'Resistance to War in Germany 1914-1918: The Traces of the German “Schwejkiade”’

The article discusses the nature and the narrative framing of resistance by German front line soldiers against the war machine from 1914 to 1918. It develops the argument that not pacifist motives or collective anti-militarist agency, but rather individual acts of refusal and shirking had a negative impact on the efficiency of the German military. These selfish acts of soldiers who tried to save their lives culminated in the mass shirking in the late summer and autumn of 1918. The article suggests to describe these individuals acts of refusal along the lines of Jaroslav Hašek’s novel ‘The Good Soldier Švejk’, and describes them as a German version of the Schwejkiade.