The transformation of the myth of the Langemarke in the german history of the twentieth century

The article focuses on the sentiments of excitement among wide groups of German society, especially youth groups, at the beginning of the war. It was due to these sentiments that most of the young and poorly trained soldiers who were ordered to advance on the well-fortified positions of the British army in the Battle of Langemark in Flanders perished. Avoiding their responsibility for the losses in killed and wounded the Supreme military Command of Germany interpreted the event as "moral victory of the youth". The militarists glorified heroism and readiness to self-sacrifice of the perished soldiers and imposed these ideas on the German youth as a code of conduct at the front and in the rear. This myth served the basis for glorification of the heroes of Langemark during the time of the Weimar Republic. Remembrance pray was to save the victims of the bloody war from oblivion. The day of the Battle was celebrated as one the national holidays; there appeared memorials dedicated to war heroes and the tradition of remembrance was observed at secondary and higher schools as well as in the army. During the period of Third Reich the ideas of the myth were used by the Nazis to glorify the war, educate young generation in the spirit of racism and aggression and recruit them into their party. They introduced the practice of renaming streets and squares in honor of Langemark and passed on the right of honoring heroes to their youth organization Hitleijugend. A special Langemarks teaching program aimed at training at higher schools young people from lower classes as devoted and loyal cadres to the regime and as well as glorification the possibilities of the "people's community" created by Nazis was carried out through the war. The "Hall of Langemark" built in the chapel on the Imperial Stadium errected for the Olympic Games in Germany of 1936 served as sanctuary. Annual sport competitions in honor of Langemark were aimed at improving military training of the young. The myth of Langemark was debunked during the process of "demilitarizaition of mind" in the Federal Republic of Germany. Most of the monuments and memorials have survived and are taken by German population as symbols reminding of young people who fell as victims of German nationalist and militarist's claims to word domination during the two wars. The myth of Langemark proved to be the most popular among such legends of the XX century. The myth makers created a triad: of cult victims, death cult and the cult of youth. The myth was subjected to transformations for the sake of mobilizing the younger generation to meet the challenges set by right-wing forces of Germany.

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