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A feudal ideology's modern consequences

It lasted until World War 1
  • Engraving, about 1820 – the feudal idea of valor has not changed
The Baron of Mortemart: "My friends, let us arm ourselvses with the bayonets of the enemy!"

 

 

  • Magazine cover, 1915 – still the same

 

 

French patriotic publication, April 1915

 

This upbeat illustration shows the infamous red trousers that made French soldiers perfect targets, and the absence of helmets.

 

As well, official ideology maintained that "élan" (heroic enthusiasm) could overcome barbed wire and machine guns. Disastrous attacks lasted from autumn 1914 until May 1917, when half the French infantry refused offensives.

 

Such aberrations by French generals puzzle historians. All they say is that the High Command was intelligent on other matters.

 

Does the explanation lie with the feudal conception of war (without its brakes)? If so, the medieval glorification of violence contributed to the carnage that provoked the 20th-century's calamities.  

 

 

Credits: These documents are loose papers found at a flea market.

We bring them to the visit.