Celebrating War and Nation: Gender, Patriotism and Festival Culture during and after the Prussian Wars of Liberation

TitleCelebrating War and Nation: Gender, Patriotism and Festival Culture during and after the Prussian Wars of Liberation
Publication TypeBook Chapter
Year of Publication2010
AuthorsHagemann, Karen
EditorHagemann, Karen, Jane Rendall, and Gisela Mettele
Book TitleGender, War and Politics: Transatlantic Perspectives, 1775-1830
Pagination284-304
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
CityBasingstoke, UK; New York
Abstract

This book chapter explores the highly gendered patriotic-national festival culture that was devleoped in Prussia during the period of the so-called Wars of Liberation between 1813 and  1815 by the military, the Christian churches, the central government and the local administrations to mobilize the soldiers and civilians for war, to celebrate victories, to mourn the fallen soldiers, celebrate the return of the victorious war heros and  remember  all victims of war and sacrifices for war. The chapter starts with the beginning of the conflict in Berlin, were the Wars of Liberation started as a celebration. When Russian troops under General Peter von Wittgenstein marched into the city on 11 March 1813, men, women and children of all ages and classes thronged the streets, cheering as they went to welcome the approaching army Church bells rang out everywhere, and in the evening the entire city was illuminated, even without the usual orders from the municipal government. Berliners remained outdoors far into the night, generously distributing food and drink to their Russian liberators and enjoying the festive atmosphere. Many of the festivities developed in this period became a blueprint for the patriotic-national festival culture of nineteenth century Germany.

URLhttps://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230283046_15
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903077709

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