Französische Kriegsgefangenenzeitungen im Ersten Weltkrieg: Internationale Erfahrung, Interkulturalität und europäisches Selbstverständnis/ French Prisoners of War Newspapers in World War I: International experience, interculturality and European self-image

Abstract

German Detention camps throughout the First World War were places where prisoners of the Allied powers met and got closer together, including soldiers from Europe and outside Europe. The camps were characterized by tensions between the different groups (national, European, colonial, indigene-colonial), living under repressive conditions, though at the same time protected by the Hague Convention. The analysis of the newspapers edited by French war prisoners shows different intercultural initiatives and representations of international relationships that were bound to the experience of the camp and (forced) labor. Furthermore, they show how the newspapers became a medium favoring a certain opening to mutual appreciation. The ideas of fraternity or civilization, based on the antagonism between Europe and America, gave way to the sentiment of community in captivity. However, persisting national-discursive traditions and the high esteem of the own culture did not necessarily promote the idea of a cultural equality.