The Democratisation Of War Memorials: The London History Show

CORRECTION: Apparently the bit about Wellington and Napoleon not having major defeats before they met is wrong. Womp womp. Can't believe I didn't look that up properly. Annoyingly, I can't remember where I got it from, so I don't know who to avoid in the future.

Just a quick one today. I have to talk about the Wellington memorial for an upcoming exam, and so this is my way of both practising and going off on my own little tangent about democracy and memorialisation.

[thomaskalinowski]

In the United States, the Civil War memorials in the South tend to be of the generals, while the ones in the North tend to be of the ordinary soldiers and sailors.

[alseyhopkins]

Just as a slight correction Napoleon was defeated several times before Waterloo but the most famous would be the battle of Leipzig which saw France driven from the German states.

[Michaelthekiwi]

Hello from another memorial to Arthur Wellesley - the capital of New Zealand, which was named Wellington in recognition of the Duke's strong support for colonisation of Australia and New Zealand.

[yorktown]

I still remember the first time I saw the Crimean War Monument in London. I was deeply impressed by not only it's size, but the way that it was meant to honor the suffering and death of common soldiers.

[davetestu]

I suppose it's possible to be more eloquent, beautiful, and charming at once than Jenny Draper but it's hard to picture.

[ianrogerburton]

In my opinion it was the mass conscription of WWI and WWII that started this "democratisation" ie commemorating wars instead of celebrating victories, especially as everyone at this time had friends or relatives who had been killed in action or severely wounded. Furthermore, every town and village were also putting up memorials that were honoring the dead.

[charbird]

I think Copenhagen jumping up at the end of the battle of Waterloo was probably him celebrating! He might have gotten a bit carried away though considering he almost kicked Wellington in the head lol

[matthewjenkins]

When you get statues of generals from more modern wars, they tend to commemorate the man himself rather than the conflict writ large

[Kiki-csxv]

This is a fascinating subject! I'd noticed the same shift in war memorials in New Zealand and theorised that it's definitely symbolic of a change in society. I wish you would go into this subject in more depth.

[LisaMarieFr]

This was very informative and interesting! So stunning to see how commemorative culture developes, and especially commemorating fallen soldiers. Thank you!

[RobotShield]

The crosses also look like tank traps to me, am I reading too much into it?

[rickfarny]

I think another factor is simply the scale of the mobilisation and number of causalities. In the Napoleonic wars Britain's armed forces had a peak strength of 250k, whereas in ww1 there were almost four million troops with 800k deaths. Approximately 1 in 25 British men were killed and in some towns, thanks to the pals battalions some towns like Accrington lost an entire generation of young men overnight. If they'd put up a statue of whatever general sent them to those muddy fields then what happened in Russia could well have happened in Britain too.

[PhoebeFayRuthLouise]

This is such an interesting progression! I had never thought about how war monuments have changed! Thank you for another fascinating video!

[alecblunden]

Wellesley was also a Battalion commander in Flanders at the start of the Wars with Revolutionary France. And he was certainly defeated during the.night attack on Seringspatam.

[Whatsuppbuddies]

The quintessential tomb of the unknown soldier is unrivaled in its ability to democratically evoke sanctity toward nationhood built on the foundation of sacrifice. It is an incredibly useful tool, so much so that I cannot imagine any society - democratic or otherwise - intelligently disregarding.

[johnmichaelcule]

You might have mentioned the work of the Imperial War Graves Commission which created a standard pattern of graves for service personnel which was used in the cemeteries from the First World War and then in individual graves for everyone from the Second. One pattern for soldiers, sailors and aircrew, officers and 'other ranks'.

[lllordllloyd]

The nature of war changed, too. Wellington could and did decisively influence Waterloo, in detail. In the 20th century, it is arguable the extent to which any one man was decisive.

[freyamckenzie]

Have to correct a mistake. Admiral Lord Nelson scored Victory over Napoleon in 1805.
Wellington's victory over Napoleon was 1815, meaning Napoleon did lose a battle before Waterloo.
We have two Towns Named Wellington in Australia 🇦🇺, We live in one.

[broxtt]

Particularly awesome video. Thank you for considering the democracy of statues. There are so many military statues along the Thames, I would love it if you extended this consideration to them.

[duckyj]

From Canada, here.
Same really.
After the Boer War, the only one I can think of that's to a specific military person is to John McRae. It's life sized, and he's seated at ground level.

My high school had been built around 1910 though, so we had memorial walls similar to some you show, filled with the students who'd passed in subsequent wars.

Local Victorian era church too... I'm in an older Toronto neighbourhood, so the houses attached to many of the names on those plaques are often still standing... a couple even built by those families.