ABSTRACT
The first war movies were not produced in response to the outbreak of the first world conflict. War films had appeared almost as early as cinema itself, and during the years which preceded the First World War fighting of various sorts was shot and screened in all countries. From 1914 through 1918 neutrals as well as belligerents filmed the hostilities extensively. But, after the peace treaty, the theme was quickly forgotten, and in this field Hollywood played an important part: all through the 1920s, while the European cinemas were declining and the American movies sold well abroad, the United States exported war films which were popular and, without ever questioning the legitimacy of the American intervention, described life in the trenches, the sufferings, of the wounded and the general destruction in a realistic, unyielding manner.
