Freud's Letters during the Great War: between Horror and Condescendence

Freud's correspondence during World War I, also known as the Great War, reveals the effects the war had on him, as well as his wagers, inconsistencies, and contradictions. In those letters, Freud shows himself as a subject divided between horror and condescendence. His encounter with the conflict makes it possible to clarify the logic of war and its subjective implications, on the basis of his wartime enthusiasm, his confrontation with the spectacle of destruction, inhibition of activity, shame, separation from his loved ones, the sudden end of the war, and the suspension of judgment in view of the return of "his" combatants.