Jasper Heinzen. Prisoners of War and Military Honour, 1789–1918 . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2025. vi, 347 pp. Ill. $67.60. (E-book: $129.99.)
Year: 2025
Type: book-review
Abstract: Heinzen's new Prisoners of War and Military Honour, 1789-1918 makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of military honor.His is a cultural history of honor, not an account of the conduct of war or the development of military institutions, although he touches on both.As his primary indication of the standing and role of military honor, he centers on the treatment of prisoners of war and, more specifically, on the practice of parole.Dating back to the Middle Ages, elite warriors who accepted the surrender of an adversary could demand that their captive pay a ransom to achieve his release.The prisoner may have required his freedom to raise the required sum, so the captor could grant him conditional release on his adversary's parole d'honneur, pledging not to take up arms again until he had paid the ransom.Over time, such parole became more broadly applied and more formally regulated by the state.During the early modern period, parole also applied to rank-and-file soldiers, although remained more common among officers.Paroled soldiers escaped confinement by giving an honor-bound promise not to bear arms again until they had been exchanged or ransomed.They might even be allowed to return home while on parole.Heinzen believes that the Enlightenment ushered in limited war, providing even more humane treatment of prisoners of war and extending the practice of parole.Many claim that the French Revolution and the creation of great conscript armies replaced limited warfare with a "total war" that abandoned humane moderation.However, Heinzen argues that military honor retained its importance, and that parole, though less common, persisted in different forms during the nineteenth century.As an example of continuity, he references the parole of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia by Grant at Appomattox in 1865, as well as evidence from the Russo-Japanese War (1905)(1906).He also offers an interesting and revealing discussion of Freemasonry and how it served as a meeting ground for military officers.He first introduces this theme in his discussion of the Enlightenment, and shows how it endured through the nineteenth century and into World War I.His discussion of prisoners of war also extends to the internment of "civilians" in colonial environments, with particular attention to the Boers during the Second Boer War (1899-1902).In this conflict, the British allowed burgers who swore an oath of neutrality to avoid internment and return to their homes.Heezen points out how this oath paralleled that taken by parolees.While the Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907) included provisions for parole, World War I saw few exchanges or paroles.Policies were complex and competing: for a time, the British banned paroles based on
Author: John A. Lynn
Language: English
Subfield: Cultural Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4416678396
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