Scars of War: The Legacy of WW1 Deaths on Civic Capital and Combat Motivation

Felipe Carozzi, Edward Pinchbeck and Luca Repetto

No 10298, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: How does the memory of lives lost in past wars shape communities and the next generation of soldiers? We use newly collected geolocated data on British servicemen to study the legacy of the Great War mortality shock on local communities and the behaviour of soldiers in WW2. We find that community-wide fatalities in WW1 increase the numbers of deaths of the next generation in WW2 and the likelihood that these soldiers receive military honours. To explain these findings, we report that WW1 deaths had promoted civic-oriented and cooperative behaviours in the inter-war period, as measured by the creation of lasting war memorials, veterans’ associations and charities, and increases in voter participation. Overall, we present evidence that part of the legacy of the Great War on British servicemen runs through and is amplified by civic capital and the remembrance of fallen soldiers.

Keywords: World War; communities; combat motivation; conflict (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D74 D91 O15 Z10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea, nep-his and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Scars of war: the legacy of WW1 deaths on civic capital and combat motivation (2023)
Working Paper: Scars of war: the legacy of WW1 deaths on civic capital and combat motivation (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10298

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