Enduring the Great War
Combat, Morale and Collapse in the German and British Armies, 1914–1918

A comparative history of how German and British soldiers endured the horror of the First World War.

Alexander Watson (Author)

9780521123082, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 12 November 2009

308 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.45 kg

'Alexander Watson has produced a work that reflects his tremendous scholarship.' Open History

This book is an innovative comparative history of how German and British soldiers endured the horror of the First World War. Unlike existing literature, which emphasises the strength of societies or military institutions, this study argues that at the heart of armies' robustness lay natural human resilience. Drawing widely on contemporary letters and diaries of British and German soldiers, psychiatric reports and official documentation, and interpreting these sources with modern psychological research, this unique account provides fresh insights into the soldiers' fears, motivations and coping mechanisms. It explains why the British outlasted their opponents by examining and comparing the motives for fighting, the effectiveness with which armies and societies supported men and the combatants' morale throughout the conflict on both sides. Finally it challenges the consensus on the war's end, arguing that not a 'covert strike' but rather an 'ordered surrender' led by junior officers brought about Germany's defeat in 1918.

Introduction
1. War of endurance
2. Why men fought: combat motivation in the trenches
3. Self-deception and survival: mental coping strategies
4. Junior leadership: command, cohesion and combat motivation
5. Morale and military endurance
6. The German collapse in 1918: strike, mutiny or an ordered surrender?
Conclusion
Appendix 1. Walter Ludwig's study of Württemberg soldiers' coping strategies
Appendix 2. Psychiatric casualties in the German and British armies
Appendix 3. Military ranks and status in the German and British armies.

Subject Areas: First World War [HBWN], Social & cultural history [HBTB], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], British & Irish history [HBJD1], European history [HBJD]