The Image of the Soldier in German Culture, 1871–1933 by Paul Fox

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Image of the Soldier in German Culture, 1871–1933 by Paul Fox Robert W. Rennie The Image of the Soldier in German Culture, 1871–1933. By Paul Fox. New York: Bloomsbury, 2018. Pp. xi + 225. Cloth $114.00. ISBN 978-1474226141. Germany's history from 1871 to 1933 was marked by a progression of wars and subsequent cultural debates surrounding shared national experiences. From the Franco-Prussian War to the collapse of the Weimar Republic, Germans created meaning in war and repurposed the past to negotiate six decades of changing political [End Page 155] and military discourse. This cultural conversation extended beyond textual debates to the visual arts. In employing an ambitious mix of methodologies, Paul Fox's analysis of art demonstrates another important instance of German historical continuity. Fox argues that one can find a "coherent body of work, thematically linked over time, conflict, and media" between the Franco-Prussian War and the end of the Weimar Republic (2). The artwork on display in Fox's book is diverse yet shares what he argues is the unifying theme of creating the idea of a German way of waging war, one centered around strength of command, excellence in performing one's duty, and a commitment to offensive action. Fox's study is significant for examining art that has received scant academic attention and does so in an interdisciplinary manner. The author goes to great lengths to demonstrate the book's intervention in the fields of military history, art history, memory studies, as well as myth and identity formation. The Image of the Soldier in German Culture is divided into three parts across seven chapters. Chapter 1, entitled "Representing Armed Conflict in the Industrial Age," serves primarily as the work's introduction, and provides a lengthy historiographical analysis of what Fox argues has been a limited investigation into conservative depictions of German military history by art historians. The second chapter, which comprises the entirety of part 1, explores Adolph Menzel's work in creating the iconography of Frederick the Great. Part 2 comprises three chapters, the first exploring the relationship between farming, soldiering, and the politics of border landscapes. Chapter 4 then applies this methodological approach to the new combat of trench warfare. The fifth chapter delves into aerial photography, map making, and whether images captured at altitude distance us, the viewer, from the experience of war on the ground. Part 3 includes two final chapters, examining continuities in the relationship between German soldiers and technology, across the Franco-Prussian War and World War I, respectively. Fox begins with an analysis of Franz Kugler's 1842 publication The Life of Frederick the Great. The book's abundant illustrations by Adolph Menzel set the framework for all the sources that follow and highlight a series of artistically unifying themes that shape cultural memory. Fox contends that Menzel's illustrations in The Life of Frederick the Great produce an iconography that contributes to the mythology of the Prussian leader's military genius. Frederick is always pictured in firm command, whether discussing strategy with his commanders or leading from the front on the battlefield. In analyzing each piece, Fox demonstrates a thorough grasp of art analysis. We see the gendered interpretation of Frederick's imposing stance over his subordinates and we discover that Menzel's work was frowned upon for showcasing the mundane soldier, only to find that such images elevated the "virtuous martial attributes" of the rank and file into cultural consciousness. The Life of Frederick the Great was subsequently repurposed as Germany marked the twenty-fifth anniversary [End Page 156] of victory in the Franco-Prussian War and sought to rhetorically resurrect Frederick as the archetype of the great Germanic military commander who inspired virtuous soldiers committed to offensive action. The artistic tropes featured in The Life of Frederick the Great are then placed in conversation with the politics of border landscapes. Here we see the melding of soldiering and farming as professions that both enact agency over the land and solidify German borders. Fox notes a significant shift in border anxiety, from the west after 1871 to the east by World War I. Again, his analysis of these...