war cry
The battle cry , anciently also field shouting , is a loud cry as a sign of recognition in battle .
function
Before the uniform was introduced, the battle cry was the most important identifier in the battle. The purpose of the battle cry was also to raise the common fighting and corps spirit , but also threatening gestures to the opponent in order to intimidate him. He has been raised by attacking armies since ancient times. The wording of the call was mostly based on tradition; but it could also be issued specifically before a battle. Hence, the battle cry can be viewed as part of early psychological warfare . A classic German example is the hurray !
In the 19th century, the term field shouting was understood as similar to the slogan and slogan , as a password under which one's own soldiers recognize themselves. The difference to the first is that the former is a double word that both parties can use to recognize each other, and the second that the latter is only known to the commander . Every soldier is asked about the field shouting, only the commander is asked about the slogan. With the field shout, a troop can still identify themselves together even without their commander. The slogan is known to everyone in their own troops, it is not placed by the post, but by any unit of the troops, as is the field shouting, but it is not confidential or secret, but is also generally known to the enemy, and can also be used as a distinguishing feature in the middle of a battle, is similar thus in the function of the standards and the uniforms.
The battle cries of the Middle Ages also find their way into the coat of arms as war cries (Panier) .
Outside of the military, fixed jester calls in Carnival, Shrovetide and Mardi Gras as well as mottos called during demonstrations and chanting by sports fans are called battle calls.
Examples of battle calls
Historical battle cries
- Alăla, Alăla! - ancient greek
- Feri, feri! ('Blow-blow!') - Roman
- Christe boëthei! ('Christ help!') - Byzantine
- Allahu Akbar ! ('God is greater!') - Arabic
- Deus vult or Dieu le veut! ('God wants it') The battle cry of the Christian crusaders from the First Crusade
- Adjuva Deus! ('Help God!', 'With God's help'), time of the crusade
- Maria help! - Invocation of Mary, help of Christians , crusades from the 13th century, then imperial-Habsburg up to the time of the Turkish wars
- various Māori haka (ritual chants)
- Hya, Berge romerijke ('high, glorious mountain') - Bergische troops in the battle of Worringen (1288)
- Saint George! - St. George , patron saint of the English , battle cry of the Middle Ages ( Hundred Years War ).
- Mont-joie! (in relation to the Montjoie fortress in the Holy Land) - French battle cry of the Middle Ages
- Santiago! - James the Elder , patron saint of Castile , battle cry of the Middle Ages and early modern times
- Banzai ! - The battle cry of Japanese samurai, resumed in World War II
- Eleftheria i thanatos ('Freedom or Death!') - Cretan battle cry in the fight for freedom against the Ottomans
- Haarus - battle cry of the old confederates
- Hakkaa päälle! –Finnish troops ( Hakkapeliitta ) in the Thirty Years War
- Remember the Alamo ! - Texan troops in the Battle of San Jacinto (1836)
- the rebel yell (German: rebel scream ) of the Confederate in the American Civil War (1861-1865), uncertain how exactly the scream sounded
- En avant! ('Forward') - modern French up to the 20th century
- Hooray ! - Austrian Empire until the 20th century
- Živila Austrija! ('Long live Austria') - Bosnian-Croatian contingents of the Austro-Hungarian Army
- Savoia! - House of Savoy , the battle cry of the Italian Kingdom until the First World War
- Urra! - The battle cry of the Red Army in World War II
literature
- Kurt Pätzold and Manfred Weißbecker (eds.): Keywords and battle calls from two centuries of German history , electronic resource, digital library volume 143, Directmedia Publishing Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89853-543-6 .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f field shouts . In: Heinrich August Pierer , Julius Löbe (Hrsg.): Universal Lexicon of the Present and the Past . 4th edition. tape 6 . Altenburg 1858, p. 170 ( zeno.org ).
- ↑ Alăla . In: Heinrich August Pierer , Julius Löbe (Hrsg.): Universal Lexicon of the Present and the Past . 4th edition. tape 1 . Altenburg 1857, p. 252 ( zeno.org ).
- ^ A b c Mark Thompson: The White War. Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915-1919 . 1st edition. Faber and Faber Ltd., London 2008, ISBN 978-0-571-22333-6 , Walls of Iron, Clouds of Fire - The First Battle of the Isonzo, pp. 93 (English).