THE BACKWASH OF WAR was first published in the autumn of 1916, and was suppressed in the summer of 1918. Until this happened it went through several printings, but the pictures presented—back of the scenes, so to speak—were considered damaging to the morale. In the flood of war propaganda pouring over the country, these dozen short sketches were considered undesirable.1
From its first appearance, this small book was kept out of England and France. But it did very well in the United States, until we entered the War. Even then, by some oversight, it continued to be sold, although suppression and censorship held full sway. In the summer of 1918, however, something happened. An issue of THE LIBERATOR2 was held up—it could not be released until a certain objectionable passage was stamped out in black ink. This passage, it appears, was a reference to THE BACKWASH OF WAR. THE LIBERATOR carried a column in each issue of books specially recommended by the editor. In each issue, month after month, appeared a short paragraph of three or four lines, recommending THE BACKWASH OF WAR. So—when THE LIBERATOR was held up till this passage could be inked out, one suspected that something had happened to the BACKWASH itself.
No official notice was ever sent to me. After several weeks I ventured to inquire of the publishers what had happened. The Government, it appeared, did not care for the book.
“But why not? It reveals no military secrets. These sketches, while written of a French hospital, could apply equally well to any other hospital back of the lines—whether German, Russian or Serbian. They are true______”
“That is exactly the trouble,” I was told. Truth, it appears, has no place in war.
Now that we are again going through a period of peace, it seems an opportune moment for a new edition of this book. The sketches were written in 1915 and 1916, when the writer was in a French military field hospital, a few miles behind the lines, in Belgium. War has been described as “months of boredom, punctuated by moments of intense fright.” During this time at the Front, the lines moved little, either forward or backward, but were deadlocked in one position. Undoubtedly, up and down the long reaching kilometers of “Front” there was action, and “moments of intense fright” which produced fine deeds of valor, courage and nobility. But where there is little or no action there is a stagnant place, and in that stagnant place is much ugliness. Much ugliness is churned up in the wake of mighty, moving forces, and this is the backwash of war. Many little lives foam up in this backwash, loosened by the sweeping current, and detached from their environment. One catches a glimpse of them—often weak, hideous or repellent.
There can be no war without this backwash.
JULY 18, 1934
E. N. L. M.
1. There is a detailed history of the publication, reception, and censorship of The Backwash of War in this volume’s introduction.
2. A radical magazine for which La Motte was a contributing editor.