Morale and the experience of the trenches

Morale is a necessary feature of any history of the Western Front and the Great War. This chapter explores the morale and endurance of soldiers serving in the armies fighting in Belgium and France. It asks how servicemen survived the myriad crises that confronted them there. Drawing on military, social, and cultural history it begins by exploring definitions of morale, then outlines some of the common features of the Western Front experience, before investigating how armies managed (and failed to nurture) their men’s morale. Whilst acknowledging just how multifaceted (and complex) the maintenance of morale was and remains, it underlines the value of welfare, recreation, training, leadership, discipline, and esprit de corps. It also highlights their interactions with their surroundings, their perceptions of and connections with home, and the importance of their innate psychological resilience. Lastly, it surveys moments at which armies’ morale appears to have fractured on the Western Front. There were periods – especially in 1917 – in which a malaise appeared to spread through the ranks. Ultimately, such episodes were fermented by war weariness and a dwindling faith in victory.