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World War One in Literature

In 1939, the writer Robert Graves was asked to write an article for the BBC’s Listener magazine, explaining ‘as a war poet of the last war, why so little poetry has so far been produced by this one.’ From the very first weeks of fighting, the First World War inspired enormous amounts of poetry, factual analysis, autobiography and fiction - from all countries involved in the conflict. 2,225 English war poets have been counted, of whom 1808 were civilians. The ‘total’ nature of this war perhaps goes someway to explaining its enormous impact on the popular imagination. Even today, commemorations and the effects of a ‘lost generation’ are still being witnessed. It was a war fought for traditional, nationalistic values of the nineteenth century, propagated using twentieth century technological and industrial methods of killing. The literature written during, and inspired by the first world war provides extraordinary insight into how the common soldier experienced life in battle, as well as how the civilian population mobilised and dealt with these losses.

A lot of the literature written during the war was designed to inform and propagandise, and nowhere was this more evident than in literary works for children. There were many overt attempts to encourage support for the war effort, influencing children’s (future soldiers) attitudes towards armed conflict. An earlier example, encouraging children to be good citizens, fighting for king and country was Scouting for Boys, written by Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the scouting movement (published 1908). The cover depicted a boy watching out for enemy ships on the shoreline, replacing traditional images of childish innocence, passivity and naivety with children ready, willing and able to serve their nation. These were activities full of excitement and adventure, including tracking, woodcraft, endurance, chivalry, saving lives and patriotism. Such tropes were eagerly expanded once the war had began, notably by A.R. Hope, with The School of Arms: Stories of Boy Soldiers and Sailors (1915).

This volume contained many stories about the experiences of young soldiers in battles, using historical accounts to make participating in war seen normal. In fact, such actions were often depicted as a fundamental part of any boys’ coming of age, thereby preparing people to accept the idea of their young men and boys fighting and dying in battle. In the popular children’s periodical, The Boys Own Paper, numerous stories of young war heroes also provided entertainment for its avid readers - instilling pride in ones own country and distain for the enemy. Despite these glorifying aspects of home-front propaganda, the war literature that is most celebrated today is that which highlights the grim reality and everyday experiences of the men on the front line. From Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, to Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, to the poetry of Sassoon, Graves, and Brooke, there are numerous examples of acclaimed writing inspired by the Great War. Wilfred Owen (killed in the conflict at the age of twenty-five), wrote in introduction to his collected poems, ‘This book is not about heroes... Nor is it about deeds, or lands, nor anything about glory, honour, might, majesty, dominion, or power, except War.... My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity.’

The autobiography of Robert Graves perfectly sums up this mood, his ‘bitter leave-taking of England.’ The title, Good-Bye to All That points to the passing of an old order following the cataclysm of global war, the massive inadequacies of the patriotism which the government tried so hard to sustain, the rise of atheism, feminism, socialism and fascism as well as a whole host of other social changes. The unsentimental and frequently comic treatment of the banalities and intensities of the life of a British army officer in the First World War gave the author fame and financial security. It also provided an eager public with detailed descriptions of trench warfare, including the tragic incompetence of the Battle of Loos and the bitter fighting in the first phase of the Somme Offensive. The spread of education in Europe in the decades leading up to World War One meant that both soldiers and the public, at all levels of society, were literate. As a result, authors, both professional and amateur, were prolific during and after the war and found a market for their works. Literature was produced throughout the war but it was in the late 1920s and early 1930s that the real boom in war writing took place.

Erich Maria Remarque’s best-selling book, Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front), was translated into 28 languages with world sales nearly reaching 4 million in 1930. The book describes the German soldiers’ extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front. Remarque’s book was also partly based on Henri Barbusse’s 1916 novel, Le Feu (Under Fire). Barbusse was a French journalist who served as a stretcher-bearer on the front lines and his book was very influential in its own right at the time. The year after its publication, it won the prestigious Prix Goncourt and by the Armistice had sold 200,000 copies in France alone. Other novels, such as the The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek, have since become national emblems. This darkly comic tale, and its main protagonist Švejk, has developed into the Czech national personification, exploring both the pointlessness and futility of conflict in general, and of military discipline, Austrian military discipline in particular. Many of its characters, especially the Czechs, were participating in a conflict they did not understand on behalf of a country to which they had no loyalty.

Aside from literature directly relating to combatants’ experiences, some pre-existing popular literary characters were placed by their authors in World War I-related adventures during or directly after the war. These include Tom Swift (Tom Swift and His Aerial Warship, 1915 and Tom Swift and His Air Scout, 1919), Sherlock Holmes (His Last Bow, 1917) and Tarzan (Tarzan the Untamed, 1920). In addition, there was a massive amount of literature written by those ‘left behind’ on the home front; Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth (first published 1933) has since been acclaimed as a classic for its description of the impact of the war on the lives of women and the civilian population - extending into the post-war years. As is evident, the literature of World War One is an enormous field, encompassing a wide array of styles; propagandistic, poetic, fictional, autobiographical and comical. It provides a glimpse into just what this terrible war meant for the everyday population, as well as the intelligentsia. It is hoped the current reader is encouraged to find out more, and enjoys this book.

This book is part of the World War One Centenary series; creating, collating and reprinting new and old works of poetry, fiction, autobiography and analysis. The series forms a commemorative tribute to mark the passing of one of the world’s bloodiest wars, offering new perspectives on this tragic yet fascinating period of human history.

Amelia Carruthers