Intellectuals and War

The essence of the interface between intellectuals and war is choice.Of course, this is true for members of all populations caught up in war but more so for the intellectual who enjoys a high cultural profile and who intervenes in the public space.In considering the issue of intellectuals and war, the first part of this introduction will initially focus almost exclusively on the two world wars in order to consider the case of: intellectuals whose conscription in the armed forces modified their status as intellectuals; intellectuals who contributed to the war effort by living out or adapting their role as intellectuals to a new set of circumstances; and intellectuals who opposed war.Attention is then paid to the fragmentation of intellectual communities occasioned by war, a theme extended by a consideration of intellectuals and competing claims of legitimacy in a country under foreign occupation (in this case France 1940France -1945)).Finally, the role of the intellectual in a covert war will be examined.It is clearly way beyond the compass of a short contribution such as this to address any of these questions in detail and, because of restricted space, only a limited number of examples of intellectuals can be given.But it is hoped that the article will provoke thoughts and raise issues that may be developed elsewhere by others.