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Affective Neuroscience and the Causes of the Mutiny of the French 82nd Infantry Brigade

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2014

ADAM DEREK ZIENTEK
ADAM DEREK ZIENTEK*
Affiliation:
Thinking Matters Department, Sweet Hall, #224B, 590 Escondido Mall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; azientek@stanford.edu
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Abstract

This article seeks to demonstrate how some elements of affective neuroscience and basic emotions theory can be used to inform historical reasoning. It begins with an overview of contemporary basic emotions theory. It then provides a case study of the mutiny of the French 82nd Infantry Brigade, which took place on 1–2 June 1917, interpreting the events of the mutiny in the light of some tenets of basic emotions theory. It focuses specifically on how alcohol consumption among mutineers affected their experience of the basic emotions of fear and anger. Finally, it addresses some empirical and theoretical shortcomings of the approach and concludes tentatively that some elements of affective neuroscience and basic emotions theory can be useful to historians.

Les neurosciences affectives et les causes de la mutinerie de la 82e brigade française d’infanterie

Cet article tente de montrer comment des éléments des neurosciences affectives et de la théorie des émotions de base peuvent servir à étayer les raisonnements historiques. L’article commence par un survol de la théorie des émotions de base. Suit une étude de cas de la mutinerie de la 82e brigade française d’infanterie, qui a eu lieu les 1 et 2 juin 1917: le déroulé de cette mutinerie y est interprété à la lumière de certains des principes de la théorie des émotions de base. L’auteur examine en particulier l’effet de la consommation d’alcool sur la manière dont les mutins ont ressenti les émotions de base que sont la peur et la colère. Il examine enfin quelques points faibles, tant empiriques que théoriques, de cette approche et suggère en conclusion que certains éléments des neurosciences affectives et de la théorie des émotions de base pourraient probablement être utiles aux historiens.

Die ursachen für die meuterei der 82. französischen infanteriebrigade im lichte der affektiven neurowissenschaften

Dieser Beitrag soll veranschaulichen, wie Elemente der affektiven Neurowissenschaften und der Theorie der Basisemotionen zum historischen Erkenntnisgewinn beitragen können. Nach einem einleitenden Überblick über die Theorie der Basisemotionen werden einige ihrer Grundlagen im Rahmen einer Fallstudie zur Meuterei der 82. französischen Infanteriebrigade am 1. und 2. Juni 1917 zur Deutung der damaligen Ereignisse herangezogen. Insbesondere konzentriert sich der Beitrag auf die Frage, wie der Alkoholkonsum der meuternden Soldaten ihr subjektives Empfinden der Basisemotionen Angst und Wut beeinflusste. Nach Betrachtung einiger empirischer und theoretischer Defizite des Ansatzes schließt der Beitrag mit der Feststellung, dass einige Elemente der affektiven Neurowissenschaften und der Theorie der Basisemotionen für die historische Forschung nützlich sein können.

Type
Articles
Information
Contemporary European History , Volume 23 , Issue 4: Emotions in Protest Movements in Europe since 1917 , November 2014 , pp. 505 - 522
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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References

1 See Matt, Susan J., ‘Current Emotion Research in History, Or, Doing History from the Inside Out’, Emotion Review, 3, 1 (January 2011), 117–214CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Leys, Ruth, ‘The Turn To Affect: A Critique’, Critical Inquiry, 37, 3 (Spring 2011), 435–72CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Plamper, Jan, ‘The History of Emotions: An Interview with William Reddy, Barbara Rosenwein, and Peter Stearns’, History and Theory, 49, 2 (May 2010), 249–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar, esp. 259–51; Rosenwein, Barbara, ‘Worrying about Emotions in History’, American Historical Review, 107, 3 (June 2002), 842–5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

2 Rosenwein, ‘Worrying about Emotions in History’, 842.

3 As quoted in Plamper, ‘The History of Emotions’, 260

4 The foundational work here is Smail, Brian Lord, On Deep History and the Brain (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 2008)Google Scholar.

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7 On the categorical model, see ‘Special Section: Basic Emotion Theory’, Emotion Review, 3, 4 (October 2011), 363–463.

8 Panksepp, Jaak, ‘The Basic Emotional Circuits of Mammalian Brains: Do Animals Have Affective Lives?’, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 35, 9 (October 2011), 1791–1804CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed. For a summary, see Panksepp, , ‘Affective Consciousness: Core Emotional Feelings in Animals and Humans’, Consciousness and Cognition, 14, 1 (March 2005), 30–80CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed. Panksepp refers to his theory as ‘affective neuroscience’, and I will use that term in this essay when referring specifically to his research.

9 On the differences between categorical theorists, see Tracy, Jessica L. and Randles, Daniel, ‘Four Models of Basic Emotions: A Review of Ekman and Cordaro, Izard, Levinson, and Panksepp and Watt’, Emotion Review, 3, 4 (October 2011), 397–405CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 For background, see Matt, ‘Current Emotion Research in History’, and Leys, ‘The Turn to Affect’.

11 A recent review is Anderson, David J. and Adolphs, Ralph, ‘A Framework for studying emotions across species’, Cell, 157, 1 (March 2014), 187–200CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

12 Panksepp, ‘The Basic Emotional Circuits of Mammalian Brains’; Panksepp, ‘Affective Consciousness’.

13 For a comparison of the evidence in support of both theories, see Hamann, Stephan, ‘Mapping Discrete Emotions onto the Brain: Controversies and Consensus’, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16, 9 (September 2012), 458–66CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

14 Panksepp's anger system runs from the medial amygdala to the bed nucleus of stria terminalis and the medial and perifornical hypothalamus to the periaqueductal grey area. Its activity is modulated by the substance P, acetylcholine, and glutamate. The fear system runs along a similar pathway, from the central and medial amygdala to the medial hypothalamus and periaqueductal grey area. Its activity is modulated by diazepam binding inhibitor, corticotrophin releasing factor, cholecystokinin, alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, and neuropeptide Y. Panksepp, ‘The Basic Emotional Circuits of Mammalian Brains’.

15 This is the argument of Pedroncini, Guy, Les Mutineries de 1917 (Paris: PUF, 1967)Google Scholar. On the ‘Pedroncini thesis’, see Loez, André, ‘Si loin, si proche du 16 avril: Les Mutineries de 1917’, in Offenstadt, Nicolas, Le Chemin des dames (Paris: Perrin, 2004), 68–78Google Scholar.

16 Collins, Randall argues convincingly that fear and anger drive action in social protests in Violence: A Micro-Sociological Theory (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008), 81–133, esp. 89–94Google Scholar.

17 ‘Rapport du Lieutenant-Colonel Brindel Commandant le 23o Régiment d’Infanterie’, 3 June, Service historique de la défense [SHD], Vincennes, 16 N 1521.

18 ‘Rapport du Lieutenant-Colonel Brindel’, 3 June, SHD, 16 N 1521; ‘Rapport du Chef de Bataillon Combes’, 4 June 1917, SHD, 16 N 1521; ‘Télégramme du 18 Juin 19 h 10 EM St-Memmie à EM Compiègne’, 18 June 1917, SHD 16 N 1522

19 ‘Rapport sommaire du Général Mignot’, 2 June 1917, no. 289/s, SHD, 19 N 840.

20 Ibid.

21 On the ‘disillusionment thesis’, n. 15 above.

22 ‘Rapport du Général Bulot. . . ’, 4 June 1917, SHD, 16 N 1521.

23 Ibid.

24 Ibid.

25 ‘Rapport sécret du Général Mignot’, 11 June 1917, no. 349/s, SHD, 16 N 1521.

26 Ibid.

27 ‘Rapport du Lieutenant-Colonel Brindel’, 3 June, SHD, 16 N 1521

28 ‘Rapport sommaire du Général Mignot’, 2 June 1917, no. 289/s, SHD, 19 N 840. Mignot's estimate of the crowd size differs significantly from Bulot's. It is not clear whether Bulot was exaggerating, Mignot was minimising, or the crowd shrank between 6.30 and 7.45 p.m. The discrepancy underscores the need to treat these figures as rough estimates.

29 ‘Rapport sommaire du Général Mignot’, 2 June 1917, no. 289/s, SHD, 19 N 840.

30 ‘Rapport du Général Bulot’, 4 June 1917, SHD, 16 N 1521.

31 ‘Rapport sommaire du Général Mignot’, 2 June 1917, no. 289/s, SHD, 19 N 840.

32 ‘Rapport du Général Bulot’, 4 June 1917, SHD, 16 N 1521.

33 Ibid.

34 Telegram 3008/M, 18 June 1917, SHD, 16 N 1522.

35 ‘Rapport sommaire du Général Mignot’, 2 June 1917, no. 289/s, SHD, 19 N 840.

36 Ibid.

37 ‘Rapport du Capitaine Libaud’, 4 June 1917, SHD, 16 N 1521.

38 ‘Rapport du Général Mignot. . . sur les incidents de la 82o Brigade, pendant les journées des 2, 3, 4, 5 Juin 1917’, 6 June 1917, no. 305/s, SHD, 16 N 1521.

39 Merdriel, ‘Rapport’, 6 June 1917, no. 7a/55, SHD, 16 N 1521.

40 ‘Rapport du chef de bataillon Le Verger’, 4 June 1917, SHD, 16 N 1521.

41 Rolland, Denis, La Grève des tranchées: Les Mutineries de 1917 (Paris: Imago, 2005), 115Google Scholar.

42 Telegram no. 342/s, 20 June 1917, SHD 16 N 1522; Telegram no. 224/T, 27 June 1917, SHD 16 N 1522.

43 Telegram no. 2994/M, 18 June, SHD 16 N 1522.

44 Rolland, La Grève des tranchées, 394.

45 ‘Rapport du Général Bulot’, 4 June 1917, SHD, 16 N 1521. My emphasis.

46 Rolland, La Grève des tranchées, 71–97.

47 Ibid. 62–7.

48 Capitaine H.B., ‘Note sur l’état morale de quelques divisions, 3ème bureau’, SHD, 16 N 1522.

49 ‘Rapport’, no. 215/5, in ‘Journal des marches et opérations de 41e division d’infanterie’, SHD, 26 N 340/3.

50 Between May 4 and May 10, the RI 133 took 12 casualties (1 killed, 7 injured, and 4 missing) and the RI 23 took 82 casualties (32 killed and 50 injured). ‘Journal des marches et opérations de 41e division d’infanterie’, SHD, 26 N 340/3.

51 ‘Journal des marches et opérations de 41e division d’infanterie’, SHD, 26 N 340/3.

52 Sabaterie and Brossier, ‘État d’esprit. . .’, 4 June 1917, no. 3114/sg, SHD, 16 N 1521.

53 Ibid.

54 Ibid.

55 Ibid.

56 ‘Rapport sécret du Général Mignot’, 11 June 1917, no. 349/s, SHD, 16 N 1521.

57 Sabaterie and Brossier, ‘État d’esprit’, 4 June 1917, no. 3114/sg, SHD, 16 N 1521.

58 ‘Rapport sommaire du Général Mignot’, 2 June 1917, no. 289/s, SHD, 19 N 840.

59 ‘Rapport sécret du Général Mignot’, 11 June 1917, no. 349/s, SHD, 16 N 1521.

60 ‘Rapport sommaire du Général Mignot’, 2 June 1917, no. 289/s, SHD, 19 N 840.

61 On the subject, see Barrows, Suzanne, Distorting Mirrors: Visions of the Crowd in Late Nineteenth-Century France (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1981)Google Scholar.

62 Sabaterie and Brossier, ‘État d’esprit’, 4 June 1917, no. 3114/sg, SHD, 16 N 1521.

63 ‘Rapport du Capitaine Libaud’, 4 June 1917, SHD, 16 N 1521.

64 ‘Rapport du chef de bataillon Le Verger’, 4 June 1917, SHD, 16 N 1521.

65 Fayolle, 5 June 1917, no. 776/pi, SHD, 16 N 1521.

66 For a recent neuroimaging study of the emotional effects of alcohol, see Bjork, James and Gilman, Jodi, ‘The Effects of Acute Alcohol Administration on the Human Brain: Insights from Neuroimaging’, Neuropharmacology, 84 (September 2014), 101–10CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

67 Alcohol is a γ-aminobutyric acid agonist, and a diazepam binding inhibitor, corticotrophin releasing factor, cholecystokinin, alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, and neuropeptide Y antagonist.

68 Alcohol is a substance P, acetylcholine, and serotonin agonist.

69 On the increase in interpersonal aggression following alcohol consumption, see the work of Peter Giancola and Dominic Parrott.

70 Giancola, Peter, ‘Alcohol Dose and Aggression: Another Reason Why Drinking More is a Bad Idea’, Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 72 (1)(2011), 34–43Google Scholar.

71 On the biochemistry of anger, see the work of Eric Fish, Klaus Miczek, and Robert Pihl.

72 Two landmark papers are Hull, Jay, Young, Richard D., and Jouriles, Ernest, ‘Applications of the self-awareness model of alcohol consumption: Predicting patterns of use and abuse’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 4 (1986)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Steele, Claude M. and Josephs, Robert A., ‘Alcohol myopia: its prized and dangerous effects’, American Psychologist, 45, 8 (1990)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

73 Cazals, Rémy and Loez, André, Dans les tranchées de 1914–18 (Pau: Éditions Cairn, 2008), 119–22Google Scholar; François Cochet, ‘1914–1918: L’Alcool aux armées: Représentations et essai de typologie’, Guerres mondiales et conflits contemporains, 222, February 2006, 19–32; Jagielski, Jean-François and Hardier, Thierry, Oublier l’apocalypse: Loisirs et distractions des combattants pendant la Grande Guerre (Paris: Imago, 2014), 231–9Google Scholar; Rousseau, Frédéric, La Guerre censurée (Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1999), 192–200Google Scholar.

74 For narratives in which drinking plays an important role, see Barbusse, Henri, Le Feu: Journal d’une escouade (Paris: Folio, 2007)Google Scholar; Barthas, Louis, Les Carnets de guerre de Louis Barthas (Paris: La Découverte, 2013)Google Scholar; Chevallier, Gabriel, La Peur (Paris: Le Livre de Poche, 2010)Google Scholar; Giono, Jean, Le Grand Troupeau (Paris: Gallimard, 1972)Google Scholar.

75 Rousseau, La Guerre censurée, 192.

76 Collins, Violence, 269.

77 Les Armées françaises dans la Grande Guerre, Tome V Deuxième Volume, 211. Granted, the official history is anything but objective.

78 These figures were derived from an analysis of the eleven major mutinies listed in André Loez, ‘Annexe téléchargable’ to 14–18, 12. Of eleven mutinies, nine featured intoxication. If p = 9/11, α = .01, and n = 101, the 99% confidence interval has a lower boundary of .788 (78.8%) and an upper boundary of .848 (84.8%).

79 See esp. SHD, 16 N 1521–6. Unfortunately, the history of alcohol consumption in the French army during the First World War is not only understudied, but almost completely unstudied. Cochet, ‘1914–1918: L’Alcool aux armées,’ is the only scholarly article dedicated to the subject, and is mostly a call to research.

80 Pétain, ‘Note sur les droits de l’autorité militaire pour éviter l’abus de la consummation du vin dans la zone des armées’, no. 1807, SHD, 18 N 190; Pétain, ‘Réquisition des arrivals excessifs dans la zone des armées’, 1 June 1917, SHD, 18 N 190.

81 Joffre, ‘Arrêté concernant la vente et la circulation de l’alcool dans les zone des armées’, 23 March 1915, SHD, 15 N 1575. SHD 15 N 1575 contains a record of all alcohol policies in the army zones.

82 For reviews, see Greenhalgh, Elizabeth, ‘Writing about France's Great War’, Journal of Contemporary History, 40, 3 (2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Purseigle, Pierre, ‘A very French debate: The 1914–1918 War Culture’, Journal of War and Culture Studies, 1, 1 (2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Smith, Leonard V., ‘The “Culture de guerre” and French historiography of the Great War of 1914–1918’, History Compass, 5, 6 (2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

83 On ‘war culture’, see Audoin-Rouzeau, Stéphane and Becker, Anette, 14–18: Retrouver la Guerre (Paris: Gallimard, 2000)Google Scholar, passim. The Péronnist interpretation of the mutinies is most clearly articulated in Smith, Leonard, Between Mutiny and Obedience (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994)Google Scholar.

84 For representative works, see Cazals, Dans les tranchées de 1914–18 and Rousseau, La Guerre censurée.

85 This is the central argument of Loez, 14–18: Les Refus de la guerre. There have been some efforts to bridge the gap between consentement and contrainte, most notably François Cochet, Survivre au front, 1914–1918 (Soteca: 14–18 Éditions, 2005).

86 See Denis Rolland, ‘Révolte à Vendresse’, in Offenstadt, Le Chemin des dames, 315–31; Cochet, Survivre au front, passim.

87 Pouzin, Henri, ‘Ode au Pinard’, Le 120 Court, 30 (December 1917)Google Scholar.

88 Chevallier, La Peur, 301.