Mirrors of destruction

Description:

"Mirrors of Destruction examines the relationship between total war, state-organized genocide, and the emergence of modern identity. Here, Omer Bartov demonstrates that in the twentieth century there have been intimate links between military conflict, mass murder of civilian populations, and the definition and categorization of groups and individuals.". "Rather than presenting a comprehensive history, or a narrative from a single perspective, Bartov views the past century through four interrelated prisms. He begins with an analysis of the glorification of war and violence, from its modern birth in the trenches of World War I to its horrifying culmination in the presentation of genocide by the SS as a glorious undertaking. He then examines the pacifist reaction in interwar France to show how it contributed to a climate of collaboration with dictatorship and mass murder. The book goes on to argue that much of the discourse on identity throughout the century has had to do with identifying and eliminating society's "elusive enemies" or "enemies from within." Bartov concludes with an investigation of modern apocalyptic visions, showing how they have both encouraged mass destructions and opened a way for the reconstruction of individual and collective identities after a catastrophe."--BOOK JACKET.

subjects: 20th century,  Ethnicity,  France,  Genocide,  Germany,  Historiography,  History,  Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945),  Influence,  Memory,  Public opinion,  World War, 1914-1918,  Group identity,  War,  Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Historiography,  World War, 1914-1918 -- Influence,  Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Public opinion,  Public opinion -- Germany,  France -- History -- 20th century -- Historiography,  World war, 1914-1918, influence,  France, history, 20th century,  Public opinion, germany,  War and society,  Identity (philosophical concept)

Places: France,  Germany

Times: 20th century