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Copse 125: A Chronicle from the Trench Warfare of 1918

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COPSE 125 was one of a quadrilogy of works Ernst Jünger wrote on his experiences as a storm trooper for Germany during the First World War. The most famous of these, of course, is THE STORM OF STEEL, which made him a celebrity, but COPSE 125 is a very different type of book, and it's no surprise to me that some who read and enjoyed STORM posted their disappointment here.

STORM was an "external" memior of Jünger's four years as a front-line soldier, a period which saw him wounded sixteen times and awarded with Prussia's highest decoration for bravery, the Pour le Merité, which was also awarded to Rommel and Richtofen. By "external" I mean that the book deals almost exclusively with what happened to Jünger during the war - what he saw, what he did, what was done to him. It did NOT record what he felt, and many who read it dismissed him as a blunted, cold-blooded automaton, incapable of real human feeling, and to this day (he died only recently, at 103) he is villified as the "Godfather of fascism" for glorifying war and rationalizing the unspeakable. In fact, Jünger was a remarkably sensitive man, and withheld his feelings about combat to make them the subject of his subsequent works (including the long essay, "War as an Inward Experience"); it seems his true "crime" was in failing to conclude that war was a complete evil ("Life can only assert itself in its own destruction", he writes) and it is probably no coincidence that his harshest critics are people who have never been shot at.

COPSE 125 is a battle memior of sorts, which Jünger wrote using the journal he kept during a stay at Pieseux-au-Mont in 1918, but it is not by any means a "combat" book. In fact, Jünger deliberately picked from his experiences a relatively quiet on the line to use as his source material. What he wanted to explore, among other things, was the effect of trench warfare on the human heart and soul, as well as the possible nature of war in the future, using both the successes and the failure of the German Army during the war as his learning tool. Anyone familiar with Jünger's novels knows that his prose style mingles brilliant, almost poetic prose with long, turgid, extremely German descents into philosophy, history and metaphysics, and COPSE 125 is no exception. Many of the passages are so beautifully written that they stick in your mind like an arrow, such as when he writes, "The meaning of life is not in the poor struggle for existence but the irresistible urge to power - and overwhelming power." Or, when discussing the perennial victory of fanaticism over the intellect, explains, "A sound opinion finds advocates, but no martyrs." Others are so dense and overwritten they are virtually impenetrable. And yet I would unhesitatingly say that while COPSE is no easy, breezy read, it is compelling enough that I have re-read it several times, and on each occasion gained some wisdom from its teachings.

If you're at all interested in the views of Right Wing Germans in the period between wars (it was penned in the early '20s), this is a good read. If you simply follow Junger, you'll also be interested in this, because it's exactly the sort of thing he was trying to disavow in his later years.

Junger throws in some action, some thoughts on leadership, day-to-day details from the front, and thoughts about how trench warfare evolved from 1914 to 1918.

Certainly the other reviewers are correct to assert this is a nationalist book. Particularly interesting to me is the fact that Junger seems to both disavow and embrace the 'Stab-in-the-back' myth that was so prevalent in Right Wing circles of the time. When he talks about the possibility that Germany will lose the war, he says the nation as a whole is to blame. Later, he mentions that the elements responsible for the loss should be jettisoned from German society.

I suspect he was all too happy to let people read the book either way. While I'm a fan of the man and everything he accomplished in a long and storied life, he was a pretty slippery character. That was true before the concept of the 'anarch' had been fully developed, and it's definitely on display here.

Also on display is his genuine love for battle as he experienced it, and a love of technology. His speculation on war machinery to come was of particular interest. One could read it as an anticipation of the helicopter. The roots for his later works, such as The Glass Bees and Aladdin's Problem are here, definitely, less the dream or trance-like qualities that color his post-WWII books.

This is Junger before he got burned by the ascent of the Nazis. This book amply documents why he was able to do what he wanted in occupied Paris, and why On the Marble Cliffs wasn't banned by the Nazis. I don't mean to smear him as a true-believer, but he did sow the seeds for the ascent of the NSDAP through his contributions to the post-war marketplace of ideas. He was definitely pro-Germany, pro-military, and anti-democratic. He wasn't a loyal Nazi, but he was definitely a Right Wing intellectual who was proud to wear these attitudes on his sleeve when it mattered.

Thus, I thought this book was completely fascinating. I wish someone would release a new translation of Der Arbeiter, because I'm sure it's more of the same.

I'll admit right off the bat I am a "Storm of Steel" guy. I read it first and was sucked right in. I picked this book up thinking it would prove more of the same but was quite mistaken. I believe the book has merit in that it explores a multitude of experiences and ideas he had perculating in his head. His ideas on the future warrior and the new wave of military hardware are rather uncanny and farseeing. It was enjoyable reading his ideas on leadership and know from personal experience he is right on. Irregardless the book is slow and choppy compared to "storm of steel" so if you intend to read this be prepared for the differences and enjoy the book for what it is.

Storm of Steel, Junger's more famous WWI memoir, is an excellent book, capturing a young patriotic German's response to trench warfare. It's full of details of daily life in the trenches and has a particularly good passage of his involvement in the Kaiserschlacht offensive. By comparison, Copse 125, only contains a few pages of war memoir. The balance of the book is philosophical tract based on zealous nationalism. If you want to read several hundred pages of why Imperial Germany deserved to win the First World War and rule Europe, well, be my guest.

a reprint with poorly reproduced text. Its a good memoir from a German officer, with some ripping good bits. However, at least half or so is a lot of self reflection.

So if you are really into the German side of WW1 in a scholarly way iots a great source. If you just want cool tales of fighting pass it up.