Comradeship

A term with widely varying categories of meaning, defined by soldiers’ experiences in the First World War and by public memory of the war.

The term is attested from the 17th century as one of the military virtues and was used as an expression of the social coherence of soldiers both in and out of the fighting. The word’s etymology indicates the fellowship of the barrack room. With the start of national wars, the introduction of general conscription in the 19th century, and especially as a result of total war…