A Nation in Barracks Modern Germany, Military Conscription and Civil Society

by Frevert, Ute

• ISBN13: 9781859738863
• ISBN10: 1859738869
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-12-10
• Publisher: Berg Pub Ltd

Summary

'German militarism' has long been understood to be a central element of German society. Considering the role of militarism, this book investigates how conscription has contributed to instilling a strong sense of military commitment amongst the German public.A Nation in Barracks tells the story of how military-civil relations have evolved in Germany during the last two hundred years. Focusing on the introduction and development of military conscription, the author looks at its relationship to state citizenship, nation building, gender formation and the concept of violence. She begins with the early nineteenth century, when conscription was first used in Prussia and initially met with harsh criticism from all aspects of society, and continues through to the two Germanies of the post-1949 period. The book covers the Prussian model used during World War I, the Weimar Republic when no conscription was enforced and the mass military mobilization of the Third Reich.Throughout this comprehensive account, acclaimed historian Ute Frevert examines how civil society deals with institutionalized violence and how this affects models of citizenship and gender relations.

Author Biography

Ute Frevert is Professor of German History at Yale University.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Military Conscription and Civil Society: Historical Trajectories	1	(8)
1 War, Nation, Gender Images: Core Concepts in Conscription in the Early Nineteenth Century	9	(38)
1. Criticism of Existing Prussian Army Structures	10	(4)
2. Conscription: Setbacks on the Road to a 'National Army'	14	(4)
3. The Battle for the Middle Classes	18	(4)
4. Military Service, Wartime Service, and Manliness	22	(8)
5. 'Female Patriotism'	30	(17)
2 'Both Citizen and Soldier'? Prussia in the Vormärz Period (1815-48)	47	(54)
1. The Law on Wartime Service: Rules and Practices	47	(9)
2. The Landwehr as a Citizens' Militia?	56	(9)
3. Citizenship and Masculinity: The Jewish Population Demands Participation	65	(5)
4. The Army as the 'Training School' for War and Peace	70	(12)
5. Soldiers and Civilians - Soldiers as Citizens?	82	(19)
3 Military Systems in the 'Third Germany'	101	(48)
1. The Move from Exemption to Substitution	102	(7)
2. Army Service: The View from Inside	109	(4)
3. Civilian Counterparts: An Armed Citizenry and a Man's Right to Bear Arms	113	(9)
4. Civilian Militias during the Vormärz Period and in 1848-1849	122	(10)
5. The 'Martial Spirit' in Military Associations or Dreams of a Democratic Army	132	(17)
4 War and Peace: Imperial Germany in the Prussian Barracks	149	(88)
1. Constitutional or Military State: Paving the Way in the Pre-Empire Years	150	(7)
2. Middle-class Arrangements: One-yearers and Reserve Officers	157	(13)
3. Soldiers at the 'School of Manliness'	170	(12)
4. The Regiment as a Family: The Potential and Limits of Military Comradeship	182	(18)
5. Liaisons Dangereuses: The Military and Civil Society	200	(37)
5 The Twentieth Century: The (Ex-)Soldier as Citizen	237	(52)
1. The Post-First World War Years: Militarisation without Military Service	238	(9)
2. Soldiers and Volksgenossen: The Escalation of Violence under the Nazis	247	(12)
3. Post-war Germany: From Disarmed to Rearmed State	259	(13)
4. Civic Spirit and Gender Politics: The End of Conscription?	272	(17)
Bibliography	289	(30)
Index	319