MYTH vs. REALITY: INTERPRETING WORLD WAR

I

ROGER LEEARMY HISTORIAN

MYTH vs. REALITY: INTERPRETING WORLD WAR I

Workshop structure:1. Presentation –

- three general themes- three ‘myths’

2. Questions and discussion

MYTH vs REALITY: INTERPRETING WORLD WAR I

Themes:

1. ‘dumbing-down’ history2. ‘drinking-straw’ approach to history3. ‘human element’ minus context

MYTH vs REALITY: INTERPRETING WORLD WAR I

Myths:

1. Incompetent generals caused all the casualties

2. Australia won the War3. A VC for Simpson

MYTH vs REALITY: INTERPRETING WORLD WAR I

Theme 1 – ‘dumbing down history:Causes of the War

- THE shot that started the war- the real causes?- each nation had a different reason- complexity of determining causation

MYTH vs REALITY: INTERPRETING WORLD WAR I

Theme 2 – ‘drinking straw’approach:Context context context:Typical problems with Australian interpretations of the war:

national focusthe Australian divisions

individual focusGeneral Monash

MYTH vs REALITY: INTERPRETING WORLD WAR I

Theme 3 – the individual’s story is all there is to know:- a war of the masses- common experiences- what can one individual tell us- constant repetition is not (a) irrefutable evidence (b) not necessarily the whole story- problems with received memory

Typical problems with Australian interpretations of the war:

national focusthe Australian divisions

individual focusGeneral Monash

MYTH vs REALITY: INTERPRETING WORLD WAR I

Myth 1: The Generals caused all those deaths through ignorance, incompetence or worse.

What did generals do?The British Army – some issues

growthtechnology

industryCasualties –statistics and explanation

WESTERN FRONT - 1914

Opposing armies at war’s outbreak:- French peace 800,000 (approx)

war 3,680,000- British peace 120,000

war 389,000- German peace 840,000

war 4,000,000 plus

WESTERN FRONT – The British Effort

The Contemptible Little Army Regulars - 6 Inf Divs;1 Cav Div TA – 269,000 in July 1914 (intended for Home Defence)

no heavy artillery Little industrial base – artillery ammunition acquired from

US and Germany By Feb 1917, British fielded over 60 Divisions on Western

front alone (including 10 Dominion) By April 1917, fielded over 2,300 pieces of heavy artillery

and over 5 million rounds of artillery ammunition were produced in the second quarter of 1917

MYTH vs REALITY: INTERPRETING WORLD WAR I

Casualties:Emotive subject – historians should never

forget they are talking about people- What do they mean?

= killed in action (KIA)= wounded in action (WIA)= died of wounds (DOW)

- Other forms of casualty

MYTH vs REALITY: INTERPRETING WORLD WAR I

Myth 2: The Australians won the WarThe Australians as shock troops

- cohesion- no logistics responsibilities

By comparison with whom?- the British- the Canadians- the Germans

MYTH vs REALITY: INTERPRETING WORLD WAR I

Myth 3: Simpson should get a VCEmotive subject – beyond research and

revision?Subject of campaign by othersWhat did he do?

- braver than others?- saved 300 men?

MYTH vs REALITY: INTERPRETING WORLD WAR I

MYTH vs REALITY: INTERPRETING WORLD WAR

Any questions?