I had a very minor epiphany today (War and personality)

I have a long-standing interest in military history and have read quite a few books on the subject. Today I was reading ‘A Crowd is Not Company’ by Robert Kee, a British airman in WW2 who was shot down and spent several years in a prison camp before escaping.

The first chapters describe how he was shot down and how he was processed through the system before being sent to his prison camp, he describes how different Germans treated him in different ways, some were kind and considerate of his feelings, others bluff and workmanlike and some who were vindictive and cruel.

For some reason it struck me that these people were like this before the conflict, war doesn’t change peoples basic personalities, if you were a nice person before you’ll probably try to be nice when you can (although participating or experiencing horrible events), if you were an utter bastard before you’ll still be an utter bastard during the conflict, although now able to give most of those socially unacceptable attitudes in peacetime free reign.

Basically I realised that war doesn’t change peoples personalities, it just makes it clearer what sort of person you are.

I don’t know why this realisation surprised me so much, but it did.

Now I’m waiting to be told how I’m completely wrong and I’m a horrible person for suggesting such a thing…

If you hate your enemy, either because of their actions or military/political indoctrination, it makes it a bit easier to kill them and a primary goal of the military during wartime is to kill the enemy.

So war may not alter the personality of someone but it can change their actions during and sometimes after the conflict.

I kind of know what you mean, but I think there are lots of variables. Sometimes, a person is tested in a way that s/he never would be in regular life. Sometimes events are just shattering.

I’m not a soldier, but I’ve spent a little time in and around conflict zones. I can tell you from my personal experience (I know these are just individual experiences and may not reflect greater trends and that they are very minor compared to other people’s experience) that I have known people who have been fundamentally changed. I have known people who surprised themselves at what they are capable of (both good and bad) and I know people who are just walking zombies years after events. I’ve also known people who were able to handle experiences for a long time, but then one day there is an event that somehow taks a “bad bounce” and it fundamentally changes who they are.