In the postwar period historians argued that the horrors of the First World War created an irreparable disconnect between soldiers’ pre and postwar lives. Scholars led by Paul Fussell and Eric Leed presented the Great War as a futile waste of life for a meaningless cause. This historiography argues that the generation which survived the Western Front returned to Britain as jaded shells of their former selves unable to relate to their old lives and families. Bitterness and apathy replaced belief in cause and country. In contrast, recent historiography asserts that British soldiers maintained belief in their country’s cause and adjusted normally to civilian life. This project expands on the ideas and themes found in these works by analyzing British soldiers who served in both World Wars. Rather than being a generation of detached cynics who lost faith in fighting for king and country, many veterans actively sought ways to contribute when their country was once again at war.
This study examines soldiers who served on the Western Front in the Great War and went on to serve their country in some capacity during the Second World War. The soldiers examined in this study experienced the full extent of the horrors of World War I, yet still felt compelled to offer their services. Using soldiers’ personal papers located in the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives in London and literary sources this thesis argues that soldiers’ experiences of the Second World War were influenced by their First World War service.
","abstract_html":"<p>In the postwar period historians argued that the horrors of the First World War created an irreparable disconnect between soldiers’ pre and postwar lives. Scholars led by Paul Fussell and Eric Leed presented the Great War as a futile waste of life for a meaningless cause. This historiography argues that the generation which survived the Western Front returned to Britain as jaded shells of their former selves unable to relate to their old lives and families. Bitterness and apathy replaced belief in cause and country. In contrast, recent historiography asserts that British soldiers maintained belief in their country’s cause and adjusted normally to civilian life. This project expands on the ideas and themes found in these works by analyzing British soldiers who served in both World Wars. Rather than being a generation of detached cynics who lost faith in fighting for king and country, many veterans actively sought ways to contribute when their country was once again at war.</p> <p>This study examines soldiers who served on the Western Front in the Great War and went on to serve their country in some capacity during the Second World War. The soldiers examined in this study experienced the full extent of the horrors of World War I, yet still felt compelled to offer their services. Using soldiers’ personal papers located in the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives in London and literary sources this thesis argues that soldiers’ experiences of the Second World War were influenced by their First World War service.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Schaefer, Nicholas John"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Allison Abra","Brian LaPierre","Andrew Wiest"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:41Z","subjects":["World War I","Great War","British Soldiers","First World War Veterans","Veterans in Home Defense","Veterans in Home Defence","Veterans in the Home Guard","Britain in the World Wars","European History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/297","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Allison Abra","Brian LaPierre","Andrew Wiest"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Schaefer, Nicholas John"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-06-19T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["World War I","Great War","British Soldiers","First World War Veterans","Veterans in Home Defense","Veterans in Home Defence","Veterans in the Home Guard","Britain in the World Wars","European History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/297"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In the postwar period historians argued that the horrors of the First World War created an irreparable disconnect between soldiers’ pre and postwar lives. Scholars led by Paul Fussell and Eric Leed presented the Great War as a futile waste of life for a meaningless cause. This historiography argues that the generation which survived the Western Front returned to Britain as jaded shells of their former selves unable to relate to their old lives and families. Bitterness and apathy replaced belief in cause and country. In contrast, recent historiography asserts that British soldiers maintained belief in their country’s cause and adjusted normally to civilian life. This project expands on the ideas and themes found in these works by analyzing British soldiers who served in both World Wars. Rather than being a generation of detached cynics who lost faith in fighting for king and country, many veterans actively sought ways to contribute when their country was once again at war.
This study examines soldiers who served on the Western Front in the Great War and went on to serve their country in some capacity during the Second World War. The soldiers examined in this study experienced the full extent of the horrors of World War I, yet still felt compelled to offer their services. Using soldiers’ personal papers located in the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives in London and literary sources this thesis argues that soldiers’ experiences of the Second World War were influenced by their First World War service.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["For King and Country: Reconsidering the Great War Soldier in Britain, 1914-1945"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Allison Abra","Brian LaPierre","Andrew Wiest"],"dc:creator":["Schaefer, Nicholas John"],"dc:date.available":["2017-06-19T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["In the postwar period historians argued that the horrors of the First World War created an irreparable disconnect between soldiers’ pre and postwar lives. Scholars led by Paul Fussell and Eric Leed presented the Great War as a futile waste of life for a meaningless cause. This historiography argues that the generation which survived the Western Front returned to Britain as jaded shells of their former selves unable to relate to their old lives and families. Bitterness and apathy replaced belief in cause and country. In contrast, recent historiography asserts that British soldiers maintained belief in their country’s cause and adjusted normally to civilian life. This project expands on the ideas and themes found in these works by analyzing British soldiers who served in both World Wars. Rather than being a generation of detached cynics who lost faith in fighting for king and country, many veterans actively sought ways to contribute when their country was once again at war.
This study examines soldiers who served on the Western Front in the Great War and went on to serve their country in some capacity during the Second World War. The soldiers examined in this study experienced the full extent of the horrors of World War I, yet still felt compelled to offer their services. Using soldiers’ personal papers located in the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives in London and literary sources this thesis argues that soldiers’ experiences of the Second World War were influenced by their First World War service.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/297"],"dc:subject":["World War I","Great War","British Soldiers","First World War Veterans","Veterans in Home Defense","Veterans in Home Defence","Veterans in the Home Guard","Britain in the World Wars","European History"],"dc:title":["For King and Country: Reconsidering the Great War Soldier in Britain, 1914-1945"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:41Z"}