates about military service and the reform of Germany's armies, revolution and counter-revolution, and individuals' experiences of violence and death in their everyday lives. For the majority of the populations of the German states, wars during an era of conscription were not merely a matter of history and memory; rather, they concerned subjects' hopes, fears, and expectations of the future. This is the second volume of Mark Hewitson's study of the violence of war in the German lands during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It investigates the complex relationship between military conflicts and the violent acts of individual soldiers.0In particular, it considers the contradictory impact of 'pacification' in civilian life and exposure to increasingly destructive technologies of killing during war-time. This contradiction reached its nineteenth-century apogee during the 'wars of unification', leaving an ambiguous imprint on post-war discussions of military conflict."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The Romance of War, 1820-64

1 Histories of Conflict 23

History and the Wars of the Volker 23

The Anthropology of Warfare 37

2 Life in the German Armies 53

The Arming of the People 53

The Politics of the German Armies during the 'Restoration' 61

Army Lives 76

The Politics of German Armies during and after the Revolution 88

3 Domestic Violence 114

Pacification and Everyday Violence 117

Squeamishness and Self-Control 129

4 Revolution and Civil War 147

Revolutionary Violence and Civil War 148

Counter-Revolutionary Warfare and the Restoration of Order 162

5 War Reports 181

The Coverage of War in the Press 183

The German Struggle for Schleswig-Holstein in 1848-51 195

News from Elsewhere: From Greece (1821-9) to the Crimea (1853-6) 209

Modern Warfare: The Franco-Austrian War (1859) 234

The Horror of War, 1864-88

6 War and the Nation 255

Political Mobilizations 261

Publicity Campaigns 282

7 Blood in the Sand 312

Just War 318

Heroism and Victory 327

Murderous Hell-Fire 339

8 Brothers-at-War 353

The Campaign: Strategists and Technicians 360

Defeats 379

Horror and Glory 392

9 The War of the Germans 410

The Army's War: Volkskrieg and Francs-tireurs 414

A Lovely War? Burghers and Warriors 431

The Combat Experience of Ordinary Soldiers 456

10 Shock and Awe: The Aftermath of Conflict 473

Heroic Histories of War and Unification 477

Memories of Violence 490.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 527-555) and index.

ISBN:

9780199564262

0199564264

OCLC:

957546174