MOTIVATION IN WAR: The Experience of Common Soldiers in Old-Regime Europe

2-214150

Paperback version. This book fundamentally revises our notion of why soldiers of the 18th century enlisted, served, and fought. In contrast to traditional views of the brutal conditions supposedly prevailing in old-regime armies, soldiers did not regard military discipline as illegitimate or unnecessarily cruel, nor did they perceive themselves as submissive military automatons.

Instead, the men embraced a unique corporate identity based on military professionalism, forceful masculinity, and hostility toward civilians. These values fostered the notion of individual and collective soldierly honor which helped to create the bonding effect which contributed toward greater combat cohesion. It uses research on military psychology and combat theory, and employs the letters, diaries, and memoirs of around 250 private soldiers and non-commissioned officers from over a dozen different European armies.