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Originally posted by Zeld2.0
I'd actually say that there was *more* honor going into the 1800's in battle. Battle was seen as a sort of gentleman's sport - hell the leaders on teh battle were often friends just on opposite sides... So in the end surrender and terms were almost always honored. Even bitter enemies at that.
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Actually, you'd be wrong. Sure, nobles/leaders would sometimes act honorably because it was expected of them, but most regular troops were pretty much fucked whatever they did. As an example: in the 18th century, troops would go into battle wearing *all* their clothes, because they'd at least be safe from thieves that way. If you were shot (often fatal, no matter where you were hit), you could expect gangs of thieves to steal everything you had after the battle was over - and if you're lucky they'd let you live afterwards. Sometimes an enemy general would order his troops to treat the enemy well because they had fought well, but more often than not the enemy general would have more important things to do...
The notion that war in the 18th century was honorable is just plain wrong, period. It may have been the case for a select number of people, or in specific instances (when the two sides respected each other), but in most cases, bitter hatred and nationalism made sure that there was little honor to be seen anywhere.