National (hi)stories of war—German and French discourses in the Kosovo war and the Iraq crisis

Abstract

When democracies go to war, decision makers are expected to use good arguments in order to make their publics follow. It is assumed here that historical arguments play a pivotal role in such an endeavour. This assumption is challenged by comparing the corresponding discourse among the French and German political elite. The case studies comprise two cases in which the countries behaved similarly: In the Kosovo conflict in 1999, both actively undertook military action, whereas in the Iraq crisis in 2003, both refused to join the US-led coalition to attack Iraq. With regard to identity theory, two hypotheses can be drawn: First, justifications in France and Germany will differ significantly due to different national identities. Second, historical arguments will be more salient when a country goes to war (Kosovo) in comparison to a non-war case (Iraq).