University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 8-1994 Images of War in the Works of Poet-Soldiers of the Thirty Years' and Prusso-Austrian Wars Jacqueline Fields Ratliff University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the German Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Ratliff, Jacqueline Fields, "Images of War in the Works of Poet-Soldiers of the Thirty Years' and Prusso- Austrian Wars. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1994. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/1258 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Jacqueline Fields Ratliff entitled "Images of War in the Works of Poet-Soldiers of the Thirty Years' and Prusso-Austrian Wars." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in German. David Lee, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Henry Kratz, John C. Osborne, David Tandy Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Jacqueline Fields Ratliff entitled "Images of War in the Works of Poet-Soldiers of the Thirty Years' and Prusso­ Austrian Wars." I have examined the final copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy,--L���·���---------------- with a major in German Language amd Literature. Dr. David Lee Major Professor We� have read this dissertation an ommend its acceptance: S/£<'<(j --t;:;r� Accepted for the Council:. Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of The Graduate School IMAGES OF WAR IN THE WORKS OF POET-SOLDIERS OF THE THIRTY YEARS ' AND PRUSSO-AUSTRIAN WARS A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Jacqueline Fields Ratliff August 1994 Copyright � Jacqueline Fields Ratliff, 1994 All rights reserved ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my children Bo, Jason, and Leah Ratliff iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my major professor, Dr. David Lee, for his guidance and endless patience. I would also like to thank the other committee members, Dr. Henry Kratz, Dr. John c. Osborne , and Dr . David Tandy for their comments and assistance . In addition to serving as a committee member, Dr . Henry Kratz encouraged me to resume my work when I was thoroughly disheartened . For that I owe him my gratitude. I would like to thank Ms . Irene Kaplon who told me it was never too late and guided me through the maze of readmission paperwork . I am grateful to Ms . Ann LaCava for her invaluable help with the technical details of this paper. I also thank Hubert Hieke for his support and assistance in obtaining German texts that were not available in the u.s. Finally, I would like to thank the members of my family , Wi llard , Bo , Jason, and Leah for their constant support and encouragement . iv ABSTRACT This research involves a study of the imagery of war of six poet-soldiers : Diederich von dem Werder, Georg Greflinger , and Christian Brehme, from the time of the Thirty Years' War and Ewald Christian von Kleist , Johann George Scheffner , and Heinrich Wilhelm von Stamford from the time of the Prusso-Austrian Wars . The aims of the study were twofold -- to ascertain how these writers depict war through imagery in their poetic works, and to note changes in such imagery in the intervening century between the two periods of conflict. Attention was focused on certain categories of imagery , including the origins of war, the soldier's cause, nature, death , destruction and deprivation, leaders and heroes , the enemy , the common soldier, and the poet-soldier 's view of himself in war . The poet-soldiers of the Thirty Years' War era attribute the origin of war to a combination of fate and God 's punishment of a sinful people, whereas the eighteenth­ century poets point to certain defects inherent in man, such as envy , greed , and lust for power . War compared to destructive aspects of nature is a motif in both centuries, but the later poets also employed in their works images of peaceful nature as a contrast to the chaotic environment of war . The earlier poets express mainly physical deprivation due to war , while Kleist , Scheffner, and Stamford add a v component of deprivation of the spirit . Portraits of death in war become more personal and sentimentai in the poet­ soldiers of the later period , as does the very concept of the soldier. While hero worship of mil itary leaders is a component in the works from the Thirty Years ' War, the later poet-soldiers paint a disma l picture of leaders in general, reserving their praise for Frederick the Great. Werder and Greflinger depict a demonic enemy . Kleist , Scheffner and Stamford see the enemy as barbaric and less civilized than they , but do not depict him as evil. The early poet­ soldiers do not write about themselves , while the later poets tend to personalize their description of the soldier's life and cause . vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1. INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE•••••••••• 1 Introduction. 1 Review of Literature ........................... 7 2. POET-SOLDIERS OF THE THIRTY YEARS ' WAR••••• •••• 19 The Thirty-Years ' War ••••.•.....•.••••••••••••• 20 Soldiering in the Thirty Years' War ••••••• 26 The Poet-Soldiers . • • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • • • 27 Diederich von dem Werder ..••••••••.••••••• 27 Life and works ..... ............. ..... 27 Werder the soldier ......••••••••••••• 32 Werder 's imagery of war •••••.•.•••••• 33 Georg Greflinger ••..•••.....•..••••••••••. 44 Life and works ...•.•...•••••••••••••. 44 Greflinger the soldier ••..•.. .••••••• 48 Greflinger's imagery of war •••••••••• 49 origins of war •••••..•.•..•••••• 52 The warrior's cause ••••••.••• ••• 56 Nature . 58 Death . • . • • • • . • . • • . • . • • 64 Destruction and deprivation ••••• 68 Leaders and heroes ••••••••••..•• 73 The enemy . • . • . • • • • • • . • . • 7 9 The common soldier .•••••• ••••••• 80 vii The poet-soldier's view of himself ..••.••..•.••••••••• 81 Christian Brehme •••••••. ....•••••••••••••• 83 Life and works •••. ••••••••••••••••••• 83 Brehme the soldier ..••••••••••••••••• 86 Brehme 's imagery of war ••••.••••••••• 86 Summary . • . 95 3. POET-SOLDIERS OF THE PRUSSO-AUSTRIAN WARS•••••• 100 The Prusso-Austrian Wars ••••••••••..•.••••••••• 101 The Silesian Wars ••••••••••••..•..•••••••• 101 The War of Bavarian Succession .•....•••••• 114 Soldiering under Frederick the Great •.•.•• 115 The Poet-Soldiers ......•.•••••...•....••••••••• 117 Ewald Christian von Kleist •••.....•••••••• 117 Life and works .••••• .........•••••••• 117 Kleist in the Seven Years ' War ..••••• 124 Kleist's imagery of war •••••••••••••• 126 Origins of war •••••••••••..•.••. 126 The warrior's cause •••••.••••••• 127 Nature ....•.••.••••••• .•........ 128 Death. ....... 132 Destruction and deprivation ..... 136 Leaders and heroes •••••••...•... 138 The enemy . • • • • • • • • . • • • • 142 The poet-soldier 's view of himself .•••. .•....•••.••••• 144 Johann George Schaffner .... ...•••••• .••••• 145 viii Life and works •.•...••..•••••••••..•. 145 Schaffner the soldier •••••••••.•.•••• 147 Schaffner's imagery of war ••••••••••• 149 Origins of war ••••••••••...••••• 149 The warrior 's cause ••••••••••••• 150 Nature . 156 Death . 157 Destruction and deprivation ••••• 159 Leaders and heroes .•.••••••••.•. 162 The enemy . • • • • . • . • . • • • . • • • • • • 164 The common soldier •••••••••••.•. 164 The poet-soldier 's view of himself ••••••••••..•.••. 171 Heinrich Wilhelm von stamford ••.•.•••••••• 179 Life and works ••••••••••••••.•..••••• 179 Stamford the soldier .•...•.•••••••••• 182 Stamford 's imagery of war .••••••••••• 185 Origins of war. • • • • • • • . • • • • . • . 185 Death . 187 Destruction and deprivation ••••• 190 Leaders and heroes ....•••••••••• 192 The enemy . • • . • • • • • • 194 The common soldier ••••••••.•..•. 195 The poet-soldier 's view of himself •...•..•••••••••• 196 Summary • . • . • . • . • • • • • 19 7 4. CONCLUSION ....................•...•.•••........ 201 ix BIBLIOGRAPHY.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 211 VITA. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 221 X C�TD 1 INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Introduction This study will investigate the images of war in the verse of poet-soldiers from two extensive periods of conflict in Germany : The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and the Prusso-Austrian wars -- which include the First Silesian War (1740-42), the Second Silesian War (1744-45 ), the Third Silesian War (1756-63), and the War of Bavarian Succession (1778-79). When the research was initially begun , it was with the prospect of writing