scholarly journals Scandal in Mesopotamia: Press, empire, and India during the First World War

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 1395-1445
Author(s):  
MANU SEHGAL ◽  
SAMIKSHA SEHRAWAT
Keyword(s):  
First World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Colonial India ◽  
The First World War ◽  
War Effort ◽  
British Press ◽  
War Propaganda ◽  
Post War ◽  
The One ◽  
First World

AbstractBy providing the first comprehensive account of the role of the British and Indian press in war propaganda, this article makes an intervention in the global history of the First World War. The positive propaganda early in the war, intertwined with a rhetoric of loyalism, contrasted with how the conservative British press affixed blame for military defeats in Mesopotamia upon the colonial regime's failure to effectively mobilize India's resources. Using a highly emotive and enduring trope of the ‘Mesopotamia muddle’, the Northcliffe press was successful in channelling a high degree of public scrutiny onto the campaign. The effectiveness of this criticism ensured that debates about the Mesopotamian debacle became a vehicle for registering criticism of structures of colonial rule and control in India. On the one hand, this critique hastened constitutional reforms and devolution in colonial India and, on the other, it led to demands that the inadequacy of India's contribution to the war be remedied by raising war loans. Both the colonial government and its nationalist critics were briefly and paradoxically united in opposing these demands. The coercive extraction of funds for the imperial war effort as well as the British press's vituperative criticism contributed to a post-war, anti-colonial political upsurge. The procedure of creating a colonial ‘scandal’ out of a military disaster required a specific politics for assessing the regulated flows of information, which proved to be highly effective in shaping both the enquiry that followed and the politics of interwar colonial South Asia.

scholarly journals The Finest Feats of the War? The Captures of Baghdad and Jerusalem during the First World War and Public Opinion throughout the British Empire

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Fantauzzo
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
First World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The First World War ◽  
The Press ◽  
War Effort ◽  
Post War ◽  
First World

In March and December 1917 the British Empire won two much-needed victories in Mesopotamia and Palestine: Baghdad and Jerusalem. Both cities were steeped in biblical and oriental lore and both victories happened in a year that had been otherwise disastrous. Throughout the British Empire the press, public, and politicians debated the importance of the two successes, focusing on the effect they would have on the empire’s prestige, the Allies’ war strategy, and the post-war Middle East. Far from being overwhelmed by the ‘romance’ of the fighting in the Middle East, the press’s and public’s response reveals a remarkably well-informed, sophisticated, and occasionally combative debate about the empire’s Middle Eastern war effort.

Historiography of the Post-War Turkish Settlement

1992 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 27-48
Author(s):  
Bülent Gökay
Keyword(s):  
First World War ◽  
Power Struggle ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Complete Disintegration ◽  
International Power ◽  
Post War ◽  
The One ◽  
First World

The end of the First World War marked the complete disintegration of the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire. This disintegration was followed by a powerful surge of various nationalistic currents on the one hand, and an international power struggle for the control of the region on the other. The 1918-1923 period, therefore, represents a crucial phase, for not only were the overall forms of the international power relations in the area defined during these years, but the political structures and the orientations of various social and political interests within the states concerned were also similarly determined.

scholarly journals Letters of Orthodox Priests about the German Occupation of Estonia during the First World War

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Paert ◽  
James M. White
Keyword(s):  
First World War ◽  
World War ◽  
German Occupation ◽  
Main Complaint ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Complex Picture ◽  
War Propaganda ◽  
The One ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
First World

During the invasion of the Baltic provinces between 1915 and 1918, a large swathe of territory and its population fell under German control: this included Orthodox parishes and their priests. The clergy and laity thus had to face many new challenges: the behaviour of occupation forces, material deprivations, and the actions of Lutheran clerical and secular elites in the new context. This article focuses on the response to the advance of the German armies in 1915 and 1916 into the Baltic. On the one hand, the article addresses the preparation and execution of the evacuation of the clergy and the rhetoric that underpinned the process of evacuation. On the other hand, it examines the problem of the church life under occupation. As evident from the sermons and articles published in the ecclesiastical press, the Germans represented a major threat to the Orthodox faith, clergy, and church property. Thus most Orthodox institutions were evacuated from the Baltic in 1915. Finally, the article discusses the position of the Orthodox Church during German occupation of the Estonian islands seized by the imperial German navy on 3 November 1917 from the perspective of parish priests. The article is based on the letters written by priests to the bishop of Riga and provides a complex picture of the German occupation, much of which differs from the representation of Germans in Russian war propaganda. Most priests represented the German forces as being relatively respectful towards churches and the clergy: their main complaint against the soldiers was the seizure of food, horses, and property, with the concomitant disruptions and discomforts this caused. The more serious threat to Orthodoxy, according to this evidence, came not from Germans but from the Lutheran clergy, who allegedly used the opportunity afforded by the invasion to undermine the Orthodox Church’s position. This publication will provide a unique insight into religion under occupation during the First World War, revealing the difficulties of maintaining everyday religious life in a multiconfessional region during and after invasion.

scholarly journals Paris und Berlin nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg: Eine symbolische Nationalisierung der Hauptstädte?

2014 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-88
Author(s):  
Elise Julien
Keyword(s):  
First World War ◽  
The Other ◽  
National Context ◽  
World War ◽  
Capital Cities ◽  
The First World War ◽  
National Monuments ◽  
Post War ◽  
The One ◽  
First World

Abstract At the end of the First World War, the memories of the conflict which developed in France and Germany diverged widely. However, Paris and Berlin were something else than just a genuine reflection of their respective national context; their status as capital cities gave them common characteristics. Therefore some similar phenomena appear. On the one hand, those cities may offer a national backing to particular memories, which was especially sought. On the other hand, the concentration of marks of memory in those cities tended to consolidate them in an always more exclusively national role. Thus, a kind of reciprocal nationalization of memory by capital cities and of capital cities by memory occurred. This nationalization is particularly visible in the analysis of the national monuments that emerged in the post-war years. Nevertheless, such phenomena underline variations between Paris and Berlin: Paris stood out without any difficulty as the capital of France, even of the Allied world, while Berlin stood out as the capital of Prussia, with more difficulty as the capital of Germany.

Heimat Is Where the Heart Is; or, What Kind of Hungarian was Goldmark?

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 235-254
Author(s):  
David Brodbeck
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Old Age ◽  
First World War ◽  
The Other ◽  
World War ◽  
Musical Culture ◽  
The First World War ◽  
War Effort ◽  
The One ◽  
First World

On 2 January 1915, during the first winter of the First World War, the celebrated composer Carl Goldmark died in Vienna at the ripe old age of eighty-four. The Viennese press gave the story of his passing the kind of coverage that one would expect for a figure who was described as the “rector of Austrian music,” even its “epicenter.” The notice in the Neue Freie Presse was particularly striking in its imagery: “We, musical Vienna and the entire musical world, stand shaken around the funeral bier of the great composer and Austrian Carl Goldmark.” As the report goes on, the writer makes a clear reference to the growing war effort: “Many of our best and brightest must now die on the battlefield for the fatherland. Goldmark lived for his fatherland, and by creating art touched by the breadth of eternity, he honored the fatherland in his own way and greatly increased the cultural heritage of humanity.” Meanwhile, in the other great capital of the Dual Monarchy, the composer's death was covered very differently. To read the obituaries that appeared in Budapest is to be told that Hungary, not Austria, was Goldmark's fatherland. Here, in effect, both halves of the monarchy were fighting over the same man's legacy—the one, primarily on the basis of his Hungarian birth and childhood; the other, on the basis of his long residency in Austria and the central role he played in the musical culture of late Habsburg Vienna.

‘Help to win the war’ or ‘Ireland above all’?: Remobilisation, politics, and elite boys’ education in Ireland, 1917–18

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (166) ◽  
pp. 326-348
Author(s):  
Charlotte Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Public Support ◽  
First World War ◽  
Newspaper Coverage ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Food Shortages ◽  
War Effort ◽  
Post War ◽  
First World

AbstractWhile scholars have rightly recognised that the First World War transformed twentieth-century Ireland, this article queries assumptions regarding the scope and scale of public support for hostilities during 1917 and 1918. Eleven elite boys’ schools are used as case studies to assess civilian reactions to the ongoing war effort, food shortages, and the 1918 conscription crisis within specific institutional communities, illuminating the importance of socio-religious affiliations and political aspirations in determining late-war behaviour. Drawing on school magazines and newspaper coverage of college events, it is argued that alternative visions of statehood underpinned divergent reactions to the conflict; Protestant schools clung to fundraising and militaristic activities seen to support continued union with Britain but Catholic establishments rejected such endeavours in the wake of increased separatist sentiment. This research also casts new light on the interplay between conflict, educational socialisation and politicisation in revolutionary Ireland. Constitutional nationalist reputation aside, wartime mobilisation in elite Catholic schools proved extremely lacklustre, while the unionist expectations their Protestant counterparts had for the post-war world ultimately went unfulfilled. Prestigious colleges across the denominational spectrum demonstrably navigated late-war pressures on their own terms, shaping Ireland's political landscape both throughout and beyond the conflict's most contentious years.

scholarly journals ENGLISH RUGBY UNION AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 797-817 ◽  
Author(s):  
TONY COLLINS
Keyword(s):  
First World War ◽  
Rugby Union ◽  
World War ◽  
Sports Organizations ◽  
The First World War ◽  
War Effort ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First World

The idea that war was a football match writ large was commonly expressed in Britain during the First World War. This article looks at the attitudes and actions of the English Rugby Football Union and its supporters before, during, and after the First World War to examine how such beliefs were utilized by sports organizations and the impact they had on the military and on society as a whole. Rugby union football was viewed both by its supporters and general observers alike as the most enthusiastic and committed sporting supporter of the war effort; the article explores rugby's overtly ideological stance as a means of shedding light on broader discussions about the cultural impact of the war, such as in the works of Paul Fussell and Jay Winter, and about the continued survival of traditional and Edwardian ideas of patriotism among the English middle classes in the immediate post-war period.

British academics, liberalism, and the First World War

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Sherington
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
First World War ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
World War ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The First World War ◽  
War Effort ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First World

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the War on two prominent academic liberal historians. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on a narrative of their lives and careers before and during the War. Findings The findings include an analysis of how the War engaged these academic liberals in the pursuit of the War effort. Originality/value By the end of the War, both sought to reaffirm much of their earlier academic liberalism despite the political and social changes in the post-war world.

‘Machinic Desire’: Wyndham Lewis, Masculinity and the Sublime Horror of Technological War

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 488-514
Author(s):  
Udith Dematagoda
Keyword(s):  
First World War ◽  
Wyndham Lewis ◽  
World War ◽  
Technological Society ◽  
The Sublime ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Post War ◽  
First World

This article explores Wyndham Lewis's experience of the First World War, and its influence on his varied artistic output. It interrogates how Lewis's initial ambivalence towards an emergent technological society shifted through direct encounters with mechanized warfare, and speculates on the effect of these upon his post-war writing and criticism. By contrasting Lewis's thought against that of his Italian Futurist contemporaries, I will demonstrate the centrality of their divergent conceptions of masculinity in accounting for this opposition – and how Lewis's critique of technological society prefigures contemporary opposition towards the post-humanist philosophy of Accelerationism.

Western Ethnic Borderlands in the Influence of Russian-Soviet Propagangda Before and in the Years of the Second World War

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (46) ◽  
pp. 32-39
Author(s):  
Igor Lyubchyk
Keyword(s):  
First World War ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Russian Orthodoxy ◽  
The Social ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Post War ◽  
Second World ◽  
First World ◽  
Russian Identity

The research issue peculiarities of wide Russian propaganda among the most Western ethnographic group – Lemkies is revealed in the article. The character and orientation of Russian and Soviet agitation through the social, religious and social movements aimed at supporting Russian identity in the region are traced. Tragic pages during the First World War were Thalrogian prisons for Lemkas, which actually swept Lemkivshchyna through Muscovophilian influences. Agitation for Russian Orthodoxy has provoked frequent cases of sharp conflicts between Lemkas. In general, attempts by moskvophile agitators to impose russian identity on the Orthodox rite were failed. Taking advantage of the complex socio-economic situation of Lemkos, Russian campaigners began to promote moving to the USSR. Another stage of Russian propaganda among Lemkos began with the onset of the Second World War. Throughout the territory of the Galician Lemkivshchyna, Soviet propaganda for resettlement to the USSR began rather quickly. During the dramatic events of the Second World War and the post-war period, despite the outbreaks of the liberation movement, among the Lemkoswere manifestations of political sympathies oriented toward the USSR. Keywords: borderlands, Lemkivshchyna, Lemky, Lemkivsky schism, Moskvophile, Orthodoxy, agitation, ethnopolitics

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