“When Wartime Friends Meet”: Great War Veteran Culture and the (Ab)Use of Alcohol

Authors

Jonathan F. Vance

Abstract

After the First World War, Canadian veterans created a culture that celebrated the camaraderie, sense of purpose, and light-hearted moments of their experience as soldiers. Much like the trench culture of the war years, it poked fun at misfortune, satirized the enemy, and presumed that a stiff drink could make any situation better. Veteran culture provided ex-soldiers in the 1920s and 1930s with the mutual support they needed to get through difficult times, but it was a milieu in which the excessive consumption of alcohol was accepted and even encouraged. This had little impact on the settled, well-adjusted veteran but for the ex-soldier who was struggling in the postwar world, it could be a recipe for disaster.

Recommended Citation

Vance, Jonathan F. "“When Wartime Friends Meet”: Great War Veteran Culture and the (Ab)Use of Alcohol." Canadian Military History 32, 1 (2023)