The Good Soldier Svejk Book Analysis Essay Example

Even though the titular character from The Good Soldier Svejk and his Fortunes in the World War did not actually exist, he is considered a hero of the early twentieth century. He represented the growing tension between state and people, which was exacerbated by multiple wars and harsh campaigns to control the people. Eastern European imperial regimes were unable to arouse support for the wars of the early twentieth century because the bureaucracy and symbols of power like the church did not represent the people, rather, they were brought together by shared ethnicities.

As an attempt to maintain the illusion of power, the Austro-Hungarian bureaucracy tried to hold on to a classical grandeur that was unbefitting of the modern times and harmful to the people living under their rule. During World War I, Austria-Hungary was known for having the nicest looking uniforms and for buying extremely high amounts of alcohol. These purchases tell the tense story of a monarchy and its people. Austria-Hungary as a monarchy was keeping face with beautiful uniforms and ornate government buildings. The office of the judge and the garrison gaol that Svejk was sent to were“magnificent” buildings the type of which exist in “every state on the brink of total political, economic, and moral collapse.” Hasek writes, “the aura of past power and glory clings to its courts, police, gendarmerie and venal pack of informers.” (A FEW CITATIONS AND FORMATTING) Austria-Hungary worked hard to make the empire appear beautiful and powerful, but that was not the truth. At the same time, they bought liquor to try to help the soldiers and civilians cope with the challenges of fighting a war they did not believe in. Imperial regimes could not make their people believe in the nation, especially when its existence did not serve them. 

Because monarchies are closely tied to the church, religious imagery was often used to raise morale for the war. They were fighting for God and Country. However, Eastern Europeans became disillusioned with religion when they realized it was being used to send them to their deaths. In the novel, Hasek writes “Throughout all Europe people went to the slaughter like cattle, driven there not only by butcher emperors... but also by priests of all confessions, who blessed them and made them perjure themselves…” (CITATION) Religion was a tool used by heads of state to manipulate the population. All of the beautiful symbols of Christianity erected by the state became reminders of imperial authority and death. They were no longer glorious symbols of power and goodness, but out of place, out of date symbols of control. Religion did not work as a tool of nationalism on Eastern Europeans.

In contrast to Western Europe, Eastern Europe did not see the places they were living in as a driving force of nationalism. Rather, it was ethnicity that became a point of community and trust. This made the Great War particularly difficult for Austria-Hungary, because the soldiers fighting in the war did not usually believe wholeheartedly in their cause. Austria-Hungary could not rally and inspire troops in the same way as the axis powers. In the novel, Svejk speaks with a soldier from the barracks about the war. The two men are Czech, and they “interpret the views of the average Czech about the war.”(CITATION) These views include believing the emperor is clinically insane, unaware of the war, has wet nurses who breast-feed him, and that “‘a monarchy as idiotic as this ought not to exist at all.’” (CITATION) These words are liable for treason, but Svejk knows he can be comfortable saying these words with a fellow Czech man. The men do not believe in the empire they are fighting a war for, and are attempting to avoid the fight in any way that they can. 

The outcome of World War I showed the impermanence and insignificance of imperial nations in Eastern Europe. Four empires collapsed, which significantly changed the makeup of the landscape, physical and political. Because of all the change occurring, ethnic groups thought that their goal of having independent states could be realized. Many ethnic minorities under Austria-Hungary, upset by the empire’s poor performance in the war and as a ruling body, wanted independent states. After Russia exited the war and the POWs held there were freed, they went back to Eastern Europe with a romantic view of communism as a way to free minorities from the empire. Ethnic groups, especially those under Austria-Hungary, were unhappy with the unjust way they were treated during the war, and even with the idea of fighting for an empire they did not support, but simply lived in. Already assembled in units, ethnic minorities demanded change and more agency for their people. Communism became a way for their groups to have power economically and politically, and the ideology quickly became popular in Eastern Europe.

Imperial regimes did not represent or support the ethnic minority groups held within them, which, when fueled by the trials of World War I, caused resentment and fuel for revolution. Every stage of the war was a failure for empires. There was little support for the war on a national level, putting the central powers at a disadvantage over the axis powers from the beginning. Their poor performance during the war caused economic hardship, which gave way to the rise of Communism after the war. Imperial regimes could not contain ethnic groups that were set on creating independent states. Regimes were not invested in their people and what mattered to them, so they fell, because a nation with no people to uphold it can not exist.