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Abstract
In contrast to most literature on the First World War, which holds that fallen soldiers in the Great War were buried as equal comrades, this article seeks to show that some of the fallen were accorded more prestige than others. This will be explored by analysing the fate of some of the most famous German and French ‘knights of the sky’. Their death and, most of all, their funeral ceremonies show to what extent they were exploited for political and propaganda purposes, communicated by the print media. The funeral ceremonies will be analysed with regard to a ‘new political history’ or ‘history of politics’, and it will also be discussed how the air war in the First World War was perceived in a transnational perspective and in what manner the ‘knights of the sky’ were communicatively produced. Overall, the funeral ceremonies for the fallen fighter pilots followed a more or less determined ritual that, as a communicative action, was meant to send manifold messages to the public sphere, which were not limited to the aviator's own nation but directed to the whole world, so that these ceremonies can be described as transnational media events. These examples show which rituals and symbolic practices politics can draw on in order to visualise power and leadership through political communication.
Notes
1. I want to thank to Jan Philipp Altenburg, Christoph Hilgert, Stefanie Hoth, Martin Huscher, Friedrich Lenger, and Felicitas Lotz, all of whom discussed this paper with me.
2. CitationMünch, Verdun.
3. See, for example, CitationAudoin-Rouzeau and Becker, 14–18; Becker, War and Faith; Koselleck, Zur politischen Ikonologie; Schilling, “Kriegshelden”; CitationWinter, Sites of Memory; CitationWinter, Remembering War.
4. Mosse, Fallen Soldiers, 106.
5. Mosse, Fallen Soldiers, 79.
6. Koselleck, “Erinnerungsschleusen und Erfahrungsschichten,” 277 [translation by the author].
7. Koselleck, Zur politischen Ikonologie, 5.
8. Koselleck, Zur politischen Ikonologie, 8 (translation by the author).
9. In France it was especially the hatred of the barbaric German enemy that contributed to self-mobilisation and staying power. CitationAudoin-Rouzeau and Becker, 14–18; especially Section II, “Crusade,” 94ff. Cf. also Audoin-Rouzeau and Becker, “Violence et consentement”; CitationBecker, War and Faith; CitationHorne and Kramer, German Atrocities, 291.
10. Schilling, “Kriegshelden,” especially 253ff.
11. On the concept of “transnationality,” see CitationConrad and Osterhammel, “Einleitung”; CitationPatel, “Überlegungen zu einer transnationalen Geschichte”; CitationClavin, “Introduction: Defining Transnationalism.”
12. CitationAckermann, “‘Ceux qui sont pieusement morts pour la France…’”; Becker, War and Faith; CitationJeismann and Westheider, “Wofür stirbt der Bürger”; Prost, “Les monuments aux morts”; CitationZiemann, “Die deutsche Nation.”
13. CitationKennett, First Air War, 71.
14. CitationWohl, Passion, 218ff.
15. CitationFrevert, “Neue Politikgeschichte”; Mergel, “Überlegungen”; CitationMarx, “Geschichtswissenschaft und Politikwissenschaft.” Cf. also the introduction in this volume.
16. Frevert, “Neue Politikgeschichte,” 15.
17. CitationLandwehr, “Diskurs.”
18. CitationPaulmann, “Peripatetische Herrschaft.”
19. CitationEdelman, Politics as Symbolic Action.
20. CitationSarcinelli, Politische Kommunikation; CitationMergel, “Überlegungen,” 592ff.
21. CitationStollberg-Rillinger, “Zeremoniell.”
22. Cf. CitationNeuheiser and Schaich, “Politics of Ritual,” 10.
23. CitationAndres and Schwengelbeck, “Zeremoniell,” 28 (translation by the author); cf. CitationBizeul, “Theorien” and CitationVoigt, “Mythen.”
24. CitationKertzer, Ritual, 14; cf. CitationTurner, Forest of Symbols.
25. CitationSchwemmer, “Macht der Symbole.”
26. Cf. CitationBudiansky, Air Power; Kennett, First Air War; CitationMorrow, Great War in the Air; CitationMorrow, “Knights of the Sky.”
27. CitationWilke, “Krieg als Medienereignis.”
28. CitationKoselleck, “Erinnerungsschleusen.” CitationKoselleck's concept was criticised by CitationSchinkel, “Imagination.” On the expectations that people held about the war before 1914, cf. CitationHoward, “Men Against Fire.”
29. Horne and Kramer, German Atrocities; esp. 136f.
30. CitationWells, War in the Air.
31. CitationCastle, Fire over England; CitationGeinitz, “First Air War.”
32. CitationFritzsche, Nation of Fliers.
33. Cf. Budiansky, Air Power, 56ff.
34. Wohl, Passion, 203ff.; Kennett, First Air War, 69; Budiansky, Air Power, 62f.
35. Cf. Kennett, First Air War, 152–5; The Times, November 15, 1915, 7 and The Times, June 2, 1916, 6.
36. CitationPeters, “Nationale und transnationale Öffentlichkeiten.”
37. Morrow, Great War, 344ff.
38. CitationMosse, Fallen Soldiers, 120ff.
39. Mosse, Fallen Soldiers, 126ff.
40. Cf. Budiansky, Air Power, 83; Kennett, First Air War, 146f.
41. Cf. the chapter “Immelmanns Lebenslauf” (“Immelmann's Curriculum Vitae”) in CitationImmelmann, Meine Kampfflüge, 129–32.
42. Budiansky, Air Power, 64f.
43. Cf. Frankfurter Zeitung, June 24, 1916, Abendblatt, 1f. the article “Immelmanns letzter Flug.”
44. New York Times, April 12, 1916, 1f.
45. Washington Post, May 14, 1916, ES 5.
46. Immelmann, Meine Kampfflüge, 84ff.
47. The Times, June 22, 1916, 8.
48. Boston Daily Globe, June 22, 1916, 18 and New York Times, June 22, 1916, 5 and June 25, 1916, 12.
49. Cf. Deutsche Kriegszeitung. Illustrierte Wochenausgabe, July 2, 1916, 1, where he is described as a man “dem als ersten der tapferen deutschen Flieger das schöne Los verliehen wurde, dem Geprahle der Franzosen und Engländer über ihre vermeintliche Überlegenheit in der Luft ein jähes Ende zu bereiten” (translation by the author).
50. See the description of the funeral in Frankfurter Zeitung, June 24, 1916, Abendblatt, 2 and Wohl, Passion, 218. References to the participating dignitaries can be found in CitationZolle, Immelmann, 100.
51. Cf. Frankfurter Zeitung, June 25, 1916, Abendblatt, 2 and Zolle, Immelmann, 108ff.
52. Zolle, Immelmann, 100 describes the funeral ceremony in Douai thusly: “Most impressive, though, were the assembled guests themselves, who had come together here on foreign soil, won through German bravery, to honour an officer distinguished neither by a high rank nor by an aristocratic title.” (“Das Imposanteste aber war die Trauerversammlung selbst, die sich hier auf der fremden, von deutscher Tapferkeit gewonnenen Erde zu Ehren eines weder durch hohen Rang noch durch einen glänzenden Adelsnamen ausgezeichneten Offiziers zusammengefunden hatte.”)
53. Cf. CitationSchilling, “Kriegshelden,” 275f.
54. CitationGerhards and Neidhardt, “Strukturen und Funktionen”; CitationWimmer, (Gegen–)Öffentlichkeit, especially 243 and Sarcinelli, Politische Kommunikation, 53ff.
55. CitationFischer-Lichte, “Performance”; CitationMartschukat and Patzold, “Geschichtswissenschaft.”
56. Frevert, “Neue Politikgeschichte,” 19 (translation by the author); cf. CitationRödder, “Klios neue Kleider,” 686; and CitationZimmermann, “Politischer Journalismus.”
57. CitationDayan and Katz, Media Events, 78.
58. For the curriculum vitae of Boelcke, cf. Wohl, Passion, 211f. and CitationBoelcke, Hauptmann Bölckes Feldberichte, 7ff.
59. Budiansky, Air Power, 67.
60. Cf. the article by the war correspondent Eugen Kalkschmidt “Kriegstagebuch vor Verdun. Ein Besuch bei Boelcke.” Frankfurter Zeitung, June 20, 1916, Erstes Morgenblatt, 1–3.
61. Cf. Frankfurter Zeitung, September 17, 1916, Zweites Morgenblatt, 2: “Es sehen Hunderttausende zu jedem Glockenschlage dem Tode ins Angesicht. Und Boelcke ist nur einer. Aber dieser eine ist uns Symbol geworden. Und als Symbol eine Quelle der Kraft und der Freude.… Er ist wie eine starke ruhige Melodie in dem ganzen Durcheinanderwogen der Akkorde dieses ungeheuren Geschehens. Deutsch, tüchtig und gut!” (translation by the author).
62. Chicago Daily Tribune, September 14, 1916, 8 and Washington Post, March 25, 1916, 2.
63. Deutsche Kriegszeitung. Illustrierte Wochen-Ausgabe, November 5, 1916, 1: “Unsere großen Flieger mögen fallen und nach menschlicher Berechnung fallen müssen, aber jeder von ihnen hinterläßt in Hunderten von jugendlichen Kämpfern das sehnliche Verlangen, ihnen gleich zu werden, zum Heil des Vaterlandes!”
64. Chicago Daily Tribune, October 30, 1916, 1.
65. New York Times, October 30, 1916, 1.
66. Cf. Boston Daily Globe, October 30, 1916, 1 and 8; Petit Parisien, October 30, 1916, 1.
67. On the description of the funeral ceremony in Cambrai, cf. Wohl, Passion, 221–3, the quotation on 221 and Frankfurter Zeitung, November 2, 1916, Zweites Morgenblatt, 2.
68. New York Times, November 4, 1916, 2; November 5, 1916, A3 and Washington Post, November 5, 1916, I4.
69. Cf. Frankfurter Zeitung, November 3, 1916, Zweites Morgenblatt, 3.
70. Cf. CitationSchmidt, Belehrung – Propaganda – Vertrauensarbeit, especially chapter II, “Die modernistische Wende 1916,” 113–82.
71. For a brief curriculum vitae of Richthofen, cf. Schilling, “Kriegshelden,” 37–40.
72. On the war in the air during this period, cf. Kennett, First Air War, 75 and CitationBurrows, Richthofen, 85ff.
73. CitationRichthofen, Kampfflieger. Ellis Barker's translation is available on the Internet as a pdf file: http://ia331342.us.archive.org/2/items/redbattleflyer00richiala/redbattleflyer00richiala.pdf (April 8, 2008). Cf. Kennett, First Air War, 172.
74. Cf. Petit Parisien, April 23, 1918, 1; Boston Daily Globe, April 23, 1918, 3; and Chicago Daily Tribune, April 23, 1917, 4.
75. Cf. Frankfurter Zeitung, April 25, 1918, Zweites Morgenblatt, 1; and Chicago Daily Tribune, April 23, 1918, 4. The Washington Post, April 24, 1918, 1 reported that based on the bullet wound, a shot from the air was conceivable. Cf. The Times, April 24, 1918, 5.
76. Burrows, Richthofen, 200.
77. Cf. “War Office Official Topical Budget 349-2 (fragment) [Main]; Pictorial News (Official) 349–2 (fragment) [alternative],” Imperial War Museum London, Film and Video Archive, IWM 661b.
78. The Times, April 24, 1918, 6. Cf. Frankfurter Zeitung, April 25, 1918, Abendblatt, 2.
79. Cf. Washington Post, April 24, 1918, 1f. and New York Times, April 24, 1918, 3.
80. Cf. CitationSanders and Taylor, British propaganda.
81. Petit Parisien, April 23, 1918, 1.
82. Cf. CitationRichthofen, Kriegstagebuch, 168ff.
83. Schilling, “Kriegshelden,” 283ff. and the article “Gedächtnisfeier für Richthofen,” in Frankfurter Zeitung, May 3, 1918, 2.
84. Cf. CitationWelch, Germany, especially 221ff.
85. On the curriculum vitae of Guynemer, cf. Wohl, Passion, 229ff.; and in detail CitationBordeaux, Vie héroïque de Guynemer.
86. Atlanta Constitution, March 19, 1916.
87. Cf. New York Times, July 15, 1917, 3 and Washington Post, July 15, 1917, 3.
88. The Times, September 27, 1917, 5 and the article “Guynemer Disparu,” in Petit Parisien, September 26, 1917, 1f.; Bordeaux, Vie héroïque de Guynemer, 251ff.; CitationFonck, Mes combats, 125ff.; and Wohl, Passion, 233.
89. CitationPoincaré, Service, diary entry, September 13, 1917, 284.
90. Gazette des Ardennes, Edition Illustré, October 1917, 3. Cf. Gazette des Ardennes, September 27, 1917, 4.
91. Washington Post, September, 27, 1917.
92. The quotation from the “Illustration,” October 6, 1917 is reprinted in Bordeaux, Vie héroïque de Guynemer, 270.
93. Cited in Petit Parisien, September 26, 1917, 3.
94. Cf. Bordeaux, Vie héroïque de Guynemer, 278f. Cf. 2 Samuel 1: 19–27.
95. Cf. CitationContamine, “Mourir pour la patrie.”
96. Cf. the article “A la mémoire de Guynemer ‘tombé en plein ciel de gloire’,” in Petit Parisien, October 19, 1917, 1f.; cf. also Petit Parisien, October 20, 1917, 1 and October 22, 1917, 1. Cf. CitationOzouf, “Panthéon.”
97. The Times, October 20, 1917, 6.
98. Cf. Smith et al., France and the Great War, Chapter 4 “The crises of 1917,” 113ff.
99. Deutsche Kriegszeitung. Illustrierte Wochen-Ausgabe, October 7, 1917, 4.
100. “It is well known that the Frenchman, as opposed to the Englishman, avoids an air fight as far as possible, if he is not numerically superior.” Deutsche Kriegszeitung. Illustrierte Wochen-Ausgabe, October 7, 1917, 4 (translation by the author).
101. Gazette des Ardennes, October 2, 1917, 3f.
102. On the German side, of 458 fighter pilots with more than three air victories only 12 reached the rank of Hauptmann, 319 the rank of Leutnant or Oberleutnant. In addition there were 127 Unteroffiziere (non-commissioned officers) of these, Vizefeldwebel Otto Fruhner achieved 27 victories. Cf. “Vollständige amtliche Liste der Kampfflieger mit mehr als drei bestätigten siegreichen Luftkämpfen,” Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv Freiburg, PH 17I-13. On the French side Georges Guynemer started his career as a Caporal (Corporal).
103. Kertzer, Ritual, 12.
104. CitationAckermann, Nationale Totenfeiern, 14; and Rader, Grab und Herrschaft.
105. Ackermann, “Funerale Signatur,” 89f.; cf. CitationBehrenbeck, Kult.
106. CitationSarcinelli, “Repräsentation oder Diskurs.”
107. Paulmann, “Peripatetische Herrschaft.”
108. CitationLe Naour, Living Unknown Soldier.
109. CitationProst, “Monuments aux morts”; and Ackermann, Nationale Totenfeiern, 105f.
110. CitationRader, Grab und Herrschaft, 246; CitationLatzel, Vom Sterben im Krieg, 66.
111. CitationGiesen, Triumph and Trauma; Schilling, “Kriegshelden,” 23.
112. CitationMarschik, “Flieger,” 86ff.