In the decades leading up to the First World War, the Swedish army (as the rest of Swedish society) was greatly influenced by Germany (i.e. subject primarily to Prussian military influence). German equipment was purchased and German training methods and ways of organizing military units were copied. Apart from such easily discernible traces of German influence, the Swedish officer corps - according to earlier research - harboured sympathies for Germany and the German Army. But did the German influences, and the sympathies for Germany, also result in a professional bias – i.e. in a lack of professional objectivity? The purpose of this essay is to examine whether the officer corps of the Swedish army in the period 1900-1914 managed to achieve a level of professional objectivity, i.e. if it in a systematic way endeavoured to study the military development in other countries than Germany. Earlier research has shown that Swedish officers travelled to all major European countries in order to study a wide range of subjects. The essay connects on to these results but also strives to examine the study tours as well as the officers who undertook them in greater depth. The author examines reports written by Swedish officers who studied in France between 1900 and 1914 as well as contemporary army lists.  In the essay two main questions are raised: 1. Which were the subjects for Swedish military study tours to France before the First World War? 2. Which categories of officers (rank, posting, career etc.) undertook such tours? The following main results are presented: A very wide range of subjects were studied – all relevant to Swedish military development of that time. The coverage of subjects was probably due to a systematic approach from the army authorities responsible for the approval of money for the tours. The officers who studied abroad were drawn from various units and backgrounds. The result of the examination of contemporary army lists shows that a high percentage of them later enjoyed successful military careers (e.g. what seems to be a higher than average percentage were later promoted to the rank of full colonel) – and that the army put the knowledge acquired abroad to use. An indication of the latter is that many of them, after having studied abroad, were given postings with a connection to the subjects they had studied in France. All in all, the results indicate that the Swedish officer corps achieved a level of professional objectivity in spite of the strong German influences of that time.

The Great War narrative has been the subject of wide scholarship but there have been no studies that have specifically focused on understanding the ethical and aesthetic struggles of the artist in war, the artist’s dilemma. The generation that experienced the Great War included many giants of twentieth-century intellectual, cultural, and political life, many of whom wrote personal narratives of their experiences. These narratives have contributed to shaping familial stories and the meta-narratives of nation states for generations—sometimes limiting a fuller understanding of the war. Through this thesis I aim to open the field of narrative investigation into a wider inquiry through applying what Brian Lande identifies as the ‘sensual and moral conversion’ of the soldier in war, to the artistic actor in the theatre of war. The proposition is to identify and read beyond generic conventions, then to observe the process, the tasks, and the moral, psychosocial, and aesthetic dilemmas of the artist in the theatre of war. To do this, the work focuses on three robust texts of the Great War: Robert Graves’s Good-bye to All That (1929), Mary Borden’s The Forbidden Zone (1929), and David Jones’s In Parenthesis (1937). The project explores not only the nuance of creative witness, self-witness, and testimony, but proposes a fuller empathic engagement with the narrative within the social contract of war writing. After developing a model of the formal conventions which structure the genre of war writing, and building on the work of Max Saunders, Henri LeFebvre, and others, I have carried out close readings of the three authors’ Great War narratives and related works. With an interdisciplinary approach that encompasses literary, artistic, historical, ethical, and sociological studies, and with extensive archival research, I propose to introduce another perspective on reading between the lines of Great War narratives. This perspective encompasses the ethical and aesthetic dilemmas that faced the artists of the war generation as they acted and reacted to war, a generation that shaped the intellectual, political, scientific, and artistic life of the twentieth century, and the lives of generations to follow.

Cette thèse examine le processus de construction, de projection et de performance d’un aspect de l’identité nationale australienne – l’Anzac et son rôle central dans le récit national – par le prisme de la mémorialisation de guerre à Villers-Bretonneux. Elle se penche sur les liens tangibles entre cette commune et l’Australie – en incluant, parmi d’autres dispositifs commémoratifs, l’Ecole Victoria, le mémorial national australien, le musée franco-australien, l’association franco-australienne et la commémoration de l’Anzac Day – et ce que ces liens révèlent à propos de la nature des pratiques commémoratives australiennes. Cette thèse met en lumière que la commune de Villers-Bretonneux a été utilisée comme une scène sur laquelle des versions changeantes du récit national australien ont été assemblées et mises en scène. A Villers, la réécriture de ce récit a été constante, en organisant le passé pour se définir, individuellement et collectivement, dans le présent. Par ailleurs, ce processus actif d’élaboration d’identité nationale australienne par le biais de la mémorialisation de guerre relègue souvent les soldats morts commémorés au second plan pour servir les intérêts présents de ceux qui les commémorent. Villers-Bretonneux est une commune inconnue de la grande majorité des Français. Pourtant, c’est au travers des commémorations de guerre dans cette commune d’un peu plus de 4,000 habitants que l’Australie a construit et nourri son interprétation de l’hommage des Français aux soldats australiens de la Première Guerre mondiale. Cette thèse met en lumière cet aspect essentiel qu’est l’altérité dans la validation d’images nationales par l’étude de l’importance que l’Australie a accordée à la validation française perçue de son récit national. / This thesis examines the process of assembly, projecting and performing an aspect of Australian national identity – Anzac and its central role in the national narrative – through the prism of war memorialisation at Villers-Bretonneux. It scrutinises the tangible ties between this town and Australia – including, amongst other forms of commemoration and commemorative devices, Victoria School, the Australian National Memorial, the French-Australian Museum, the French-Australian Association, and the commemoration of Anzac Day – and what these links reveal about the nature of Australian commemorative practices. The thesis argues that this village has been utilised as a stage upon which to engineer and perform changing representations of Australia’s national narrative. At Villers-Bretonneux there has been a constant rewriting of this narrative, managing the past to define oneself – collectively and individually – in the present. This active process of the development of the Australian national narrative through war memorialisation often relegates the commemorated dead soldiers to the background and serves, in their place, the present interests of those who commemorate. Villers-Bretonneux is a town unknown to the vast majority of French people and one to which even fewer ever travel. Yet, it is upon Australian war commemorations in this town of a little over 4,000 inhabitants that Australia has constructed its reportage of the French homage to Australian soldiers of the First World War and Australia. The thesis exposes this essential element of otherness in validating national images through an examination of the insistence on the perceived validation offered by the French.

L’importance des pratiques de la gravure pendant la Grande Guerre en France en Belgique et en Angleterre s’explique en partie par le renouveau des techniques (taille-douce, bois, lithographie) qui s’opère au cours de la deuxième moitié du XIXe siècle et au début du XXe siècle. Durant la guerre, elle permet aux artistes de s’engager par leur art mais elle dépasse largement la production stricte d'un art de propagande. La gravure fait en effet l’objet d’un investissement nouveau et important pour figurer le conflit, y compris par des artistes qui ne l’ont que peu voire jamais pratiquée avant-guerre. Guerre et gravure semblent ainsi adhérer l’une à l’autre et s’actualisent mutuellement. Cette thèse a pour ambition de mettre en évidence les enjeux de ces pratiques de la gravure pour représenter la guerre dans ces trois pays alliés. L’étude de la représentation fragmentée et fragmentaire du conflit qu’offre cette production se présente comme un apport concret à l’histoire de la création en temps de guerre et à l’histoire culturelle de la Première Guerre mondiale. / The importance of engraving practices during the Great War in France, Belgium and England is explained in part by the revival of techniques (copper-plate, wood, stone) that occurred during the second half of the nineteenth and the early twentieth century. During the war, it allowed artists to get involved through their art, but it largely exceeded propaganda art productions. Engraving was effectively well used by artists to highlight the conflict, and even by those who had little or never practised this form of art before. War and engraving seemed to complement and update each other mutually. This thesis aims to emphasize the importance of engraving in representing the war in the three allied countries. The study of fragmented and fragmentary representation of the conflict that this production demonstrates is a concrete contribution to the history of artistic creation in times of war and to the cultural history of the First World War.

Esta dissertação trata da evolução do setor industrial brasileiro na Primeira Guerra Mundial e do seu desenvolvimento na década de 1920. A motivação deste trabalho foi a controvérsia existente acerca do tema, pois os principais trabalhos que tratam do assunto divergem a respeito dos efeitos da Guerra sobre o desenvolvimento industrial brasileiro, não existindo um consenso se esse choque externo iniciou um processo de substituição de importações. Partindo dessa motivação, o primeiro capítulo traz uma revisão dos principais autores que estudaram essa questão, evidenciando as diferentes interpretações existentes na historiografia. Além dessa análise, o capítulo também trata das diferenças da evolução industrial em São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro. O segundo capítulo analisa os dados de produção, o comércio exterior e as informações presentes em mensagens oficiais da época, com o intuito de capturar os principais efeitos do conflito no setor industrial e na evolução do mesmo até a crise de 1929. Por fim, o último capítulo traz uma reflexão sobre as mudanças nas relações políticas com o ganho de importância da indústria na economia brasileira. Assim, o presente estudo permitiu observar um efeito positivo desse estrangulamento externo para a indústria nacional nas décadas de 1910 e 1920, com início de um processo de substituição de importações e aumento de importância do setor na economia e na política nacional. / This thesis covers the evolution of the Brazilian industrial sector in the First World War and its development in the 1920s. The motivation for this work is the controversy about this issue, because many works that deals with the subject diverge about the effects of war on the Brazilian industrial development, without a consensus whether this external shock started an import substitution process. From this motivation, the first chapter brings a review of the main authors, who have studied this question, showing the different interpretations in history. In this analysis, the chapter also deals with the differences in industrial development in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The second chapter, analyze the industrial production, foreign trade and the information contained in official message of that time, in order to capture the main effects of the conflict in the industrial sector and the evolution of the sector up to 1929. Finally, the last chapter brings a reflection on the changes in political relations because of the importance gained by the industrial sector to the Brazilian economy. Thus, from the results of Chapters 2 and 3, we have a positive effect of the external strangling in the domestic industry later on the 1910s and 1920s, with the beginning of an import substitution and the increased importance of the industrial sector to the economic and national policy.

Le premier objectif de cette thèse est d’observer le fonctionnement d’une société plongée dans la guerre et confrontée à l’une de ses conséquences : l’internement de soldats atteints de troubles mentaux. Il s’agit de montrer comment, en prenant l’asile d’aliénés pour terrain d’étude et en analysant l’expérience d’un groupe d’individus apparemment isolé et minoritaire, il est possible de contribuer à une histoire totale de la guerre. En effet, contrairement à ce qu’on pourrait croire en se focalisant sur la littérature médicale, le sort de ces hommes n’intéresse pas seulement les psychiatres. Le recours à des archives de différentes natures montre que leur famille, leurs camarades, leurs chefs, les représentants de l’armée, de l’État, des départements et des communes ou encore l’administration asilaire réagissent, interviennent, prennent des décisions à leur sujet. Entre 1914 et 1918 puis jusqu’à la disparition des derniers poilus internés, la situation des soldats atteints de troubles mentaux soulève, selon le point de vue adopté, des enjeux scientifiques, militaires, politiques, économiques ou encore culturels qui dépassent leurs simples cas particuliers. Les parcours de ces hommes et leurs témoignages révèlent en outre une dimension longtemps méconnue de la violence de guerre et des souffrances endurées par les soldats, y compris après l’armistice. Examiner comment leurs troubles sont considérés par les médecins mais aussi par l’ensemble de la société amène à se demander dans quelle mesure le conflit transforme la prise en charge et la perception d’une catégorie spécifique de la population, les aliénés. Participant à réfléchir au rôle de la guerre dans les transformations des dispositifs d’action publique, cette thèse a donc pour deuxième objectif d’évaluer l’impact des années 1914-1918 sur l’évolution de l’assistance psychiatrique au XXe siècle. / The primary objective of this thesis is to observe the functioning of a society plunged into war and faced with one of its consequences: the internment of soldiers suffering from mental illness. The aim is to show that we can contribute to the global history of the war by analyzing the experiences of a small group of people within a mental asylum, though their experiences may seem isolated and unrepresentative of the majority. Contrary to the implications of the purely medical literature, it was not in fact the psychiatrists alone who had an interest in the situation of these men: investigation of various kinds of archive shows that their families, fellow soldiers, senior officers, the representatives of the armed forces and the government at national, regional and local level, as well as asylum directors and their staff, reacted, intervened and took decisions concerning them. Between 1914 and 1918, and subsequently until the passing of the last interned 'poilus', the case of soldiers victims of mental illness raises issues of psychological, military, political, economic and cultural nature which transcend their individual particularities. Furthermore, these men’s histories and their voices reveal a long-overlooked dimension of the violence of war and the suffering endured by the soldiers both before and after the armistice. By examining the way in which their conditions were regarded, not only by doctors but by society as a whole, we come to ask ourselves to what extent conflict affects the way in which those who were categorized as mentally ill were perceived. Therefore the second objective of this thesis is to reflect on the role of war in transforming social intervention measures, thereby evaluating the effect of the 1914-1918 period on the evolution of psychiatric assistance during the 20th century.

Romain Rolland incarne la figure de l’antihéros : écrivain connu et reconnu à travers le monde grâce au succès littéraire de Jean-Christophe, il tombe à partir de 1914 dans une dissidence intellectuelle dont il ne parvient pas à se sortir. L’article « Au-dessus de la Mêlée » est asséné depuis la Suisse, lieu de refuge pour de nombreux européens voulant demeurer libres. Il devient à l’échelle du monde un exemple à suivre. Ses articles, sa correspondance et sa posture sont observés, relayés, admirés. La diffusion de ses idées et de ses écrits touche l’Europe et le monde. Que cela plaise ou que cela irrite, malgré les acteurs en présence et les nationalismes exacerbés par les circonstances du conflit, il assume ses paroles et ses actes. Il adresse au monde un message humaniste afin de défendre la Justice et la Vérité. / The story of Romain Rolland is that of an antihero. The literary success of his epic novel, Jean-Christophe,turned him into an internationally famous and well-respected writer; but, from 1914 onwards, he becametrapped in the role of intellectual dissident, and would never really break free from it. His controversialarticle entitled “Au-dessus de la Mêlée” (“Above the Crowd”) was written in Switzerland, which had becomea refuge for many intellectuals. He became an inspiration for people the world over. They paid close attentionto his articles, his correspondence and his attitude, and discussed and admired them. The dissemination ofhis ideas and of his writing had a huge impact on Europe and on the wider world. What he was sayingappealed to some, and outraged others; and in particular, often offended the nationalistic feelings that werebeing exacerbated by the conflict – but he always took full responsibility for his words and actions. He putforward a humanist message to the world, in defence of Justice and Truth.

La tesi studia l’opera del war poet inglese Isaac Rosenberg (1890-1918) con l’obiettivo principale di analizzare l’influenza della sua formazione pittorica sulla produzione poetica, un aspetto che, seppur generalmente riconosciuto, è stato poco approfondito dalla critica. I primi tre capitoli esaminano il contesto sociale, culturale e artistico in cui Rosenberg visse prima di arruolarsi nell’esercito; in particolare, viene presentata la comunità ebraica dell’East End di Londra, il suo coinvolgimento nella Prima Guerra Mondiale, la scena artistica di inizio ventesimo secolo. Lo studio considera anche la scuola d’arte da lui frequentata, la Slade, la sua limitata produzione pittorica e le sue riflessioni di estetica, contenute nelle lettere e nella prosa. Il quarto capitolo, fulcro della tesi, propone un’analisi dei testi poetici che mira a evidenziare come il poeta abbia sfruttato l’esperienza di pittore nella scrittura, specialmente nella war poetry. Tra le strategie identificate, vi sono l’utilizzo simbolico dei colori, l’imagery relativa a luce e buio, l’adozione di una particolare prospettiva, la commistione tra astratto e concreto. Tali tecniche vengono lette come tentativi di rispondere alla difficoltà di rappresentazione e comunicazione dell’esperienza bellica. / The thesis studies the works of English war poet Isaac Rosenberg (1890-1918) with the main aim of analysing the influence of his pictorial training on his poetic production, an aspect which has been generally acknowledged, but scarcely investigated by critics. The first three chapters examine the social, cultural and artistic context in which Rosenberg lived before enlisting in the army; in particular, the focus is on the Jewish community of London’s East End, the involvement in the First World War, and the art scene of the early Twentieth century. The study also considers the art school he attended, the Slade, his limited pictorial production, and his thoughts on aesthetics, as included in the letters and prose. The fourth chapter, core of the thesis, proposes an analysis of the poems which aims to show how Rosenberg exploited his experience as a painter in his writing, especially in the war poetry. Among the identified strategies are the symbolic use of colours, the imagery related to light and shadow, the adoption of a particular perspective, the fusion of abstract and concrete. These techniques are seen as attempts to respond to the difficulty of representing and communicating war experience.

La production monumentale du peintre français George Desvallières (1861-1950) a été longtemps méconnue, comme en témoigne l’absence jusqu’à présent d’une recension exhaustive. Il s’imposait de réaliser un véritable catalogue et surtout de mettre les thèmes de ses œuvres monumentales et décoratives en regard avec la vie de l’artiste et le contexte historique, artistique et religieux de l’époque. Dès les années 1890, Desvallières se confronte au monumental à travers des panneaux décoratifs dont l’iconographie se limite jusqu’en 1914 à des thèmes profanes. Sa production prend une tout autre ampleur après la Grande Guerre. La mort au combat de son fils, en 1915, et le vœu qu’il a fait dans les tranchées, en 1916, de se consacrer entièrement à la peinture religieuse sont les marqueurs historiques et iconographiques de la seconde partie de sa carrière. Les années 1918-1950 seront celles de ses plus grandes réalisations dans le domaine monumental : fresque, peinture marouflée, cartons de vitraux et de tapisserie, ex-voto monumentaux sont autant de supports qu’il exploite pour peindre une mystique de la Grande Guerre où le Poilu et l’infirmière côtoient les grandes figures religieuses. La création avec Maurice Denis des Ateliers d’Art sacré en 1919 témoigne du rôle important assigné par ces deux artistes aux arts décoratifs, dont Desvallières favorise le développement au Salon d’Automne qu’il préside dès 1935, mais aussi dans des jurys et des expositions en France comme à l’étranger. L’étude des grands ensembles décoratifs de l’artiste complète utilement les recherches menées sur l’art décoratif de la première moitié du XXe siècle et contribuent au war studies en vue du centenaire de la Grande Guerre. / The monumental production by the French painter George Desvallières (1861-1950) has long been misunderstood, as shown by the absence so far of a comprehensive review. Therefore, not only the compilation of a real catalogue became inevitable and necessary, but above all putting the artist’s monumental and decorative works into the context of his and the historical, artistic and religious events of his time. By the 1890s, Desvallières turned to monumental decorative panels with an iconography that was until 1914 limited to secular themes. His production takes a very different scale after the Great War. His son’s death in battle, in 1915, and the vow the artist took in the trenches in 1916 to devote himself exclusively to religious paintings are historical and iconographic markers of the second part of his career. The years 1918-1950 will be those of his greatest achievements in monumental works: fresco paintings, marouflages, stained glass and tapestries, as well as monumental votive offerings are all media he is exploiting to paint a mysticism of the Great War where the Poilu , the French soldier, and the nurse are jointly depicted with great religious figures. The creation with Maurice Denis of the Ateliers d’Art sacré , the Sacred Art Workshops in 1919, demonstrates the important role the two artists assigned to the decorative arts. Desvallières promotes its development at the Salon d'Automne , which he presides from 1935 onwards, as well in juries and exhibitions in France and abroad. The study of large decorative ensembles of the artist is a valuable addition to the research on decorative arts of the first half of the Twentieth Century and contributes to the First World War Studies as we are approaching the upcoming centennial anniversary.

This master's thesis builds on the author's bachelor thesis and advances one of its fields - the relationship of First World War soldiers towards the war horses and the perception of these animals. The broad scale of soldiers' and horses' relations is studied primarily through the analysis of biographical documents produced by soldiers of Czech, British and French origin. Written primary sources are complemented by visual sources such as photographs, illustrations and postcards. In analysing the soldiers' relations towards their war horses, the following questions are asked: How exactly did they relate to the horses, which factors shaped and altered their relationships? How significant the presence and proximity of an animal was for the soldiers on the battlefield and what forms did their everyday coexistence take? How did the soldiers view the engagement of horses in warfare and how did they bear the horses' suffering? What was the contemporary portrayal and discourse of war horses? The thesis attempts at a wider overlap by incorporating the sociocultural and anthropological aspects of the human- horse relationship and inserting them into the historical framework.