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Children and Adolescents “War has a young face,” wrote Gabriele D’annunzio in 1915, when Italy entered the war. Indeed, the First World War, and in all belligerent societies, there developed a “youth phenomenon.” Yet there is little historical research devoted to the interface between war and youth. The specifically youth aspect of the First World War has seldom been examined; when it has, it has been in connection with problems of conscription rather than from the viewpoin…

War Toys The leisure activities of children changed during the First World War in conformity with national propaganda interests. Such pastimes had to adjust to the laws of the market as they applied to the youth culture in wartime. Children’s expectations (or the expectations of family circles) were to be met by the commercial production of toys, games, and children’s books. Long before the war of 1914, politics had found access to the nursery through the medium of toys in Europe. There was already a tradition of patriotic and military toys, and their pro…

Driant, Emile (September 11, 1855, Neufchâtel-sur-Aisne – February 22, 1916, Verdun), French author and officer. As the brother-in-law of General Boulanger, and a friend of both Paul Déroulède and Maurice Barrès, Driant stood at the very center of all the battles of French nationalism, although without becoming particularly actively engaged. He did not begin his political career until after leaving the army by his own desire in 1906. At the same time, under the pseudonym Danrit, he continued work …