In the southeast region of the US, reenactment of the American civil war is a thing:
Some of the participants go to great lengths to be authentic to the equipment, technology, and dress of the times.
From that Wikipedia page, I learned that there are people in other countries who also conduct reenactments of the American civil war. But are reenactments of other wars around the world commonplace? Or is there some unique, global fascination with the American Civil War that doesn’t extend to other conflicts?
I’ve also seen a reenactment of the Battle of Bosworth (youtube video), at Bosworth Field where Henry Tudor deposed Richard III.
There’s also lots of ‘living history’ groups who may not wage war on each other, but certainly dress up in honour of WWI, the Black Death or whatever else.
There are similar war enactment societies in the UK.
The English Civil War is popular, the 17th century war between the armies of Catholic Royalists (Cavaliers) and Protestant Parlimentarians (Roundheads) 1642–1651
I believe it the same dynamic with lots of arguments about the nuances of military uniform, tactics and practices.
In Europe there are re-enactments of famous battles and Napoleons defeat at Waterloo is one of biggest events.
Nitpick, although not a minor one. The war wasn’t a religious one - Charles may have had Catholic sympathies, and the leaders of the parliamentary forces may have included some pretty fierce puritans, but the war was about political supremacy (Parliament vs King). The majority on both sides would have called themselves Protestants.
Not just. I’m in the Chicago area and used to have a girlfriend whose family was into the whole scene. Uniforms for the men, period-appropriate dresses for the women (or the occasional war nurse/support) and they’d do a few reenactments each summer. I couldn’t tell you how many they had total but it was enough to put on an event at the park with decent sized crowds watching.
Also in the Chicago area. My wife and kids were very involved in American Rev War re-enacting. I did not participate. The re-enactments conflicted w/ golf! One time we went out east to Williamsburg for a big event. Yeah - they have golf courses out there to!
The participants come up with background sketches of their character’s. My wife’s characters husband was missing!
They used to go to conventions where folk did re-enactments of everything from Roman Empire through WWII.
Ha, ok, ‘medieval village life reenactment’ might be a better description. Although I did visit a ‘Black Death’ exhibition at the London Dungeon when I was a child, which involved actors in a thatched cottage-set lying in beds wearing rags and covered in boils.
Battle reenactment is quite popular in the Czech Republic, where I now live. I engage in it myself and a large number of my friends are involved in it.
The interesting thing is, people not only reenact wars that have a historical relevance to this area, but also some that don’t. In particular, the American Civil War.
I do two wars: the American Civil War - as a Southern infantryman - and the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 (a war with major local historic relevance, it can be considered a precursor to World War I) - as a Saxon gunner (originally as a Saxon rifleman).
The events that I attend are for the public. However, I have also attended high-quality civil war reenactments in Germany (in Walldürn and Külsheim in the state of Baden-Württemberg) that were closed events for the reenactors only.
I thought nobody was goinf to mention Monthy Python’s reenactment of the Battle of Pearl Harbor both by themselves and by Kittens.
ETA: In Spain they still reenact battles agains the moors, el Cid stuff, some quite spectacularly, with drums being played for a week until your hands bleed, lots of drinking and tomato throwing, not at the same time or place.
Germany seems to re-enact losing a World War every now and again.
(Too soon?)
There’s a surely apocryphal story of a BBC announcer saying after a Cricket World Cup loss, “I’m sorry to have to inform you that Germany has defeated us at our national game. But do remember that we’ve defeated them twice at theirs.”
The Dutch have their biennial Slag om Grolle re-enacting a famous 1627 battle of the Dutch Revolt. (To be fair it’s not just Dutch re-enactors who participate.)
