Battle Cry

A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group.

Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religious sentiment. Their purpose is a combination of arousing aggression and esprit de corps on one's own side and causing intimidation on the hostile side. Battle cries are a universal form of display behaviour (i.e., threat display) aiming at competitive advantage, ideally by overstating one's own aggressive potential to a point where the enemy prefers to avoid confrontation altogether and opts to flee. In order to overstate one's potential for aggression, battle cries need to be as loud as possible, and have historically often been amplified by acoustic devices such as horns, drums, conches, carnyxes, bagpipes, bugles, etc. (see also martial music).

Battle Cry
A Māori performer giving a Haka at a folk festival in Poland
Battle Cry
Soldiers performing a battle cry
All Blacks performing a Haka, 1:39 min

Battle cries are closely related to other behavioral patterns of human aggression, such as war dances and taunting, performed during the "warming up" phase preceding the escalation of physical violence. From the Middle Ages, many cries appeared on speech scrolls in standards or coat of arms as slogans (see slogan (heraldry)) and were adopted as mottoes, an example being the motto "Dieu et mon droit" ("God and my right") of the English kings. It is said that this was Edward III's rallying cry during the Battle of Crécy. The word "slogan" originally derives from sluagh-gairm or sluagh-ghairm (sluagh = "people", "army", and gairm = "call", "proclamation"), the Scottish Gaelic word for "gathering-cry" and in times of war for "battle-cry". The Gaelic word was borrowed into English as slughorn, sluggorne, "slogum", and slogan.

History

Antiquity

Middle Ages

  • During the Scottish wars of independence, Scottish soldiers used Alba gu bràth as a battle-cry, a phrase that means 'Scotland for ever' (literally, 'Scotland until judgement'.) This was depicted in the film 'Braveheart' during which Mel Gibson, playing William Wallace, shouts the phrase to rally his soldiers just before a battle commenced.
  • Estonian old battle cry: Tharapita - Taara (Estonian God) is Great! It is recorded in the Chronicle of Hendrik of Latvia Livimaa. Estonians also used it in the 1918-1921 war against the Germans and Russians.
  • Each Turkic tribe and tribal union had its distinct tamga (seal), totemic ongon bird, and distinct uran (battle cry) (hence the Slavic urah "battle cry"). While tamgas and ongons could be distinct down to individuals, the hue of horses and uran battle cries belonged to each tribe, were passed down from generation to generation, and some modern battle cries were recorded in antiquity. On split of the tribe, their unique distinction passed to a new political entity, endowing different modern states with the same uran battle cries of the split tribes, for example Kipchak battle cry among Kazakhs, Kirgizes, Turkmens, and Uzbeks. Some larger tribes' uran battle cries:
    • Kipchak – "ay-bas" ("lunar head").
    • Kangly (Kangars) – "bai-terek" ("sacred tree").
    • Oguzes – "teke" ("mount")
  • Desperta ferro! ("Awake iron!" in Catalan) was the most characteristic cry of the Almogavar warriors during the Crown of Aragon military campaigns across the Mediterranean from the 12th through to the 14th centuries.
  • Deus vult! ("God wills it!" in Latin) was the battle cry of the Crusaders.
  • Montjoie Saint Denis!: battle cry of the Kings of France since the 12th century.
  • Santiago y cierra, España! was a war cry of Spanish troops during the Reconquista, and of the Spanish Empire.
  • On 14 August 1431, the whole Holy Roman Empire army (of the 4th anti-Hussite crusade) was defeated by the Hussites in the Battle of Domažlice. Attacking imperial units started to retreat after hearing Ktož jsú boží bojovníci ("Ye Who Are Warriors of God") choral and were annihilated shortly after.
  • Allāhu Akbar (الله أكبر, "God is [the] Greatest") and Allāhu Allāh (الله الله, "God! God!") were used by Muslim armies throughout history. Al-naṣr aw al-shahāda (النصر أو الشهادة, "Victory or martyrdom") was also a common battle cry; the At-Tawbah 9:52 says that God has promised to the righteous Muslim warrior one of these two glorious ideals.[original research?]
  • Óðinn á yðr alla (Odin owns you all) – A reference to Odin's self sacrifice at Yggdrasil. Attributed to Eric the Victorious.

Pre-modern

  • When suppressing peasants' rebellions in Germany and Scandinavia around 1500, such as in the Battle of Hemmingstedt, the Dutch mercenaries of the Black Guard yelled Wahr di buer, die garde kumt ("Beware, peasants, the guards are coming"). When the peasants counterattacked, they responded with Wahr di, Garr, de Buer de kumt ("Beware, Guard, of the peasant, [who is] coming").
  • The Spanish cried Santiago ("Saint James") both when reconquering Spain from the Moors and during conquest in early colonial America.
  • Polish "Winged Hussars" used to shout Jezus Maria ("Jesus, Mary") or Matka Boska ("Mother of God") during their charges.
  • King Henry IV of France (1553–1610), a pleasure-loving and cynical military leader, was famed for wearing a striking white plume in his helmet and for his war cry: Ralliez-vous à mon panache blanc! ("Follow my white plume!").
  • Burmese soldiers of the Konbaung Dynasty under Alaungpaya were recorded to shout Shwebo-Thar (Sons of Shwebo) during the Konbaung-Hanthawady War.
  • Most of the Jaikaras were popularized by Guru Gobind Singh. The Sikhs have a number of battle cries or jaikara: the most popular ones are as follows:
    • Bolnaji (Respectfully Utter) – Waheguru (Wondrous Enlightener)
    • Deg Teg Fateh (Victory to Charity and Arms) – Birdh ki Paij Panth ki jit (Rout of the Enemy Victory of the Sikh Path)
    • Bole So Nihal...Sat Sri Akaal ("Shout Aloud in Ecstasy... True is the Great Timeless One"),
    • Nanak naam charhdi kalaa (May Thy name be exalted O Nanak) – Tere bhaanae sarbatt daa bhalaa (and all people prosper by Thy grace)
    • Waheguru ji ka Khalsa (the Community of the Pure belongs to the Wondrous Enlightener) – Waheguru ji ki Fateh (Victory belongs to the Wondrous Enlightener)
    • Raj Karega Khalsa – (The Khalsa will rule) Aaakki Rahe Na Koye (And no rebels will exist)
    • Gaj ke jaikara gajaave fateh paave nihaal ho jaavae, Sat Sri Akaal gurbaar akaal hee akaal|| (excerpt from ardas of Buddha Dal prayerbook gutka praising the blessing of uttering jaikara proclaiming supreme truth).
  • The Pashtun soldiers' war cry against the Mughals was Hu, Hu.
  • The Gurkha (Gorkha) soldiers' battle cry was, and still is, "Jai Mahakali, Ayo Gorkhali!" ("Victory to Goddess Mahakali, the Gurkhas are coming!")
  • The "rebel yell" was a battle cry used by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War.
  • Finnish light cavalry troops in the Swedish Army in the 17th and 18th centuries would use the battle cry "Hakkaa päälle!" ("Cut them down!" in Finnish), lending them the name Hackapell.
  • Irish regiments of various armies used and continue to use Gaelic war cries, "Faugh a Ballagh" ("Clear the way!") or "Erin go Bragh" ("Ireland Forever")
  • The Swedish army in the 18th and 19th centuries would be issued with the command to attack with "För Fäderneslandet, gå på, Hurra!" ("For the Fatherland, onwards, Hurrah!")
  • Argentine general José de San Martín is known in South America for his war cry: "Seamos libres, que lo demás no importa nada!" ("Let's be free, nothing else matters!").
  • In the Texas Revolution, following the Battle of Goliad and the Battle of the Alamo, Texan soldiers would use the battle cry "Remember Goliad! Remember the Alamo!"
  • In the Battle of Dybbøl in 1864, both Danish and German forces used "Hurrah" as a war cry.
  • During World War I in the Italian Front of 1915. Before battle, Italian soldiers would yell "Savoia" or "Avanti Savoia", which is "Come on Savoy!" or "Onwards Savoy!" in Italian (compare "For the king!" among British soldiers of the same era).

Modern

See also

References

  • Guilhem Pepin, ‘Les cris de guerre " Guyenne ! " et " Saint George ! ". L’expression d’une identité politique du duché d’Aquitaine anglo-gascon’, Le Moyen Age, cxii (2006) pp 263–281

Tags:

Battle Cry HistoryBattle Cry

🔥 Trending searches on Wiki English:

DogBattle of SekigaharaDeaths in 2024Abdul FatawuSunny LeoneCrew (film)Richard NixonMaidaanKepler's SupernovaU.S. stateC. S. Lewis2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly electionAmerican Idol season 22Lana Rhoades2024 in filmUnited StatesWinston ChurchillFighter (2024 film)Cole PalmerMurder of Reena VirkSpainNapoleonThe Eras TourQatarWar for the Planet of the ApesMidnightsEmma CorrinBohemian GroveJoseph StalinLos AngelesList of country calling codesRobert DurstImperium (professional wrestling)South AfricaList of constituencies of the Lok SabhaThe First OmenVasuki indicusSolo LevelingGoogleMichael J. FoxQueen VictoriaList of British generals and brigadiersAuto-brewery syndromeRishi SunakM. Night ShyamalanDan SchneiderOmanUEFA Champions LeagueBayer 04 LeverkusenList of Young Sheldon episodesCandidates Tournament 2024Tokugawa IeyasuMichael JacksonWilliam, Prince of WalesGeorge VIPassoverInna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'unMoonMexicoTwitch (service)List of Tom Hanks performances and creditsLeBron JamesJohn F. KennedyLewis HamiltonJosé MourinhoThe Idea of YouCitizen SmithCanvaOnce Upon a Time in HollywoodBlue Lights (2023 TV series)Siren (2024 film)El ClásicoJuan MerchanSex positionWhatsAppList of Freemasons (A–D)🡆 More