Death or Deliverance : Canadian Courts Martial in the Great War

ISBN-13: 9780774825672 / Angielski / Twarda / 2013 / 192 str.

Teresa Iacobelli

Opis

Soldiers found guilty of desertion or cowardice during the Great War faced death by firing squad. Novels, histories, movies, and television series often depict courts martial as brutal and inflexible, and social memories of this system of frontline justice have inspired modern movements to seek pardons for soldiers executed on the battlefield. In this powerful and moving book, Teresa Iacobelli looks beyond stories of callous generals and quick executions to consider the trials of nearly two hundred soldiers who were sentenced to death but spared by a disciplinary system capable of thoughtful review and compassion. By bringing to light these men's experiences, Death or Deliverance reconsiders an important chapter in the history of both a war and a nation.

In this eye-opening account of military law in the Great War, courts martials emerge not as brutal, merciless dispensers of frontline justice but as courts capable of mercy.

Spis treści

Introduction

1 Competing Ideologies

2 Military Law: An Overview

3 The Crimes

4 The Court Martial Process

5 The Confirmation Process

6 The Campaign for Pardons

Conclusion

Notes; Bibliography; Index