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The Medicalisation of Death on the Battlefields (1850–1914)

Linda Ratschiller

The consolidation of scientific medicine and sanitary practices in the second half of the 19th century not only placed the body at the heart of private and public worries and attention, but also fundamentally changed views of death, burial practices and the management of war corpses. This medicalisation of death coincided with the emergence of European nation states, industrial warfare and the international law of war. How did actors, networks and institutions in the medical, military, political, legal and religious field interact in the management of the war dead between 1850 and 1914? What knowledge emerged from these exchanges and how did it change established ideas and practices?

The period under investigation, 1850–1914, is particularly relevant for understanding what medical knowledge, legal frameworks and funerary practices were established in dealing with the war dead on the eve of the First World War and the ‘Age of Extremes’. While both world wars have attracted significant attention, the beginnings of this development from the mid-19th century remain underexposed. Scientific medicine gained considerable authority in this time period and doctors came to be seen as experts not only in health questions, but also in political, social and legal matters, as the rise of public health and forensic practices illustrates. How did the increasing medicalisation of society, the scientific conception of the body and the professionalisation and diversification of medicine shape the handling of war corpses?

I will focus on the Crimean War and the Franco-Prussian War as case studies for bridging the gap between theories and practices, and understanding the conflicts arising from the consolidation of hygiene, new burial practices and changing memorial needs. Since the mid-19th century, tensions between medical und funerary requirements have become more evident in cases of mass death. The identification of the dead and the individualisation of graves require time that military health services do not necessarily have. In addition, the changing character of corpse management does not seem to have developed in a linear fashion and new practices observable during the Crimean War, such as individual tombs, were not necessarily repeated during the Franco-Prussian War or later conflicts.

Moreover, the Crimean War and the Franco-Prussian War had a significant influence on the legal codification of war. The second half of the 19th century saw the birth of the Red Cross Movement and the formalisation of an international law of war. International treaties, which regulated warfare, the use of weapons and the handling of corpses, were signed in Geneva in 1864 and 1906, St Petersburg in 1868, and the Hague in 1899 and 1907. How and why did these conflicts trigger the negotiation and ratification of conventions and declarations regulating war violence? And how, conversely, did these international treaties affect the management of the war dead in specific conflicts? What role did medical practitioners play in the legal codification of wartime violence and its implementation on the battlefields?

Finally, this research project is not limited to the study of ideas and discourse, but also examines the methods, technologies and materiality associated with the handling of war corpses. To what extent did medical instruments and scientific tools influence the development of war forensics? How was material evidence incorporated in legal practices and the commemoration of the war dead? Did the medicalisation of death change the relationship with human remains, and if so, how? How can medical procedures performed on corpses be reconstructed historically?