Mutinous memories: A subjective history of French military protest in 1919 (Studies in Modern French and Francophone History)

This book explores the eight-month wave of mutinies that struck the French infantry and navy in 1919. Based on official records and the testimony of dozens of participants, it is the first study to try to understand the world of the mutineers. Examining their words for the traces of sensory perceptions, emotions and thought processes, it reveals that the conventional understanding of the mutinies as the result of simple war-weariness and low morale is inadequate. In fact, an emotional gulf separated officers and the ranks, who simply did not speak the same language. The revolt entailed emotional sequences ending in a deep ambivalence and sense of despair or regret. Taking this into account, the book considers how mutineer memories persisted after the events in the face of official censorship, repression and the French Communist Party’s co-option of the mutiny. Front matter 2 Half-title page 2 Series page 3 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Contents 6 Preface 7 Acknowledgements 10 List of abbreviations 11 Introduction 12 Sensing mutiny 36 Mutinous emotion 65 A mutineers’ world: transnationalism and the sense of place 94 Age, time and personal memory 126 Associational memory 156 Conclusion 184 Bibliography 199 Index 216 The French mutinies of 1919 stretched from the Soviet Union through to France’s naval ports. It is the first study to try to understand the subjective world of the mutineers. -- .