Fallen Soldiers: Reshaping the Memory of the World Wars - Hardcover

Millions were killed and maimed in World War I, but once the armistice was signed the realities were cleansed of their horror by the nature of the burial and commemoration of the dead. In the inter-war period, war monuments and cemeteries provided the public with places of worship and martyrs for the civic religion of nationalism. The cult of the fallen soldier blossomed in Germany and other European countries, and people seemed to build war into their lives as a necessary and glorious event - a proof of manhood and loyalty to the flag. Ultimately there was even a process of trivialization, with light comedies, war toys and battlefield tourism becoming popular. Tracing wartime experience from the Napoleonic Wars to Vietnam, Professor Mosse's study explores why mankind has drawn the sting of death from modern war and transformed it into an acceptable, even sacred, event.

About the Author: George L. Mosse is Bascom-Weinstein Professor of History, Emeritus, at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and Koebner Professor of History, Emeritus, at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His previous books include The Crisis of German Ideology, Nazi Culture, The Nationalization of the Masses, Nationality and Sexuality, and Toward the Final Solution.