Why do people reenact wars

In the United States, primarily men will dress as Union and Confederate soldiers. The truth of Confederacy reenactment is that these men are representing men who were fighting for slavery in America but their will to reenact is so they can revive an idea of masculinity and honor.

This sheds light onto a key difference in Ireland as they are doing this activity to give honor to the men and women who died fighting for a central idea of freedom.

In , Dr. Michael Levy conducted a study into the psychology behind reenactments, specifically those done by trauma victims. The study gave insightful knowledge into the world of military reenactment as well. At times, the attempt is an adaptive process that facilitates the successful resolution and working through of the earlier trauma.

They are replicas of other representations of history. So rather than trying to recreate war itself, reenactors try to stage moments and scenes that duplicate elements from the films, photographs, and stories which they judge to be authentic representations of war. This is history in action. And reenactors revel in their power to create their own historical evidence: films and photographs that feature themselves at war.

It is this very power to represent history, and thereby claim ownership over it, that enthralls reenactors. Raised in a culture replete with war stories, they can now put on the boots of the common soldiers and walk around in them for themselves; they can tell their own war stories.

I'm a stamp! I mean this is something that you can actually collect and actually show off. Be a part of it. The desire to be part of the long history of war representations lies at the heart of reenacting.

Kevlar reenactor : A reenactor who will not die no matter how many times he or she is shot. Stitch Nazi : Term used in both praise and derision to describe a reenactor who is obsessed with authenticity. It has gotten out of hand. Eric Pry, curator of the G. The G. Museum, which details the involvement of Aurora in the American Civil War — including an entire wall about the African-American experience — has in the past asked reenactment groups to do an impression on the front lawn of the property.

Before the Civil War, town festivals often featured a pageant with costumed citizens dressing as Revolutionary War figures. Directly after the war ended, Eisenfeld writes, veterans were commissioned to serve as reenactors of a conflict they themselves had fought in. Later, when public interest in the war revived in the s, the tradition of the sham battle was revived, and many sham battles were conducted purely as entertainment, the Encyclopedia writes.