According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, mutiny is “A situation in which a group of people (such as sailors or soldiers) refuse to obey orders and try to take control away from the person who commands them.” During World War 1, also known as the Great War, mutiny was a problem for all sides, and the French especially. To understand the epidemic of mutiny the French faced in the Great War and especially in 1917, it is necessary to understand its causes, which lie with the failed Nivelle Assault and the differences between the ‘rear’ and the ‘front’, and to understand just what kinds of ‘mutiny’ that France faced. The notorious failed Nivelle Assault was a large part of the motivation for those French soldiers that mutinied and refused to march. In early 1917, General Nivelle was instituted as the new commander-in-chief of the French army, and he formed a plan that he thought would break through German lines in a mere 48 hours and assure victory. “Before him […] were dazzling visions of cracking the German front wide open by a single overwhelming blitzkrieg” (Williams 6). The previous commander in chief, Joffre, had planned a more gradual and tentative attack. When Nivelle took over, he turned the plan on its head. (Williams 6) According to the Constitutional Rights Foundation, “His strategy was to soften the German defenses with artillery and then, with the aid of tanks, hurl large numbers of troops at the enemy. Nivelle predicted that a "break-through" would occur within 48 hours. This would then lead to a crushing defeat of the German Army and an end to the war” (crf-usa.com). The assault began on April 16th. Unfortunately, the break-through Nivelle was waiting for never came, and within a week “more than 100,000 French soldi... ... middle of paper ... ... to understand just why that happened, one must understand the causes of mutiny, which lay largely with the Nivelle Assault and the differences between the ‘rear’ and the ‘front’, and one must understand exactly what the French called mutiny. Works Cited Becker, Jean-Jacques. The Great War and the French People. Trans. Berg Publishers. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1986. Print. "The French Army Mutinies of World War 1." crf-usa.org. Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2001. Web. 2 March 2014. Gilbert, Martin. The First World War. New York: Holt Paperbacks, 1994. Print. The Grand Illusion. Dir. Jean Renoir. 1937. Film. Joyeux Noël. Dir. Christian Carion. 2005. Film. “Mutiny.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 2 March 2014. A Very Long Engagement. Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet. 2004. Film. Williams, John. Mutiny 1917. London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1962. Print.
To summarize the book into a few paragraphs doesn't due it the justice it deserves. The beginning details of the French and Ind...
The Comradeship of War in All Quiet on the Western Front War can destroy a young man, mentally and physically. One might say that nothing good comes out of war, but in Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, there is one positive characteristic: comradeship. Paul and his friends give Himmelstoss a beating, which he deserves due to his training tactics. This starts the brotherhood of this tiny group. As explosions and gunfire sound off, a young recruit in his first battle is gun-shy and seeks reassurance in Paul's chest and arms, and Paul gently tells him that he will get used to it.
All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque, is a classic anti-war novel about the personal struggles and experiences encountered by a group of young German soldiers as they fight to survive the horrors of World War One. Remarque demonstrates, through the eyes of Paul Baumer, a young German soldier, how the war destroyed an entire generation of men by making them incapable of reintegrating into society because they could no longer relate to older generations, only to fellow soldiers.
The Young People of Today, a series of opinion polls conducted among young educated Frenchmen by Henri Massis and Alfred de Tarde find romantic sentiments for war much like von Treitschke. The two authors interviewed a professor who tried to explain that there were in fact unjust wars, however, according to the professor, “the class obviously did not follow me; they rejected that distinction” (Massis and de Tarde 224). Massis and de Tarde go on to write about the many young men who left their high studies to pursue lives as soldiers because for them “it is not enough, for them to learn history: they are making it” (Massis and de Tarde 224).
In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul, the main character is a nineteen-year-old man who voluntarily joins the German army to fight in World War I against the French. Paul went into the war full of nationalism and ready to fight for his country. Soon after entering training, Paul began to realize that there is way more to war than just fighting for his country. Because it contains evidence of dehumanization and disconnectedness with the world, Erich Maria Remarque’s novel All Quiet on the Western Front reveals soldiers who are blindsided by the effects war has on them.
Howard, Michael. The Franco-Prussian War: The German Invasion of France, 1870-1871. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1962.
... in the control of a less than qualified captain, and thus jeopardized the entire fleet, the crew and the contents designed for the colony at Senegal. A cover-up was affected, and Captain De Chaumereys was the person deemed liable and summarily court martialed, ruining his naval career.
The acclaimed book, What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France by Mary Louise Roberts, encompasses the dynamic and rich relationship between the American military and the people of France during the ending years of World War II. Unlike other historical analysis books, this book particularly concentrates on the sexual relationship between the two parties in terms of human sexual desire, prudish attitudes from the American military and even rape. However, what makes Roberts’ novel so prolific is her method of addressing this variety of sexual topics through past interviews and primary resources such as letters from American soldiers and French civilians. Furthermore, Roberts uses these primary resources to develop the intricate
“The Battle of the Bulge, fought over the winter months of 1944 – 1945, was the last major Nazi offensive against the Allies in World War Two. The battle was a last ditch attempt by Hitler to split the Allies in two in their drive towards Germany and destroy their ability to supply themselves” (Trueman).
In the beginning of World War One the common outlook on warfare was that of a primarily mobile and open method of attack. Trench warfare was thought to be a temporary phenomenon which would be replaced by infantry and cavalry skirmishes. No one had predicted that only after a couple of months of open and mobile warfare, the November of 1914 would begin four years of static trench warfare.
Field, Frank. British and French Operations of the First World War. Cambridge (England); New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
An unfortunate placement, General St. Clair’s forces were discouraged, malnourished, over worked and complacent setting the stage for the upcoming defeat. They had setup camp on the frigid night of the 3rd of November, 1791 without fear of any enemy, even though there had been spotting of enemy along their route. The next morning, as complacency in full gear, Soldiers stacked their arms and commenced to eat breakfast, completely unaware they were being watched and about to come under attack. Apart from their arms, they were either bunched up or scattered while eating, unorganized and unprepared for the assault that was about to take place.
Robinson-Dunn "The French Resistance and World War II" S.U.N.Y. at Stony Brook University. April 13, 2000.
On March 5, 1770, an event occurred in Boston, which consisted of British troops shooting upon colonists. People refer to this as a massacre, but they only look at one side of the story. The Boston Massacre in 1770 was not really a massacre, but a mutual riot (Boston Massacre History Society). British soldiers went to America to keep the people of Boston in order. However, the soldier's presence there was not welcomed by the Bostonians and this made things worse (Boston Massacre History Society). The British had to fire their guns because the Bostonians were antagonizing the soldiers, which caused five people to die. The Bostonians made the soldiers feel threatened so in turn they acted in self-defense. The British soldiers and their Captain had to go through a trial, to prove they were not to blame for what had occurred.
Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. The Encyclopedia of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: A Political, Social, and Military History. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2006. Print.