Soldaten im 18. Jahrhundert zwischen Friedensalltag und Kriegserfahrung: Lebenswelten und Kultur in der kursächsischen Armee 1728-1796

This book presents for the first time the lives of non-commissioned officers and common soldiers of a large army of the "Old Empire" in the 18th century. Based on a wide range of sources, the author uses the example of the Electorate of Saxony to illuminate both everyday life in peace and experiences in war. Advertising, recruitment and garrison service, the experience, interpretation and processing of violence, captivity, illness and wounding, the everyday life of soldiers' wives and children, the economic situation as well as the problem of desertion are the major topics of the work. It combines in an exemplary manner questions of classical social history with those of modern research in cultural history. The military population is not regarded as an isolated class, but its place in society is explored. Beyond the socially factual, the author also directs attention to the spiritual-mental reality of the 'little people' in the army. How did the soldier experience himself, and how did his comrades, his superiors, his relatives and his quartermasters see him? Equally interesting is the soldier's image of the writers who, especially in the second half of the 18th century, dealt with the existence of soldiers.