‘This Wonderfully Lovely Theatre of War’: The Imagery of Stage and Spectacle

Abstract

The use of the term ‘theatre’ in describing warfare has become so common as to be unremarkable. Terms such as ‘Pacific Theatre’, ‘European Theatre’ or ‘Theatre of Operations’ to denote an area of conflict have become acceptable and have acquired their own legitimacy. Such usage can appear to be natural and commonplace to such a degree that the metaphor loses its impact and significance, deteriorating into a well worn and rather hackneyed cliche. Yet, the challenge for the historian is to ‘recover the impact of ideas and metaphors worn smooth by repetition’.1 This concern focuses on theatrical metaphors in German politics, which can be seen as more than simply figures of speech. This is quite true, for they can be used to determine a particular mindset or mentalite. A similar approach can be made regarding the depiction of war before 1914. The very ubiquity of stage and spectacle imagery in the press indicates their importance and utility as a means to determine how Edwardians vicariously experienced war.