Pokrewne
- Strona Główna
- Murrell Taylor The Divided Family in Civil War America By Amy (2009)
- Peter Zarrow China in War and Revolution, 1895 1949 (2005)
- Złote Wskazówki Jak zarabiać złoto w World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King
- Peter Zarrow China in War
- Mit Lincolna Steve Berry
- Harman Andrew 666 stopni Fahrenheita
- Cyceron Filipiki
- Teach Yourself DirectX 7 in 24 Hours
- Silmarillion
- Pokuta Gabriela
- zanotowane.pl
- doc.pisz.pl
- pdf.pisz.pl
- staffik.htw.pl
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Postwar Soldier Attitudes toward the Germans and FrenchIn the winter of 1918, two hundred thousand American troops headed to theRhineland to guard a bridgehead around Coblenz.They were there to prevent the Germanarmy from crossing the Rhine if peace talks broke down.Many American soldiers whospent time in the occupying army quickly discarded feelings of hate or animosity towardsthe German people.Instead, occupying troops embraced the Germans as an industriousand friendly people eager to develop democracy.In sharp contrast to this new-foundenthusiasm for German society, American soldiers still in France voiced increasing com-plaints and dissatisfaction with French civilians.The quick reconciliation betweenAmerican troops and their German foes worried American military officials almost asmuch as the virulent anti-French feeling that emerged within the ranks.Incensed that theFrench civilians barely acknowledged their role in winning the war, gossip in the ranksswirled with rumors of the French government charging the Americans rent for their sec-tion of the trenches and plotting to keep American soldiers permanently in France.The reasons that soldiers gave for preferring the Germans to the French in thepostwar period were based almost entirely on their daily encounters with each respectivepopulation.The feeling that French shopkeepers and peasants took advantage of Americantroops by charging high prices for their wares particularly incensed many men.Americansoldiers arrived flush with money in 1918, and French merchants were quick to realizethat, if they charged more, American soldiers had the means to pay.By contrast, militaryregulations in the occupation zone prevented merchants from gouging soldiers.In addi-tion, the stark contrast offered between the rural, and in American eyes, backward regionsof France and pristine German towns gave American troops the impression of entering asociety that more closely resembled their own when they took up residence there.AsAlexander Woollcott explained, the American soldier is at ease in Germany because it is 184 WORLD WAR Ia country contemporary with his own, that is, a country which by expanding during thesame half century that saw America s expansion, is similarly adorned and equipped. TheAmericans might be kin in thought with the French because of their shared commitmentto democracy, Woollcott concluded, but they were kin in custom with the Germanswhen it came to material comforts and cultural habits.4When soldiers began commenting in letters home that, we fought the war on thewrong side, American and French officials knew that it was time to act.5 Both pro-German and anti-French feeling, officials feared, would have negative repercussions onthe peace process.Overt fraternization might reduce American soldiers willingness topick up arms once again in the unlikely event that the German government refused to signthe Versailles Peace Treaty and hostilities resumed.Likewise, if servicemen returnedhome with strong anti-French feeling, they might perhaps prejudice the American peopleagainst ratifying the punitive peace treaty or undermine postwar relations between theUnited States and France.Both American and French officials took this situation seriously enough to initiatea series of programs intended to improve troops relations with French civilians.Frenchofficials organized multiple ceremonies to bestow French military honors on Americanunits and honor the achievements of American soldiers on the battlefield.At the sametime, strict orders prohibited fraternization between American soldiers and German civil-ians.These orders by no means succeeded in eliminating all contact, but at least signaledto troops that overly friendly relations were ill advised.To improve soldiers views of theFrench, American officials sent groups of troops on sightseeing trips around the countryin the hopes that, by getting them away from the devastated regions of France and thehardened peasants that inhabited these areas, American soldiers would learn to seeFrance in a new light [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl agnieszka90.opx.pl
.Postwar Soldier Attitudes toward the Germans and FrenchIn the winter of 1918, two hundred thousand American troops headed to theRhineland to guard a bridgehead around Coblenz.They were there to prevent the Germanarmy from crossing the Rhine if peace talks broke down.Many American soldiers whospent time in the occupying army quickly discarded feelings of hate or animosity towardsthe German people.Instead, occupying troops embraced the Germans as an industriousand friendly people eager to develop democracy.In sharp contrast to this new-foundenthusiasm for German society, American soldiers still in France voiced increasing com-plaints and dissatisfaction with French civilians.The quick reconciliation betweenAmerican troops and their German foes worried American military officials almost asmuch as the virulent anti-French feeling that emerged within the ranks.Incensed that theFrench civilians barely acknowledged their role in winning the war, gossip in the ranksswirled with rumors of the French government charging the Americans rent for their sec-tion of the trenches and plotting to keep American soldiers permanently in France.The reasons that soldiers gave for preferring the Germans to the French in thepostwar period were based almost entirely on their daily encounters with each respectivepopulation.The feeling that French shopkeepers and peasants took advantage of Americantroops by charging high prices for their wares particularly incensed many men.Americansoldiers arrived flush with money in 1918, and French merchants were quick to realizethat, if they charged more, American soldiers had the means to pay.By contrast, militaryregulations in the occupation zone prevented merchants from gouging soldiers.In addi-tion, the stark contrast offered between the rural, and in American eyes, backward regionsof France and pristine German towns gave American troops the impression of entering asociety that more closely resembled their own when they took up residence there.AsAlexander Woollcott explained, the American soldier is at ease in Germany because it is 184 WORLD WAR Ia country contemporary with his own, that is, a country which by expanding during thesame half century that saw America s expansion, is similarly adorned and equipped. TheAmericans might be kin in thought with the French because of their shared commitmentto democracy, Woollcott concluded, but they were kin in custom with the Germanswhen it came to material comforts and cultural habits.4When soldiers began commenting in letters home that, we fought the war on thewrong side, American and French officials knew that it was time to act.5 Both pro-German and anti-French feeling, officials feared, would have negative repercussions onthe peace process.Overt fraternization might reduce American soldiers willingness topick up arms once again in the unlikely event that the German government refused to signthe Versailles Peace Treaty and hostilities resumed.Likewise, if servicemen returnedhome with strong anti-French feeling, they might perhaps prejudice the American peopleagainst ratifying the punitive peace treaty or undermine postwar relations between theUnited States and France.Both American and French officials took this situation seriously enough to initiatea series of programs intended to improve troops relations with French civilians.Frenchofficials organized multiple ceremonies to bestow French military honors on Americanunits and honor the achievements of American soldiers on the battlefield.At the sametime, strict orders prohibited fraternization between American soldiers and German civil-ians.These orders by no means succeeded in eliminating all contact, but at least signaledto troops that overly friendly relations were ill advised.To improve soldiers views of theFrench, American officials sent groups of troops on sightseeing trips around the countryin the hopes that, by getting them away from the devastated regions of France and thehardened peasants that inhabited these areas, American soldiers would learn to seeFrance in a new light [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]