Total War and Civilian Health in France 1914-1918

FAIN: FT-60795-13

Cherilyn May Lacy
Hartwick College (Oneonta, NY 13820-4000)

Total War and Civilian Health in France 1914-1918 examines the tensions between civilian and military needs for medical care in the midst of war that overwhelmed the French health care system. With most of the Western Front located on its soil the toll of casualties placed such a strain on French medical resources that it pitted the needs of civilians against those of soldiers. Yet to contemporaries who saw the nation as a living organic entity both groups embodied the survival of the nation because soldiers women and children all were vital to reproducing the citizen body. With an NEH Summer Stipend I will draw upon research already completed in 2006-2012 to complete two chapters of my book manuscript. My project will contribute to the humanist consideration of the relationship between individuals and societies by examining how the conditions of total war disrupted the ability of the French state to provide care for its individual citizens.