HOW FAR WAS THE CONDUCT OF LAND WARFARE AFFECTED BY POPULAR ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS 1792-1918

HOW FAR WAS THE CONDUCT OF LAND WARFARE AFFECTED BY POPULAR ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS 1792-1918

INTRODUCTION

The conduct of war increasingly was affected by popular attitudes. The growth of newspapers and speed of distribution brought much of warfare to the publics notice. However , it is impossible to be precise regarding the relationship between popular attitudes and the conduct of war. As important is the context for war as expressed in the popular beliefs in Nationalism , Militarism and Social Darwinism.

THE MIDDLE BIT

POPULAR ATTITUDES

From the very beginning of the period popular attitudes were moulded to support war (French Revolutionaries)

Napoleon was expert at manipulation, hence the expression to lie like a bullitin(1812 Bullitin).

Popular opinion was moulded with relentless propaganda to encourage mass participation (Nation in Arms levee en masse)

Popular attitudes however could not withstand the events of 1812-14 , so that devotion to Napoleon could not prevent defeat by attrition.

Between 1820-1900 instant news and the war correspondent became increasingly important (spreading news inventions)

The Crimean War marks the birth of the war correspondent (Russell)

During the Crimea nurses were established , readers fund raising and a change of government occurred. What remained constant was the fact the war would be fought to prevent Russia defeating Turkey.

Papers provided mood music , the press may not be able to tell readers what to think but are successful at telling them what to think about (agenda setting).

Both Generals (Custer 1876) and politicians (Lincoln and Gettysburg address 1863) believed that reporting was important.

Manipulation was taken seriously 1914-18 (Johnson 1917). Both allies and Central powers manipulated news (DORA, self-regulation, official accreditation, censors , briefings , film).

In 1914 strategic concerns overcame the newspapers (anti-war 1914), it can be argued that war fever was out of step with the news media.

Manipulation was also uncertain when applied to the new medium of film (Somme 1916 and UFA)

Hitler writing in 1923 said he admired allied propaganda (munitions of the mind against strategy of truth) but the real lesson was that propaganda worked best when it confirms what people already believed (that war was worth it).

POPULAR BELIEFS

There can be no direct correlation between popular opinion and decisions relating to war 1792-1918 because none of the Great Powers were totally democratic (politics without democracy)

However, the conduct of warfare existed within the context of European societies ideological beliefs ( the three isms)

The use of Nationalism to motivate citizen soldiers and the nation in arms began in 1793 (examples of French nationalist slogans).

Nationalism made warfare more destructive with its emphasis on total war (a direct line through Guibert , Napoleon, Clausewitz , Moltke)

Nationalism would later mutate into virulent Social Darwinism that thought of war as a necessity ( examples from Weltpolitk 1890-1914)

At its most extreme Social Darwinism considered war as necessary for spiritual renewal (compare Clausewitz On War with Bernhardi On War Today)

Militarism was prevalent in European society (Reservists) and combined with Nationalism and Social Darwinism produced War Fever 1914

Ivan Bloch(1899 Is war impossible) predicted that the Inner Front could not withstand Total War. Bloch failed to take account of the motivational force of the three isms.

CONCLUSION

Increasingly over the period 1792-1918 the popular attitudes and beliefs of the Home Front had to be taken into account. The spread of instant news and the birth of the war correspondent meant that events that had taken weeks to reach the public now took days or hours. With no true democracies existing until post 1918 the relationship between the conduct of war and public opinion is unproven. More significant is the relationship between the conduct of war and the long term context provided by the rise of Nationalism , Militarism and Social Darwinism that culminated in the war fever of 1914 and allowed the Home Front to endure the Great War.