# Are there civil war re-enactments in countries other than the U.S.? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 26, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154 "2010-09-26T23:32:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/21 "2010-09-27T01:37:22Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Interesting that some of you mentioned reenactments of the US Civil war outside the US. > > Why is the Civil War even a big deal outside the US, let alone big enough that anyone would know about it and re-enact it? Re-enacting the American Revolution is very big in Japan, from what I hear. (A U.S. company that sells historical re-enacting stuff claims to have many Japanese customers.) I’m guessing non-U.S. re-enactors of the American Civil War are simply big U.S. history fans. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/22 "2010-09-27T01:56:08Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > I know a guy who was planning to participate in a Battle of the Bulge re-enactment in Germany this past January , but he got sick and couldn’t go. We’re US-ians, BTW. Seems like a lot of WWII battles would basically be squatting in the mud in a foxhole until a shell randomly killed you. Per-20th century battles seem like they’d be a lot more conducive to fun re-enactments, with lines of troops in organized formations facing each other, rather then a bunch of guys in drab olive crawling through the bushes. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/23 "2010-09-27T02:14:29Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > [Michael Perry](http://www.ospreypublishing.com/authors/michael_perry/) lost his hand during a reenatment of the Battle of Crécy Now _that’s_ hard-core! ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/24 "2010-09-27T02:21:53Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > [@kopek](#): > > > > I do F&I which is small compared to many other eras. > > French & Indian War? Correct. In response to **Simplicio** , **Mahaloth** and others - why we do it or pick the conflicts we decide to recreate is one of those things that is hard to explain. I could say that its because of my love of pre-Rev War history and how recreating it allows me to develop that love in others, some of my friends would say its the “applied archeology” aspect - that by living it we can learn things the books didn’t record. Some will write it off to a personal connection with an ancestor or an interest inspired by a movie or book. Bruce Catton and Shelby Foote are often cited as the reason the American Civil War (or War of Northern Aggression if you prefer) is so popular around the world. But usually it comes down to something you can just describe as “fun”. I just got back from an event at a colonial fair this weekend. It wasn’t some big battle at a historic place; more a dog and pony show for the shoppers. It got cold at night and dusty during the day. And I had more fun in two days there than I often have in a week anywhere else including an amusement park. I like the other reenactors I work with, I enjoy the public who watch us and talk with us. And I just have this amazing amount or relaxation doing it. I’m from the Wyoming Valley area of PA. French and Indian wasn’t thought of much there or fought there. I don’t have any personal reasons (ancestors or national heritage) reasons to do it. But I’ve tried other eras, including ones I could have a personal relationship with, and not enjoyed them as much. So I do what I like even if the only reason is it makes me smile when I’m done. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/25 "2010-09-27T02:43:52Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > > [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > > > [Michael Perry](http://www.ospreypublishing.com/authors/michael_perry/) lost his hand during a reenatment of the Battle of Crécy > > Now _that’s_ hard-core! I’ve always wondered if he would be covered as a wounded in action veteran… ---
**Author:** ![kombatminipig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5ac83/32.png) [@kombatminipig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kombatminipig)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/26 "2010-09-27T07:34:15Z")
I was about to say something in the lines of _“You git, why would you think anybody outside the US would reenact the US civil war?”_, until I remembered that I attended a reenactment of the Siege of Vicksburg here in Sweden last year. (Though it was about 30 guys and a cannon) So I retract the whole git-part, and reply: yes we do. Also, as previously posted, some interesting reenactments are documented on EnglishRussia. If you check Youtube, Japan reenacts quite a bit of feudal warfare as well. ---
**Author:** ![mrpayday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@mrpayday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrpayday)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/27 "2010-09-27T07:49:55Z")
I used to know some people who reenacted the Thirty Years War in Australia. No one got their arm blown off but one guy did get shot with a ramrod. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/28 "2010-09-27T08:42:48Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Interesting that some of you mentioned reenactments of the US Civil war outside the US. > > Why is the Civil War even a big deal outside the US, let alone big enough that anyone would know about it and re-enact it? A number of web sites of German language Civil War reenactors: [http://www.dmoz.org/World/Deutsch/Freizeit/Hobbys/Lebendige\_Geschichte/Nordamerika/Vereinigte\_Staaten/Amerikanischer\_Bürgerkrieg/](http://www.dmoz.org/World/Deutsch/Freizeit/Hobbys/Lebendige_Geschichte/Nordamerika/Vereinigte_Staaten/Amerikanischer_B%C3%BCrgerkrieg/) Regarding Germany I assume it’s because the US civil war is (a) well known from imported US popular culture (we are more interested in the US than vice versa) and (b) a conflict that Germany was not party to - for example reenactments of the 1870/1871 war would be severely frowned on because people would suspect the activists of identifying with the German side. The US civil war OTOH is more on the lines of Martians vs. Venusians. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/29 "2010-09-27T10:22:28Z")
There are WW2 re-enactors, here in the US. One group even fields a half-track, as a substitute tank. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/30 "2010-09-27T11:04:10Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Why is the Civil War even a big deal outside the US, let alone big enough that anyone would know about it and re-enact it? I suspect one big reason is that US civil war reproductions are mass-produced and usually not too pricy, which makes it easier to get into without investing a lot of time and money. Finding reproductions for something like the Crimean war would probably be an entirely different matter, despite taking place only a decade earlier and being just about equally well documented. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/31 "2010-09-27T11:32:04Z")
Pakistan Army heritage foundation reanacts battles and has period dress and weapons dating from about 2000 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/32 "2010-09-27T12:46:34Z")
I think the US Civil War is popular even outside the US for two reasons: It has has been said to be one of the first major wars fought by mostly-literate soldiers, and they left a very large body of literature behind, much of it touching. And that’s been expanded upon ever since by scholars and novelists. This body of information and storytelling attracts lots of readers. Secondly, it started out, at least, as a “romantic” war. In fact, it was one of the last “romantic” wars before total warfare replaced “glory” with industrial-scale suffering. An essential part of the tragedy of the US Civil War is the fact that it began as a romantic excursion with flags, songs, and favors from the ladies, and ended as an almost total war, with mechanized killing, trenches, starvation and scorched earth. Lots of other wars began as lighthearted excursions of course, but there was a real national transition in this case from blissful ignorance to grim awakening to hardened, bitter hearts. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/33 "2010-09-27T14:09:10Z")
I think those are pretty good explanations, **kopek** and **Sailboat**. I did Civil War reenacting for five years (with the 51st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Co. B, skyrocketing to the rank of corporal), and had a pretty good time before deciding to move on to other things. I saw foreigners from time to time at the really big events. IIRC it was an overenthusiastic French reenactor, using borrowed gear, who accidentally shot a guy at a Gettysburg event in the early 1990s. I have a friend who still does Napoleonic reenacting, and he’s been to events in Puerto Rico, France and Belgium. There was a British murder mystery a few years back in which someone gets killed while on the battlefield at an English Civil War reenactment. Lots of guys around with guns, the corpse isn’t immediately noticed among all the other just-pretend casualties, and it’s almost impossible to figure out who did him in. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/34 "2010-09-27T14:27:33Z")
There’s also the [Dark Ages Society](http://www.darkagessociety.co.uk/) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/35 "2010-09-27T14:37:07Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > US Civil War reenactors have a big benefit in that they have a large interested base who identify with both sides, not just the winners. Plenty of people who are very enthusiastic on both sides in one geographic location that happens to be the same place the war was fought. WWII reenactors (who do exist, I believe) have it much tougher; they can’t travel en masse to France to meet up with Germans because it’s prohibitively expensive, not to mention that many of the sort of people who’d want to pretend to be Nazis for the weekend aren’t the type you’d want to spend the weekend with. For that matter, is it even _legal_ to wear German WW2-era military garb in France? I’m not sure it is in Germany - I know the swastika is illegal, but I don’t know if regular (non-SS) German Army units actually wore the thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/36 "2010-09-27T14:38:07Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > [@Neptunian\_Slug](#): > > > > Not that I am aware of. > > > > The Russian Civil War wasn’t exactly something that was celebrated. I also don’t know of anyone who re-enacted something like the Napoleonic Wars or the Siege of Leningrad. Those weren’t things to celebrate. Too many people were killed. > > So what’s Gettysburg, chopped liver? I am sorely (and inappropriately) tempted to answer “yes.” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/37 "2010-09-27T16:09:12Z")
One very prominent Brit was quite interested in the ACW: [http://clevelandcivilwarroundtable.com/articles/comment/churchill.htm](http://clevelandcivilwarroundtable.com/articles/comment/churchill.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/38 "2010-09-27T17:23:20Z")
There was some controversy recently in Quebec surrounding a reenactment of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. That wasn’t exactly a civil war, being between the British and the French, but it has some elements in common, in that the current inhabitants are descendants of both. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/39 "2010-09-27T17:27:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There was some controversy recently in Quebec surrounding a reenactment of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. That wasn’t exactly a civil war, being between the British and the French, but it has some elements in common, in that the current inhabitants are descendants of both. An earlier discussion of this: [The Plains of Abraham: Let's Try This Again! - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=532282) ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154/40 "2010-09-27T19:07:29Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > > So what’s Gettysburg, chopped liver? > > I am sorely (and inappropriately) tempted to answer “yes.” Lots of 'em, I’m sure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-civil-war-re-enactments-in-countries-other-than-the-u-s/555154.md?page=3)