While other novelists center attention on the heroism and adventures of the Napoleonic era, Erkmann and Chatrian describe the ugly side of wars, directing our attention to the exhaustion and suffering of simple, peaceful people forced to sustain the well-being of the army. The mood of both stories is reflected in the opening words of ‘Waterloo:’ ‘Everybody was tired of living like a bird on a branch and of risking their lives for matters which did not concern them.’ Yet, people’s expectations didn’t come true. The novel ‘Conscript’ tells about the war in Moscow of 1813. The troops needed reinforcement, and it was provided with the conscript campaign of 1813. We learn about that time from a narrator, a watchmaker apprentice, who lived a peaceful life before being taken to the army. In those times, most people celebrated Napoleon’s glory, and even the thoughts of the possible defeat seemed sinful. ‘A few old Republicans would shake their heads and mutter over their wine that the Emperor might yet fall, but they passed for fools, ‘ tells the narrator, whose life changes drastically. He is to face all the horrors of war and defeat, the infamous retreat, which is later followed by his surprise of the second campaign, which had even more disastrous consequences. The topic of the second novel in a bundle, ‘The Waterloo, ‘ is clear from the name itself, as it became a synonym of a disastrous defeat on the battlefield. Like in ‘Conscript, ‘ the main motive of the story is the suffering of peaceful people forced to go to war.
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Erckmann-Chatrian is a joint pen name for two writers: Émile Erckmann (1822 – 1899) and Alexandre Chatrian (1826 – 1890), who co-authored numerous historical novels censored for their anti-war moods. They are also known for supernatural horror stories The Man-Wolf and Other Tales and The Owl’s Ear.
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