Student Publications
In an age when means of communication such as television did not exist, the Episcopal students had to use the power of their imagination to visualize the ongoing war. These creative short stories penned by the students revealed their different perspectives of the war, whether it be nationalism, honor, cruelty, or duty. It is important to note that all of the publications framed the narrative from the perspectives of the Allies, from resistance members in Occupied Belgium to French soldiers in the Battle of Verdun. The lack of German perspective likely reflected either anti-German sentiment on campus, or possibly an unwillingness by the editors to publish pro-German material.
German brutality
Episcopal students expressed a strong sentiment of antagonism against Germany in their fictional stories. Kaiser Wilhelm II, the Emperor of Germany, became the centerpiece of the attack from Allied propaganda of the time, in which the Kaiser was portrayed as an emblem of repression, autocracy, and tyranny. The student literature reflected this belief. “If Dreams Came True,” a story about a British POW, depicted Kaiser Wilhelm as an “aged and haggard” brute who would “kill the women and the babes to destroy England.” The Kaiser, according to the story, would “[wring] from the people the last mark” to enslave the world. Also, German’s military campaign through neutral Belgium morphed into the “Rape of Belgium” in Allied propaganda. A student written short fiction, “For the Cause,” described the story of a Belgian woman rising up against the brutal German officers who lived in her house in occupied Belgium. In the story, the German soldiers were impudent and vulgar: “Flinging his greatcoat and holsters over a chair, he kicked off his boots and sprawled on the sofa before the fire. ‘Bring wine!’ he bellowed.’” The German soldiers also brutalized the woman’s husband and killed a servant for little reason: “‘Just a mistake, Liebchen,’ sneered the officer. ‘Fritz thought she was a spy; and I think myself that she was too fat to live comfortably, anyway.’” The juxtaposition of a white woman and German male soldiers, again, used the trope of damsels in distress. The symbolic protection of white womanhood was frequently used as propaganda material in the United States, especially by the supporters of white supremacy, as hundreds of African Americans were lynched under the excuse of violating white women. The idea of masculine propaganda was an important way to sell the war to American men, and through this story, it is clear that the students came under the influence of such propaganda. Similarly, “Remember Mother,” a poem published in the Chronicle, appealed to the white masculinity by asking the soldiers to think about defending their mothers at home from Germans, “Remember mother far away / And never let your courage lag.”
They Shall Not Pass
On ne passe pas, or “they shall not pass,” became a famous French war cry and slogan during the grueling Battle of Verdun. While the battlefield itself was not even 10 square kilometer in size, over 700,000 soldiers died or were wounded in the longest battle of the war. Verdun became a symbol of French defiance and determination against the German invaders, and such symbolism was used in many student publications. A poem, “The Voice of Verdun,” praised the gallantry of the French soldier defending the Verdun Heights,
“For love of France, their motherland,
Where courage bold and death abide:
Still the spires of Verdun stand.
Their fling defiance from on high
And Speak to France of victory nigh!”
Another piece of fiction, “War’s Christmas Gift,” tells the story of a French soldier originally on furlough for Christmas choosing to stay and fight. The exaggerated patriotic sentiment made it even seem overdramatic, “What did he care for a furlough when there was fighting? And there was fighting, for what mattered life or death? Nothing! Nothing mattered but France!” At the same time, “The White Comrade,” introduced the American perspective to the story. Inspired by the real life lore of a man on the Verdun battlefield “caring for the wounded and immune to fire,” the story depicted an American volunteer driving an ambulance to save lives in Verdun. It is interesting to speculate why the symbol of Verdun was appealing to the students of EHS. Certainly, the anglo-francophilia widespread in the school, combined with patriotism inspired them to write about Verdun. Also, possibly, the French defense reminded the Southern students of the Lost Cause Mythology of fighting for the homeland in the Civil War.
Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori
A poem titled “Dulce et Decorum est pro Patria Mori” was published in the February issue of the Chronicle. The old Latin phrase, dated back to the Roman time, means “it is sweet and proper to die for one's country,” and other stories of men in service written by the students reflected such belief towards the war within the Episcopal student body. “Spring--1917,” a poem, praised the French and British soldiers for fighting for “freedom’s cause.” According to the author, while Spring would be a season of life for everyone else, it continued to be a time of death for the service men, but such death would be a good one. “For truth and right they grasp the sword--Fear Death? / What word has Spring for these fellow men? / Far o’er their heads an eagle circles high, / And the nature whispers soft: ‘Tis good to die.” Nature is used as a theme in the poem, suggesting that death for one’s country and cause is “natural,” while the symbol of the eagle possibly refers to American patriotism. Ironically, by early 1917, many of the soldiers portrayed in the student literature became very much disillusioned by the concept of nationalism in reality, as mutinies took place across the French, Italian, and Russian armies. In fact, in one of his last poems before dying on the battlefield, British poet Wilfred Owen wrote,
However, the feeling of disillusionment was hardly expressed in the student publications. Instead, faltering in fulfilling one’s duty to the homeland was ridiculed. “The Coward,” a fictional story, depicted a French soldier named Pierre. In the story, Pierre bravely saved his friend in the No Man’s Land, only to show cowardice yet again in the next fight. The author harshly denounced Pierre as “a coward, a base, abject coward,” essentially arguing that failure to serve one’s country represented an unredeemable lack of morals and character. Two other student written stories, named “Coward?” and “The Slacker” engaged with this theme. The term "slacker" was coined during the war against American men who resisted or dodged the draft; thus, it is clear that Episcopal students were also influenced by the outside beliefs on duty and cowardice.
Divine Power
In this time of desperation and death, many people turned towards God and divine power for guidance. Religious elements appeared in many student works. The story about the American ambulance driver in Verdun, “The White Comrade,” attempted to answer the question of why God would tolerate such deadly war. In the story, a character asked, “why doesn’t God take a hand in this horrible struggle?” only to get the response, that “in [God’s] feet and hands are wound prints.” The story suggests that God’s mercy was extended through the heroism of the people like the American volunteer, who saved countless lives on the battlefield. On the other hand, “Dieu et le Droit,” a poem roughly translated to “God and the Right,” argued that God was on the side of the righteous--that is, the Allies--in the duration of war, “To God on High / Who guides the fight-- / ‘Be Thou near by, / Uphold the Right!’”
Cruelty of War
In spite of the heroism and patriotism praised in these publications, they still depicted the cruelty of the trench warfare in Europe. “The Voice of Verdun” detailed the student imagination of the Verdun battlefield, “In starving need and freezing want / In sorrow wrapped in ruined gaunt / … Where blood-stained corpses strew the land / Dead ’mid the wreck by German wrought.” The story “War’s Christmas Gift” also crafted a harrowing ending, as the French soldier’s mother waited for the return of her son on Christmas in vain,
“The little woman sat and waited and prayed for the footsteps at the door, but they never came. She had received War’s Christmas Gift--Her son was dead.”
Another poem, “Frankfort Hill,” depicted the brutal fighting between the British and German armies in Europe, “O’er every trench, / From out the stench / of war’s unburied dead / … How many fell, no man can tell, / For no one lives to say.”