Historian Mark Moss seeks to answer these questions in Manliness and Militarism: Educating Young Boys in Ontario for War. By examining the cult of manliness as it developed in Victorian and Edwardian Ontario, Moss reveals a number of factors that made young men eager to prove their mettle on the battlefields of Europe. Popular juvenile literature — the books of Henty, Haggard, and Kipling, for example, and numerous magazines for boys, such as the Boy's Own Paper and Chums — glorified the military conquests of the British Empire, the bravery of military men, especially Englishmen, and the values of courage and unquestioning patriotism. Those same values were taught in the schools, on the playing fields, in cadet military drill, in the wilderness and Boy Scout movements, and even through the toys and games of young children.
The lessons were taught, and learned, well. As Moss concludes: 'Even after the horrors became known, the conflict ended, and the survivors came home, manliness and militarism remained central elements of English-speaking Ontario's culture. For those too young to have served, the idea of the Great War became steeped in adventure, and many dreamed of another chance to serve. For some, the dream would become a reality.'
Historian Mark Moss seeks to answer these questions in Manliness and Militarism: Educating Young Boys in Ontario for War. By examining the cult of manliness as it developed in Victorian and Edwardian Ontario, Moss reveals a number of factors that made young men eager to prove their mettle on the battlefields of Europe. Popular juvenile literature — the books of Henty, Haggard, and Kipling, for example, and numerous magazines for boys, such as the Boy's Own Paper and Chums — glorified the military conquests of the British Empire, the bravery of military men, especially Englishmen, and the values of courage and unquestioning patriotism. Those same values were taught in the schools, on the playing fields, in cadet military drill, in the wilderness and Boy Scout movements, and even through the toys and games of young children.
The lessons were taught, and learned, well. As Moss concludes: 'Even after the horrors became known, the conflict ended, and the survivors came home, manliness and militarism remained central elements of English-speaking Ontario's culture. For those too young to have served, the idea of the Great War became steeped in adventure, and many dreamed of another chance to serve. For some, the dream would become a reality.'
Manliness and Militarism: Educating Young Boys in Ontario for War
227
Manliness and Militarism: Educating Young Boys in Ontario for War
227
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780195415940 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division |
| Publication date: | 04/05/2001 |
| Series: | Canadian Social History Series |
| Pages: | 227 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.26(w) x 7.96(h) x 0.51(d) |