I Thought About the Army
Apr. 28th, 2009 09:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vovatMany of the portrayals of armies in the Oz books are rather satirical. Whether this was a reflection of Baum's own opinion on the military isn't entirely clear. While his own time in military school was apparently too stressful for him, he ended up sending two of his sons there, and one of them became a colonel. He also dedicated The Magic of Oz to the soldiers in World War I. Maybe the small, mostly-for-show military force of Oz is, like the economy described in Emerald City, one of those things that Baum figured wouldn't work in the civilized world. Mind you, the total pacifism that Ozma practices in Emerald City doesn't seem to be entirely practical even IN fairyland. In the end, it's neither military might nor kindness and love that defeats the invaders, but a combination of magic and trickery.
The size of Ozma's army varies somewhat from one book to another. In Ozma, there are either twenty-six or twenty-seven officers (thanks to lax editing, the count varies from one part of the book to another) and one private, Omby Amby. But in the reigns of the Wizard of Oz and the Scarecrow, Omby was the entire army, so why would he only be a private in this new army? Well, since the Ozites are so attached to the idea that officers are just supposed to give orders and not do any actual fighting, maybe it made sense to give the lowest rank to the guy with some experience. Besides, he's promoted to Captain-General at the end, and goes back to being the entire army in Patchwork Girl. Oddly enough, there are two other privates mentioned in the chapter in which Omby is promoted, but I don't believe we ever hear about them again. I suppose the best way to explain the whole mess might be to say that Omby is the entire standing army, but the officers from Ozma still remain in reserve, and march in parades and such.
There are other comical armies in the Oz books, as well as some actually competent ones. In the case of the latter, Glinda's all-female army is probably the best example, and I get the impression that Glinda maintains her army in case Ozma's policies of love and magic fail in a major conflict. As for the former, the army of Queen Ann Soforth of Oogaboo is pretty closely modeled on Ozma's own, with a bunch of officers and one private soldier. Originally this is Private Files (the only pun name in this particular army, unless there's some wordplay I'm missing), but he's later replaced by Tik-Tok. (This could possibly be why the clockwork man is referred to as the Royal Army of Oz in Return to Oz.) Interestingly, neither Ozma's nor Queen Ann's army includes any lieutenants. I'm not sure if this is because no one wants to be the lowest rank of officer, or because Baum thought the word was difficult for kids to pronounce. For the most part, the ranks in the Ozian armies are the same as American ones, except for "Captain-General," a term that died out in most of the world during the eighteenth century (although it's apparently still used in Spain and its former colonies).
It's a little odd that Ozma seems to have no problem with vassal states having their own armies, but looking important generally seems to be the main purpose of Ozian soldiers, and I don't think Ozma would begrudge the smaller Ozian countries their own parades and pageantry. She usually does intervene when she learns that one of these armies starts practicing aggression. For what it's worth, I think the largest army within Oz itself might well be Ozwoz the Wonderful's force of 10,000 mechanical wooden soldiers, and that's all to guard one man.
The size of Ozma's army varies somewhat from one book to another. In Ozma, there are either twenty-six or twenty-seven officers (thanks to lax editing, the count varies from one part of the book to another) and one private, Omby Amby. But in the reigns of the Wizard of Oz and the Scarecrow, Omby was the entire army, so why would he only be a private in this new army? Well, since the Ozites are so attached to the idea that officers are just supposed to give orders and not do any actual fighting, maybe it made sense to give the lowest rank to the guy with some experience. Besides, he's promoted to Captain-General at the end, and goes back to being the entire army in Patchwork Girl. Oddly enough, there are two other privates mentioned in the chapter in which Omby is promoted, but I don't believe we ever hear about them again. I suppose the best way to explain the whole mess might be to say that Omby is the entire standing army, but the officers from Ozma still remain in reserve, and march in parades and such.
There are other comical armies in the Oz books, as well as some actually competent ones. In the case of the latter, Glinda's all-female army is probably the best example, and I get the impression that Glinda maintains her army in case Ozma's policies of love and magic fail in a major conflict. As for the former, the army of Queen Ann Soforth of Oogaboo is pretty closely modeled on Ozma's own, with a bunch of officers and one private soldier. Originally this is Private Files (the only pun name in this particular army, unless there's some wordplay I'm missing), but he's later replaced by Tik-Tok. (This could possibly be why the clockwork man is referred to as the Royal Army of Oz in Return to Oz.) Interestingly, neither Ozma's nor Queen Ann's army includes any lieutenants. I'm not sure if this is because no one wants to be the lowest rank of officer, or because Baum thought the word was difficult for kids to pronounce. For the most part, the ranks in the Ozian armies are the same as American ones, except for "Captain-General," a term that died out in most of the world during the eighteenth century (although it's apparently still used in Spain and its former colonies).
It's a little odd that Ozma seems to have no problem with vassal states having their own armies, but looking important generally seems to be the main purpose of Ozian soldiers, and I don't think Ozma would begrudge the smaller Ozian countries their own parades and pageantry. She usually does intervene when she learns that one of these armies starts practicing aggression. For what it's worth, I think the largest army within Oz itself might well be Ozwoz the Wonderful's force of 10,000 mechanical wooden soldiers, and that's all to guard one man.
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Date: 2009-04-29 03:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-29 11:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-03 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-29 07:18 am (UTC)Although Baum might have been an idealist, I don't get the sense that he's completely anti-military. Anti-war, yes, but plenty of people are against war but see a need for a military force. More likely he was simply doing his best to poke fun at modern conventions and keep the kids entertained.
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Date: 2009-04-29 11:21 pm (UTC)I get the feeling that she's still feeling her way through her foreign policy in these early books. Ozma has her putting on an attitude and making threats to foreign rulers, while Emerald City has her basically doing nothing. In both cases, she seems more interested in maintaining her own principles than protecting her subjects, which isn't such a great way for a ruler to be. After Emerald City, she essentially becomes an isolationist for a while, while she begins to obtain an empire in the Thompson books. I like to think that she eventually found a happy medium between these extremes, but she's rarely all that consistent in this respect.
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Date: 2009-04-30 10:13 am (UTC)