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Escaping the Front: Desertion, Dissembling, and Defection

Matthews James

in Reluctant Warriors: Republican Popular Army and Nationalist Army Conscripts in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939

This chapter examines serious breaches of discipline in both Nationalist and Republican armies. These threatened their systems of recruitment and their capacity to retain conscripted men within the ... More

This chapter examines serious breaches of discipline in both Nationalist and Republican armies. These threatened their systems of recruitment and their capacity to retain conscripted men within the armed forces. It examines the motivation behind decisions to defect and desert, and also looks at the opportunities outwardly to conform to mobilization, while simultaneously procuring the safest possible posting within both armies. The chapter also focuses on both sides’ attempts to limit the number of men avoiding military service, including via self-mutilation, and examines the measures for ‘recycling’ deserters and prisoners of war. These men were monitored and, if their conduct and background checks allowed it, they were enlisted to fight in their captors’ army. While this was practiced by both sides, it was particularly important for the Nationalists because they captured more enemy soldiers than the Republic.Less

Juvenile Delinquency and the National Defense State

David R. Ambaras

in Bad Youth: Juvenile Delinquency and the Politics of Everyday Life in Modern Japan

This chapter shows that the onset of war presented urban working youths with new economic challenges and opportunities, but also notes that the expansion and continuation of conflict only worsened ... More

This chapter shows that the onset of war presented urban working youths with new economic challenges and opportunities, but also notes that the expansion and continuation of conflict only worsened the long-standing fears of the authorities about the indiscipline and alienation of these youths. It shows that aggressive new measures were enacted to ensure the youth's conformity to national goals.Less

Who Will Become a Theoretician?

Laurent Dubreuil

David Fieni (ed.)

in Empire of Language: Toward a Critique of (Post) colonial Expression

This chapter advocates a critical excessiveness regarding the colony—the passing of the disciplines through a sieve and to move beyond their defining protocols. It claims the term “indiscipline” to ... More

This chapter advocates a critical excessiveness regarding the colony—the passing of the disciplines through a sieve and to move beyond their defining protocols. It claims the term “indiscipline” to mark the epistemic negativity that results from its methodical formation. Indiscipline is a shareable exigency—a matter of pursuing the critique of the colony all the way into the defection of the postcolonial. From there, the chapter returns to two other discourses that make use of history and literature and can serve as alternative models of literary criticism. From there, the chapter extols the reader to speak anew about the underlying coerciveness of colonialism, in order to move from and beyond it.Less

Departmental Commander—And Disaster: August–December 1861

Brian Holden Reid

in The Scourge of War: The Life of William Tecumseh Sherman

This chapter addresses the impact of the First Battle of Bull Run on William T. Sherman. On July 21, 1861, Sherman’s brigade had endured the hardest fighting. His superior officers believed that he ... More

This chapter addresses the impact of the First Battle of Bull Run on William T. Sherman. On July 21, 1861, Sherman’s brigade had endured the hardest fighting. His superior officers believed that he had done well; on August 3, he received notification that he would be promoted to brigadier general of volunteers. This state of affairs would shortly change. Sherman might have witnessed his men’s foolhardy courage, but he found little else to praise in their conduct. The root of the problem lay in chronic indiscipline. Of greater interest is Sherman’s opinion of the Confederacy, as this would shape his analysis of the war’s conduct for the next six months. The experience of the First Battle of Bull Run, in his opinion, had revealed that the Confederates enjoyed significant tactical virtues. The chapter then details how Sherman suffered from adjustment disorder due to the Bull Run. On December 23, Major General Henry W. Halleck appointed Sherman to Benton Barracks, where he could train recruits and begin the resuscitation of his military career.Less

Introduction

Robert L. Fuller

in The Struggle for Cooperation: Liberated France and the American Military, 1944--1946

Despite the mutual hostility of General Charles de Gaulle and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, France and the United States needed to cooperate to win the war against Germany. The French needed the ... More

Despite the mutual hostility of General Charles de Gaulle and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, France and the United States needed to cooperate to win the war against Germany. The French needed the help of the Americans more than the Americans needed the French; nevertheless, good working relations between the two were obviously in the best interests of both. Fortunately, US Army officers and French officials proved to be ready and willing to work closely and amicably together. Even so, certain areas of disagreement and friction appeared repeatedly in French and American official reports, memos, and correspondence. GI indiscipline ranked high on the list of issues on which the French urged immediate action. This work examines those issues as discrete subjects.Less

Problem GIs and the GI Problem

Robert L. Fuller

in The Struggle for Cooperation: Liberated France and the American Military, 1944--1946

Drunken and brawling GIs behind the lines ended up providing the greatest irritant to good Franco-American relations. The warm welcome accorded to the liberators sometimes turned to active dislike as ... More

Drunken and brawling GIs behind the lines ended up providing the greatest irritant to good Franco-American relations. The warm welcome accorded to the liberators sometimes turned to active dislike as GI crime mounted. The French, used to low levels of crime before the war and “correct” German behavior during the occupation, were shocked by the criminality and boorishness unleashed by GIs. When French police proved powerless to stop drunkenness and rowdiness on the streets, outraged French officials demanded that the US Army impose order. Some commanders took effective steps to curb indiscipline, while others did less.Less

Epilogue: Yankees Go Home

Robert L. Fuller

in The Struggle for Cooperation: Liberated France and the American Military, 1944--1946

Despite discord and mutual hostility between the heads of state of France and the United States, French officials worked easily with American officers, who generally proved accommodating to the ... More

Despite discord and mutual hostility between the heads of state of France and the United States, French officials worked easily with American officers, who generally proved accommodating to the French, when possible. Some problems defied resolution and had to be managed by these officers and officials to the best of their abilities. The reservoirs of goodwill on both sides made winning the war and restoring normality to France easier for all involved. Relations between GIs and average French citizens, however, did not reveal the same level of accord. Battle-weary and bored GIs too often behaved like bad guests. By VE Day, American soldiers were tired of being in France and wanted to go home; French attitudes mirrored those of the Americans. Levels of indiscipline reached new lows when GIs gathered in France to ship out.Less

Occupation Regimes and Civil–Military Encounters at the Western Front

Alex Dowdall

in Communities under Fire: Urban Life at the Western Front, 1914-1918

Chapter 3 uncovers the dynamics of the military occupation regimes put in place on both sides of the lines during the First World War, and demonstrates how they impacted civilian life in the ... More

Chapter 3 uncovers the dynamics of the military occupation regimes put in place on both sides of the lines during the First World War, and demonstrates how they impacted civilian life in the front-line towns. It provides the first comparative analysis of military occupation on both sides of the Western Front, and argues that although some of the methods employed differed from one side of the lines to the other, the main objectives were fundamentally the same. In all cases civilian freedoms were curtailed on the basis of military necessity. It describes the German and Allied occupation regimes side by side, before moving on to a discussion of the face-to-face encounters and relationships that developed between individual civilians and soldiers. It demonstrates that three types of encounter between civilians and soldiers had particularly strong impacts on the social dynamics of urban communities on both sides of the Western Front. They arose from military indiscipline, platonic relationships, and sexual encounters. The chapter argues that although the German occupation regime was notably harsher than that on the Allied side, and forced civilians to navigate complex issues of resistance and collaboration, in both cases urban life near the front was profoundly shaped by the military presence.Less

Soldiers in Garrison: Discipline, Indiscipline, and Mutiny

Graham Dominy

in Last Outpost on the Zulu Frontiers: Fort Napier and the British Imperial Garrison

This chapter examines the problem of discipline within the ranks of the Victorian army stationed at Fort Napier and how alcohol abuse sparked the mutiny of the Cape Mounted Riflemen (CMR) detachment ... More

This chapter examines the problem of discipline within the ranks of the Victorian army stationed at Fort Napier and how alcohol abuse sparked the mutiny of the Cape Mounted Riflemen (CMR) detachment at the Bushman's River post in 1852. Drunkenness was almost all-pervasive at Fort Napier throughout its existence as a garrison center. The abuse of alcohol provided the fuel for conflict in various incidents, both minor and major. The chapter first provides a background on the CMR, also known as the Cape Corps, in the Colony of Natal before discussing “interior life” in the garrison. It then describes the dispersal of small units across Zululand and how it exacerbated the general problems of crime and drunkenness among soldiers. It also analyzes the CMR mutiny in the context of the Eighth Frontier War (1850–53) in the eastern Cape; this event and the mutiny of the Inniskilling Fusiliers at Fort Napier in 1887 were the most pronounced episodes of indiscipline and inhumanity to occur during the seven decades of military occupation.Less

Exiled from Paris: The French Army, February–May 1848

Jonathan M. House

in Controlling Paris: Armed Forces and Counter-Revolution, 1789-1848

This chapter examines the French Army's role in Paris and the problem of military discipline during the spring of 1848. More specifically, it considers the army's indiscipline, partisan politics, ... More

This chapter examines the French Army's role in Paris and the problem of military discipline during the spring of 1848. More specifically, it considers the army's indiscipline, partisan politics, leadership, and expansion and how it reestablished its discipline and order within a few days of the February Revolution of 1848. The chapter first discusses Parisian civil–military relations during 1848 and goes on to analyze the three centers of influence that controlled the War Ministry during 1848: the war minister, the Commission for the Organization of National Defense, and the professional soldier. It then describes the War Ministry's success in ending troop mutinies in April 1848 and restoring discipline and political reliability in the French Army. It also analyzes the War Ministry's semi-mobilization of a professional army for war in Europe.Less

Accountability of Judges

Sudhanshu Ranjan

in Justice versus Judiciary: Justice Enthroned or Entangled in India?

Judges are not above the law. Like the other institutions of the State, the judiciary must be accountable. Chief Justice Edward Coke told King James I point blank that was not above the law and ... More

Judges are not above the law. Like the other institutions of the State, the judiciary must be accountable. Chief Justice Edward Coke told King James I point blank that was not above the law and quoted jurist Bracton, Non-sub homine sed sub deo et lege. (The King is under no man, save under God and the law.) Ironically, judges themselves don’t appear to be following this dictum giving an impression that they are above the law. The judiciary should be accountable according to its own reasonings employed for holding all other institutions to account. But it abhors the idea of accountability for itself in the name of its independence. It is a misnomer as independence and accountability are complementary, not antagonistic.Less

The Popular Allure and Academic Neglect of Mutinies

Maggie Dwyer

in Soldiers in Revolt: Army Mutinies in Africa

This chapter introduces the study of mutinies and highlights the lack of academic attention on this type of revolt in an African context. It lays out the book’s two overarching themes. One is that ... More

This chapter introduces the study of mutinies and highlights the lack of academic attention on this type of revolt in an African context. It lays out the book’s two overarching themes. One is that mutineers are usually driven by a combination of material demands and a perceived injustice. The other theme is that soldiers use mutinies to communicate with senior leadership. The chapter then demonstrates how this interpretation challenges other understandings of mutinies.Less