If you did something voluntarily, something that was extremely dangerous and could involve badly hurting yourself, or even dying, would you want some type of recognition for it? I think a vast majority of people asked this question would answer yes. Many war veterans make the choice to go to war for their country, for their people, and for their families. These veterans understand the sacrifice and what it may entail, and are prepared to make it. These people are for the most part very selfless, and deserve some type of acknowledgment for choosing to fight for their countries. It is interesting to me that the reading Total War and Entitlement: Towards a Global History of Veteran Privilege by Martin Crotty and Mark Edele brings up the idea that some veterans were entitled and expected to be subsidized for their service in the war. While I think it is natural that they felt this way, it’s important to understand the difference between those who really need aid vs. those who are mooching off the government.
It’s interesting to think about being a veteran as having a certain status vs. the rest of the population. According to Crotty and Edle, these men had “given birth to or saved their nations” (Crotty and Edele, “Veteran Privilege,” Pg. 17), and therefore deserved a higher status or at least a thanks from the government and the people. It seems strange to separate a country into two groups, those who served and those who had not and sort of pit them against each other. Stephen Garton, an Australian university professor, says war veterans had “a belief that returned men had special citizenship status, which exempted them from demands for further sacrifice in the national good; it was the turn of other (implicitly lesser) citizens to bear the brunt of leadership.” (Crotty and Edele, “Veteran Privilege,” Pg. 17) It is true that in many cases, a veteran made much more money vs. a regular citizen who did not serve and had a full time job. This of course caused tension between veterans and regular citizens, the regular citizens feeling that some veterans weren’t in harm’s way at all and didn’t even go overseas and actually see the war.
In Australia, it seemed that the government was fairly generous towards war veterans. According to the readings, Australia wasn’t a huge welfare state, but having the problem of compensating veterans made the government create certain welfare programs (including the Returned Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA)) for those who were needy. The benefits given to an Australian WWI/WWII veteran were fairly lavish; they were given a substantial pension and were given priority in public service jobs. In the Soviet Union, the veterans were split into different groups that received different amounts of benefits. After demobilization, the benefits (which had been temporary) were taken away to include the pensions and the time off from work. Demobilization made veterans less of a “real group” and took away most of their benefits.
Overall, I found it interesting in the readings that veterans were seen as entitled, and then privileges given to them were seen by civilians as too much.
