Do people in other countries do war reenactments?

KansasFreestater

1st Lieutenant
Does anybody else in the world do reenactments?

Do Spaniards reenact the Spanish Civil War?

Do Frenchmen reenact the French Revolution?

The American Civil War is the only one I've heard of that has spawned this obsession/phenomenon/cottage industry (there may be others, I've just never heard of them). Even if there are war reenactors elsewhere in the world, I kind of doubt it's a phenomenon on the scale of what we have here, much less a thriving industry, not to mention a nearly full-time avocation for many folks.

Why is this? I'm just curious.
 
Yes, reenactments are a pretty big deal in Europe.

You got yer English Civil War:
4941111868_c5b536f28b_o.jpg


4940512336_1141bb0dfe_o.jpg


And yer Napoleonic Wars:
5264e3db131fe.jpg


5264e3cd4268a.jpg


And yer Medieval folks:
Grunwald_2003.jpg


Battle_of_Tewkesbury_reenactment_-_pre-clash_preparation.jpg


Yer Vikings:
Vikings_fight.jpg


And then there's yer Romans:
Expired Image Removed

p7310646.jpg


So, yeah. Down here we even have a bunch of these guys:

4471259751_cd2c187e4d_o.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Which is why I consider not reenacting to be my gift to the hobby.
LOL, same here.
Many moons ago, I was recruited into an artillery unit. Very nice group of progressive guys that shunned all things red trim (except the Captain, one Lt. & a couple of Sgt.'s). Money & Life got in the way of that, so I drifted back into the spectator role. ( more my thing anyway) :smoke:

Today I might could pass as an authentic CSA Postmaster . . . maybe in early 1864 Mobile ?
 
International common denominator :
Too old & too fat.:smile coffee:
Also the common denominator is older people have more discretionary income, and life style. I don't have a youngster at home any more, my house is paid for, I have more time invested at work hence more vacation days. Basically I can afford to come out and play now.
The younger set 16-22 mostly it's payed for by their parents, and they in school with no adult life to worry about yet( career, family, bills). And the biggie they have summers off.
The middle agers 25-40 are what is missing now-a-days. Families, bills, careers, are their main worries they don't have the time or money to come out and play.
It's to the point (anyway up here in Micihigan) where most reenactment groups are in this age grouping 60% over 50 and 40% below 25.
 
World War II reenacting is fairly popular in Europe. Last year, while in Normandy, I learned that France (or at least parts of it) apparently has restrictions against people reenacting German World War II soldiers. I was told that rebuilt German vehicles must be painted with US or French colors and markings to simulate them being captured, and that the only "German" troops allowed were those portraying prisoners. These rules are in place because many French people today remember when German vehicles and German troops driving around Normandy were not hobbyists.
 
The moesgaard Viking market started back in 1977 and is the oldest of its kind here in Denmark. (the picture posted above is from Moesgaard)
There is a small group doing Romans,
Lots and lots of people doing viking age and the medieval period.
Danish soldiers during the great Northern war (1701-1720),
During the Napoleonic wars,
And the 1st and second Sleswig wars (1948-51 and 1864)
Reenactment at Als (1864) with Danes and Prussians.

The last weekend of june is the 150th for the battle of Als.
Looking forward to that. Trying to stop a Prussian amphibious operation at 0430 in the morning is not something I have tried before. http://www.kampenomals.dk/welcome

ACW (maybe 50 persons in total.)
For our Federal infantry we use the 15th Wisconsin.

WWII - there is one group who do Wehrmacht. On of the 2rank division stationed here during the occupation. I really like their rules. Hight, weight, age all have to be within the historical rules. They do a lot of work with museums and have bin involved in a few danish movies set during the period.

Offcause with a population of 5,5million "lots" is counted in the hundreds...

Safety: Having free universal healthcare do help a lot since nobody risk getting ruined by a hospital bill.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
OK, so I'm still curious to hear from people who do reenact:

What's your personal motivation? Why do you love it?

Twenty-five years ago when I was most active and the mentioned age thing was yet to be a serious issue, it was a very great thrill to participate in the large-scale events like Bull Run, Shiloh, Antietam, and Gettysburg. Especially Gettysburg, because there were as many reenactors there as a full-scale battle between a Union and Confederate division, about 4,000 to 7,000 respectively! When you consider the limited view most common soldiers had, as long as you faced away from the spectator crowd you essentially saw the same thing someone would've seen 125 years earlier. And to maneuver in regimental and brigade-sized formations complete with drums, bugles, and regimental, brigade, division, and corps flags allowed for the best understanding possible of the conditions I'd been reading about for the previous quarter-century ever since the Centennial in the 1960's.

Also, participating in long-distance marches over historic countryside brings the experience to life in ways nothing else can, from the blisters and pain to simple delights like halts, Warm days and cool nights, skinny-dipping in streams, and bountieous spreads in century-old taverns after days spent in ardouous campaigning! The smell and taste of black powder and the clouds of battlefield smoke and all the noise of battle help one understand the confusion so often heard about in period letters and accounts. Thank God the pain and blood are usually - but not always - lacking!

Ten years later I had the pleasure of being able to watch the 135th anniversary reenactment of Pickett's Charge from the Union lines, almost a full-scale replay of the actual event covering the same amount of landscape. It was the first time I'd been able to watch and photograph an event without actually taking part as an officer or enlisted man; I'll post the photos I took on that occasion later this year as the anniversary of Gettysburg nears and maybe you can form some idea of the spectacle it afforded to be a part of such a large-scale event.
 
ACW (maybe 50 persons in total.)
For our Federal infantry we use the 15th Wisconsin.

Safety: Having free universal healthcare do help a lot since nobody risk getting ruined by a hospital bill.

A great note about safety concerns!

You might enjoy seeing these 2 ambrotypes from my collection showing 3 members of the real 13th Wisconsin in their distinctive early-war uniforms and carrying imported so-called "Saxon rifles":

Civil War Ambrotypes 001.jpgCivil War Ambrotypes 002.jpg
 
Back
Top