MEDICAL WRITING AT THE FRONT: ENCHANTMENT AND DISENCHANTMENT IN TESTIMONIES OF THE SCOTTISH NURSES SERVING IN ROMANIA DURING THE GREAT WAR
MEDICAL WRITING AT THE FRONT: ENCHANTMENT AND DISENCHANTMENT IN TESTIMONIES OF THE SCOTTISH NURSES SERVING IN ROMANIA DURING THE GREAT WAR

Summary/Abstract: This article is based on letters and diaries of nurses from the Scottish Women’s Hospitals who served at the front in South-eastern Romania during the First World War. The hypothesis is that self-examination in the Scottish women’s diaries was prompted by the tragedy and trauma of the violent conflict ravaging the country, and that this self-analysis resulted in the nurses changing their attitude towards the war, which they no longer saw as glorious or as an “adventure”, but were able to perceive in its full horror. The failure of the Romanians and Russians on the Dobruja front – considered of secondary significance – disillusioned not only the Scottish nurses, but the entire Romanian army and the already sceptical representatives of the Russian imperial army.

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