National Moments Fueling Nationalism, and
Nationalism Fueling Wartime Culture

LE300 – Warfare and Culture
Core Assessment Paper

Abstract

This paper will take a close look at nationalism, nation moments and war time culture, and how the three influence each other. National moments inspire nationalism, and nationalism inspires culture. There will be a focus on America’s national moment of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the nationalism that was bread from it, and the war time culture it inspired. Another focus will be on the freedom that Australia gained from the Britain after the landing in Gallipole, and the nationalism that grew while they were fighting with the British Expeditionary Force during the Great War. Lastly we will examine modern day nationalism, and take a look at a differing opinion on the subject.

The Great War was filled with defining national moments for each country involved, which lead them to develop their own sense of nationalism. Their sense of nationalism influenced the way they fought and strategized in World War I. David Silbey’s chapter, “Connecting Culture and the Battlefield: Britain and the Empire fight the Hundred Days,” in Wayne E. Lee’s book, “Warfare and Culture in World History,” describes how operational decisions guided cultural development during World War I, and in turn, how wars are “…constructions of the cultures and societies that wage the wars, built according to the principles, beliefs, and myths of those cultures.” (Silbey, page 168). Silbey goes on to describe how national moments, “...events, people, or things seen by populations as being peculiarly representative of their nation,” (Silbey, page 169) influences each country’s nationalism. I agree with Silbey’s thesis. This paper is going to focus on the impact nationalism and national moments have on wartime motivation, culture and/or