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The Rites of Spring, 1914-1918

Week 11 – Lecture 1

8 April 2008

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I. The Rite of Spring

• Translated: The Rite of Spring [original subtitle: Scenes from Pagan Russia]• Note word: Le sacre [cf. The sacre of Napoleon] Not merely a coronation but “the

making sacred” of something• An Orientalist / primitivist piece: a representation of human sacrifice in “pagan

[pre-Christian] Russia” --- cf. Wagner, Valkyries! But also: Copland

Igor Stravinsky,Le sacre du printemps[The Rite of Spring]

29 May 1913

← Stravinsky by Picasso

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• A ballet representing ancient rites of spring --- the need to “sanctify” the earth so that it will be fertile in the new growing season [otherwise: the village dies starvation]. Think: Passover; Easter

• Cf. Ancient Greek dramas: performed in spring; bacchanalia [Dionysius]; drunken orgies…the tragedy must sacrifice the tragic hero: a dramatic “rite of spring”

Ballet corps, Sacre du printemps [1913]

Rite of Spring

Primitive: village elders choose adolescent virgin for the human sacrifice …

blood sanctifies [le sacre] earth

brings good harvest --> people are fed ---> Community is saved.

cf. EASTER!!!

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Fin-de-siècle Primitivism[Variation on Orientalism]

• In 1913: An aesthetic celebration of “primitive” instincts: a way of escaping from bourgeois restraint--- and yet remaining a safe and comfortable distance as a “civilized” person!

Picasso: 1907

Stravinsky: 1913↓

Caused a riot at its Paris premier: 29 May 1913; Great War begins 31 July 1914

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Radical shift in cultural meaning[“software”] of

Le sacre du printemps

• 1913: Primitivism --- a celebration of our most primal instincts; let the lid off the repression!; a nostalgic yearning for the days when old men sacrificed youth for the regeneration of the earth in spring

• 1918: Primitivism --- a horror of what happens when instincts are un-repressed: the sacrificial slaughter of millions of youth by the corrupt old men.

• THE GREAT WAR = SACRIFICE of a generation.

II. Political-Military Overview of the Great War

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A. Sarajevo, August 1914

• 1) Serbia wants pan-slavic nation-state• 2) Austria afraid Slavs will leave Empire• 3) Russia wants Serbia• 4) Austrians threaten Serbia: want to provoke war and take over Serbian territory

• Germany: fears a two-front war [Russia to east; France to west]• Triple Entente [GB-Fr-Russ] growing increasingly strong: only reliable ally is Austria• Germany must retain Austria as ally: implicit “blank check”?

B. Alliance System

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• 28 June 1914: Assassination of Austrian Archduke and wife in Sarajevo by Serbian • 28 July 1914: Austria declares war on Serbia

– Russia comes to aid of Serbia– Germany comes to aid of Austria– Rest of alliances kick in

C. The Guns of August 1914

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and wife of Austria: visit Sarajevo 28 June 1914

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Archduke Franz Ferdinand and wife of Austria: visit Sarajevo 28 June 1914

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Austrian police catch Serbian assassins moments later: 28 June 1914

28 June 1914: Note impact of instantaneity: photography / newspaper / telegraph

Problem of technology: little time for negotiation

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D. 1915-1917: Stalemate

• 1) Germany deep into France• 2) 1914: Battle of the Marne: finally stop the Germans

– Dig trenches• 3) 1915-1917: two year war of attrition -- Impossible strategic victory

– No govt willing to tell its population they had made a mistake, i.e., their sacrifices had been in vain.

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“The Grand Illusion”:“Nations” fighting; truth: class war

• E.g.: Battle of the Somme – British: bombard Germans

for a week– Move 12 divisions in to

break front @ 7.30 a.m.– Within minutes: Germans

mow down w/ machine guns

– 60,000 men are killed on this day: 1 July 1916

– Class reason: these were British peasants. Officers sent them across in straight-line waves

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E. Armistice11 a.m., 11 / 11 / 18

• 1) During some phases, life expectancy was 3 months

• 2) 2 out of every 3 soldiers between 18-25: killed, wounded, maimed

• 3) Between Aug 1914 -Nov 1918: 930 men killed per day

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“The Modern 20th century”:From innocence to irony

• IRONY: LACK OF PROPORTIONALITY

• 10 million people are destroyed because of 1 assassination– France: 2 million dead– 27-30% of classes of 1912-1915– Germany: 2,057,000 dead

• 44,657 lost a leg• 20,877 lost an arm• 136 lost both arms• 1, 264 lost both legs• 2,547 war blind [gas]

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Treaty of Versailles: End of Empires / Road to WWII