Making Sense of the Great War: Crisis, Englishness, and Morale on the Western Front (Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare)

The First World War was an unprecedented crisis, with communities and societies enduring the unimaginable hardships of a prolonged conflict on an industrial scale. In Belgium and France, the terrible capacity of modern weaponry destroyed the natural world and exposed previously held truths about military morale and tactics as falsehoods. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers suffered some of the worst conditions that combatants have ever faced. How did they survive? What did it mean to them? How did they perceive these events? Whilst the trenches of the Western Front have come to symbolise the futility and hopelessness of the Great War, Alex Mayhew shows that English infantrymen rarely interpreted their experiences in this way. They sought to survive, navigated the crises that confronted them, and crafted meaningful narratives about their service. Making Sense of the Great War reveals the mechanisms that allowed them to do so. Cover Half-title Series information Title page Imprints page Dedication Contents List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Map of the Western Front Prologue Introduction: Morale, Crisis, and Englishness The Environment and Morale Social Groups and Morale Individual Psychologies and Morale Crisis Englishness and the British Army Part I The Environment 1 Familiarising the Western Front: Attachment to Belgium and France Journeys on the Western Front: Familiarisation, Exposure, and Exploration Familiarising and Coping with the Frontlines The Trenches' Stenches The Sounds of War Familiarising the Western Front Personalising the Western Front Death and Commemoration 2 Enduring the Western Front: Winter and Morale The Cold The Rain Mud Snow and Frost Exhaustion and Supplies Billets and Sleep Sickness Combat and Raiding Winter and Depression Coping and Resilience Part II Social Groups 3 Defining Duty: Obligation and the Cultural Foundations of Morale The Language of Duty Officers' Social Contract Officers' Perception of Duty Other Ranks' Social Contract Other Ranks' Perception of Duty Obedience and Discipline Cheeriness and Morale Good Character and Respectability Defending the Homeland 4 Imagining Home: Englishness in the Trenches Perceptions of England in 1914 Perceptions of England in 1916 Perceptions of England in 1917 and 1918 Local Homelands Imagination and Morale Part III Crisis and Morale 5 Hoping for Peace: Victory and the Future Hoping for Peace in 1914 Hoping for Peace in 1916 Hoping for Peace in 1917 and 1918 Constructing a Future Space Sustaining Hope The Psychology of Hope 6 Experiencing Crisis: Battle and Sensemaking c. July 1917-June 1918 The Prelude Passchendaele Cambrai Winter 1917-1918 Winter Training The German Offensives Conclusion Appendix: Demographics of Six English Regiments in the BEF Bibliography Index