Bi-Polar Bear wrote:Please give me the exact military/political definition of war weariness .....
Well it's gonna be my opinion but here it is, for what it's worth:
War weariness is a political term for the way in which a war makes a nation's population uncomfortable. That's the easy and obvious answer.
But the real political meaning comes when you analyze the changes in war weariness throught history and the effect war weariness has on different forms of government.
Democracy is the form of government most affected by war weariness, and that's why means to combat war weariness often tackle tricricky areas of Democracy like "free press".
A more authoritarian governmental system can better handle war weariness largly through manipulation of the press.
A Democracy is deeply affected, regardless of what kind of war but especially so in controversial wars.
War weariness is becoming more and more a factor as technology progresses because there is more intra-cultural exchange (a simple example is that if we went to war with Mexico there's be a lot of Mexicans here who wouldn't deminize the Mexicans as easily) and more economic contagion (instability is worse for far reaching markets than it was in the past).
The "containment" of war weariness in the US military is largely a result of the Vietnam war.
Prior to that war the government was easily able to manipulate media (e.g. in WW2 civilians served up a lot of the military's propaganda, and things like the scrap metal drive kept war weariness down). That combined with the fact that reporting was more "distant" made war weariness an insignificant concern back then.
With the Vietnam war the military learned that war weariness is a major factor.
"Containing" war weariness has had benefits. The military has had to learn how to make more accurate weapons and reduce civilian deaths. The military has had to learn to win their wars more swiftly because time is war weariness' partner.
The military is also learning to use PR as a weapon and is learning to manage media. The embedded reporters is the greatest wartime example of delicate modern-day media management in a democracy with free press.
Rules like the one about the photography are also ways to combat war weariness.