Beginning in the fall of 1914, every French soldier on the Western Front received a daily ration of wine from the army. At first it was a modest quarter litre, but by 1917 it had increased to the equivalent of a full bottle each day. The wine ration was intended to sustain morale in the trenches, making the men more willing to endure suffering and boredom. The army also supplied soldiers with doses of distilled alcohol just before attacks to increase their ferocity and fearlessness. This strategic distribution of alcohol was a defining feature of French soldiers’ experiences of the war and...
Beginning in the fall of 1914, every French soldier on the Western Front received a daily ration of wine from the army. At first it was a modest quart...
To maintain morale amongst soldiers in the wretched trenches of World War I, the French army provided regular rations of wine and other alcohol that became a defining feature of French soldiers' experience. A Thirst for Wine and War explores the French army's strategic distribution of alcohol as a method of emotional and behavioural control.
To maintain morale amongst soldiers in the wretched trenches of World War I, the French army provided regular rations of wine and other alcohol that b...
