What drives armies to fight? A Madison professor’s examination into that question reveals how national identity becomes a weapon or a weakness.
JMC Associate Professor Kirstin J.H. Brathwaite’s new book, Symbols and Sacrifice in War, challenges conventional wisdom about military motivation. She argues that soldiers’ commitment to battle depends not just on training or unit bonds, but on whether the war’s goals align with their deepest beliefs about national identity.
“Nationalism doesn’t always lead to motivation in battle,” Brathwaite explained. “Sometimes it can actually push back against and undermine motivation if soldiers feel that they’re being asked to do things that conflict with their national identity/
The project began when Brathwaite encountered a passing reference to Polish soldiers who had escaped their Nazi-occupied homeland during World War II and reconstituted themselves as a unit under the British army in North Africa. That brief mention sparked a realization: the British had organized their entire imperial army by national groups, creating an opportunity to study how different identities performed in similar battle conditions.
Though the focus shifted from the Polish forces, that initial curiosity launched more than a decade of research spanning archives in London, Australia and beyond. Brathwaite examined British, Australian and Indian forces fighting in North Africa, Malaya and Europe during World War II, exploring vastly different national perspectives to the same conflicts.