Chivalry and Honor

[Ricky B]

Interesting comments Paul.

Personally, I think there are a lot of factors in regards to Chivalry being present, and the role of honor. I don't think it has disappeared either, but is driven by the wars being fought, and what drives them. I do think a lot of it was cyclical also - for example, the 30 Years War, with its absolute devastation to combatants and civilians alike, led to a feeling of horror among many in Europe, and drove the wars that followed up until the French Revolution and Napoleon's wars, that led to a more limited, honorable fighting. These wars were driven more by a matter of "advantage" for your country, rather than being fought to destroy the other side, and even most of the Napoleonic Wars were limited in goals.

Our Civil War saw the same parole offered to prisoners in the beginning, but that slowly died off as the fighting went along. But even in other aspects, there was a feeling of brotherhood among both sides, even though the men were willing to give there lives to win.

The major wars of the 20th Century, however, were almost back to the 30 Years War, with massive death, destruction, and the fight to destroy the opponents, in particular WW2. Ideology - political, religious, or just plain hatred has played a major role in most of the wars of the last 100 years, or it developed over time in wars such as WW1 where I think there was some honor early on, but as losses mounted, so did hatreds.

And you raise an excellent point, I think, regarding the new feelings about dying for your country. I personally think some of that is driven by the demand in the west at least for bloodless victories, at least for "our" side, regardless of the losses to the other. The value that is placed on human life is reflected more in keeping our soldiers alive, at the cost of doing whatever is needed to destroy the enemy's will to fight.

I don't think I want to delve any deeper into that side of things. But I do think there is still an honor in many soldiers and it still comes out today in the rigth situation, but many recent conflicts haven't allowed it to be expressed, or it disappears quickly as hatred builds. And maybe the less personal combat of today, rather than the up close and personal fighting of earlier eras, makes it more difficult to see the enemy as a person???

Rick