IngentaConnect The Conquest of the Silent Foe: British and American Military Med...

Author: Claire Herrick

Source: Clio Medica/The Wellcome Series in the History of Medicine, "Medicine and Modern Warfare", edited by R. Cooter, M. Harrison and S. Sturdy , pp. 99-129(31)

Publisher: Rodopi

Abstract:

After years at the margins of medical history, the relationship between war and medicine is at last beginning to move centre-stage. The essays in this volume focus on one improtant aspect of that relationship: the practice and development of medicine within the armed forces from the late nineteenth century through to the end of the Second World War. During this critical period, medicine came to occupy an important position in military life, especially during the two world wars when manpower was at a premium. Good medical provisions were vital to the conservations of manpower, protecting servicemen from disease and returning the sick and wounded to duty in the shortest possible time. A detailed knowledge of the serviceman's mind and body enabled the authorities to calculate and standardise rations, training and disciplinary procedures. Spanning the laboratory and the battlefield, and covering a range of national contexts, the essays in this volume provide valuable insights into different national styles and priorities. They also examine the relationship between medical personnel and the armed forces as a whole, by looking at such matters as the prevention of disease, the treatment of psychiatric casualties and the development of medical science. The volume as a whole demonstrates that medicine became an increasingly important part of military life in the era of modern warfare, and suggests new avenues and approaches for future study.

'The Conquest of the Silent Foe': British and American Military Medical Reform Rhetoric and the Russo-Japanese War