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11 The Experience of the First World War and the German Film

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The First World War and Popular Cinema
This chapter is in the book The First World War and Popular Cinema
1 1 The Experience of the First World War and the German Film Rainer Rother [translated by Susan Anna Gunther} INTRODUCTION In November 1998 when the eightieth anniversary of Armistice Day was remembered the recently elected German Chancellor raised eyebrows by declining to join in the commemorations in France. This non-participa-tion demonstrates a clear difference concerning the importance attached to the official commemorations of the First World War in Britain and France on the one hand and Germany on the other. This difference has existed for decades; the First World War cannot compete in scale with the horrors of the Nazi period which understandably carries more weight in the German mind when trying to reconcile itself with its recent past. This is why virtually all relevant discussions on the 'politics of remem-brance' in Germany are almost exclusively concerned with the systematic murder of millions of people during the Second World War. It is therefore not very likely that a reassessment of First World War events, as happened in Great Britain with changing views on military leadership or in France with a reappraisal of the mutineers of 1917, would cause any great controversy in Germany. Indeed, there are no comparable developments in Germany. It is part of the especially German view of the First World War that it is seen as belonging utterly to the past. As a consequence of this very few post-1945 films ever let that
© 2022, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh

1 1 The Experience of the First World War and the German Film Rainer Rother [translated by Susan Anna Gunther} INTRODUCTION In November 1998 when the eightieth anniversary of Armistice Day was remembered the recently elected German Chancellor raised eyebrows by declining to join in the commemorations in France. This non-participa-tion demonstrates a clear difference concerning the importance attached to the official commemorations of the First World War in Britain and France on the one hand and Germany on the other. This difference has existed for decades; the First World War cannot compete in scale with the horrors of the Nazi period which understandably carries more weight in the German mind when trying to reconcile itself with its recent past. This is why virtually all relevant discussions on the 'politics of remem-brance' in Germany are almost exclusively concerned with the systematic murder of millions of people during the Second World War. It is therefore not very likely that a reassessment of First World War events, as happened in Great Britain with changing views on military leadership or in France with a reappraisal of the mutineers of 1917, would cause any great controversy in Germany. Indeed, there are no comparable developments in Germany. It is part of the especially German view of the First World War that it is seen as belonging utterly to the past. As a consequence of this very few post-1945 films ever let that
© 2022, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. List of Illustrations ix
  5. Notes on Contributors xiii
  6. Introduction 1
  7. 1 Cinema and the Memory of the Great War 5
  8. 2 Official British Film Propaganda 27
  9. 3 Enduring Heroes: British Feature Films and the First World War, 1919-1997 51
  10. 4 The ANZAC and the Sentimental Bloke: Australian Culture and Screen Representations of World War One 74
  11. 5 Canadian Film and the First World War 96
  12. 6 France: the Silent Memory 115
  13. 7 The United States' Film Industry and World War One 138
  14. 8 The Representation of the Great War in Italian Cinema 162
  15. 9 A War Forgotten: the Great War in Russian and Soviet Cinema 172
  16. 10 Between Parochialism and Universalism: World War One in Polish Cinematography 192
  17. 11 The Experience of the First World War and the German Film 217
  18. 12 Where is the War? Some Aspects of the Effects of World War One on Austrian Cinema 247
  19. Index 261
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474471527-015

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. List of Illustrations ix
  5. Notes on Contributors xiii
  6. Introduction 1
  7. 1 Cinema and the Memory of the Great War 5
  8. 2 Official British Film Propaganda 27
  9. 3 Enduring Heroes: British Feature Films and the First World War, 1919-1997 51
  10. 4 The ANZAC and the Sentimental Bloke: Australian Culture and Screen Representations of World War One 74
  11. 5 Canadian Film and the First World War 96
  12. 6 France: the Silent Memory 115
  13. 7 The United States' Film Industry and World War One 138
  14. 8 The Representation of the Great War in Italian Cinema 162
  15. 9 A War Forgotten: the Great War in Russian and Soviet Cinema 172
  16. 10 Between Parochialism and Universalism: World War One in Polish Cinematography 192
  17. 11 The Experience of the First World War and the German Film 217
  18. 12 Where is the War? Some Aspects of the Effects of World War One on Austrian Cinema 247
  19. Index 261
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