View source for War in the 20th Century

{{Short description|Early French science fiction novel}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox short story|<!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->|image=Robida - La Guerre au vingtième siècle - cover.jpg|name=The War in the 20th Century|country=United States|language=English|genre=Science fiction, horror|media_type=Print (Short Novel)|pub_date=1883||author=[[Albert Robida]]}}
'''The War in the 20th Century''' or '''''La Guerre au vingtième siècle''''' in the original French is an 1883 science fiction short novel written and illustrated by [[Albert Robida]]. It is the third illustrated short novel by the same name published by Robida, with the other two being published in 1869 and 1883. Robida is considered to be the first Science Fiction illustrator,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Kremer |first=Lotte |date=1 September 2017 |title=Short Skirts, Telephonoscopes and Ancient Locomotives: Albert Robida's Vision of the Twentieth Century |journal=Junctions: Graduate Journal of the Humanities |language=en-US |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=9 |doi=10.33391/jgjh.32|doi-access=free }}</ref> and this piece in particular is often lauded for its robust illustrations.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Angenot |first=Marc |date=1983 |editor-last=Robida |editor-first=Albert |title=Albert Robida's Twentieth Century |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4239551 |journal=Science Fiction Studies |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=237–240 |jstor=4239551 |issn=0091-7729}}</ref>
The novel was written in 1869, before being published in [[La Caricature (1880–1904)]] in 1883, and then again in 1887.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Costa |first1=Helena |last2=Baños |first2=Josep-E |date=31 December 2016 |editor-last=Bintley |editor-first=Michael |title=Bioterrorism in the literature of the nineteenth century: The case of Wells and The Stolen Bacillus |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2016.1224538 |journal=Cogent Arts & Humanities |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=1224538 |doi=10.1080/23311983.2016.1224538|s2cid=55542968 |hdl=10230/28324 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The novel was republished in English in 1998 in an anthology called Around the World.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Title: The War of the Twentieth Century |url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?869830 |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=www.isfdb.org}}</ref>
== Plot summary ==
The novel opens with a brief recollection of the novels [[alternate history]], including a civil war in the [[Danubian provinces]] (modern day [[Romania]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gourdon |first=Édouard |url=http://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6ygCAAAAYAAJ |title=Histoire du Congrès de Paris |date=1857 |publisher=Paris, Librairie nouvelle |others=New York Public Library}}</ref>), an attempt by the United States to invade the country by sea, and the destruction of [[Corsica]] by China. From the short historical brief, it goes on to detail the experiences of a young soldier from [[Toulouse]], Fabius Molinas. As the reader is introduced to Molinas, a "telephone bulletin" tells of an emerging [[casus belli]] occurring on 25 June 1945, and the subsequent assignment of Molinas as a 2nd Class [[Gunner (rank)|Gunner]] in the 6th Squadron of the 18th Territorial Balloonists.
As the mobilization progresses, Molinas first describes so called  "flying foggers", air ships which spread a concealing fog onto the French border to help conceal the emerging war effort. It is also noted that the fog carries a nauseating odor, a harbinger of the various warfare practices which followed.
The first battle described includes largely conventional warfare, cannons firing on moving fortresses (presumably similar to modern [[armoured personnel carrier]]s), and the eventual crash of the first airship Molinas is stationed on. The crash resulted in Molinas joining a ground offensive, during which the first use of chemical weapons is detailed. The opposing side deploys a multitude of bombs throughout the city, each emanating a green fog, which kills on contact.
After surviving the gas and the corresponding counteroffensive, Molinas dons the uniform of an enemy chemical officer, and travels behind enemy lines, where he learns of the enemies "Defensive Medical Corps" a group of "chemical engineers, doctors, and apothecaries" who were working on [[land mine]]s equipped with various "concentrates and microbes" including specifically [[Yellow fever]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Malignant Fever {{!}} Duke University Libraries |url=https://library.duke.edu/exhibits/2016/rush |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=library.duke.edu}}</ref> [[Glanders]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 May 2023 |title=farcin |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/farcin#:~:text=(ˈfɑːsɪ%20),Also%20called%3A%20farcin |website=Collins Dictionary}}</ref> [[Dysentery]], [[Measles]], and [[Toothache]]s. The infective products, being stored in a large reservoir is then destroyed by Molinas, who opens fire on it.
Molinas, who at the time was still wearing a chemical suit, avoids all but a toothache, and reports back to the French offensive, having crippled the enemies abilities, and in turn infecting 179,510 civilians and military personnel, all on the side of the enemy.
Throughout additional battles, the use of [[Mediumship|mediums]] by the French is introduced, working to clear minefields. This eventually reveals two hidden enemy units, who use further chemical and biological weapons, including asphyxiating gas, [[Incapacitating agent|sleeping gas]], a [[seizure]] inducing gas, and so called "chemical [[scabies]]". The French then respond with a corrosive weapon of their own, which wipes out the chemical units.
After the ground offensive, Molinas is put in charge of a small submarine, which he proceeds to sink after taking out multiple enemy vessels. After once again escaping, and finding the French army, he is again put in charge of a Submarine, using it to cut off enemy communications before finally receiving medical care at a French Hospital.
In the last two detailed battles of the war, Molinas is put in charge of two further airships, losing one to wild animals, and crashing another into a Mexican city in a fire fight, at which point Molinas receives word that the war is over.
== Prominent themes ==
* [[Futurism]] and [[Innovation]]<ref name=":1" />
* National exceptionalism and patriotism<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Richardson |first=Jacques |date=1 January 2007 |title=Future war and superweapons, the perceptive fantasies of Albert Robida |url=https://doi.org/10.1108/14636680710837316 |journal=Foresight |volume=9 |issue=6 |pages=61–73 |doi=10.1108/14636680710837316 |issn=1463-6689}}</ref>
* [[Dystopia]]nism<ref name=":0" />
* Social change
* Biological warfare
== Accurate predictions of the future ==
* Mobilization of France in a major conflict in 1945.<ref name=":3" /> (The first official French involvement in [[World War II]] came just a few years early in 1940, and the conflict was ongoing in 1945)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Timeline of WWII |url=https://wwiifoundation.org/timeline-of-wwii/ |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=WWII Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Armoured personnel carrier]]s<ref name=":3" />
* Chemical and Biological weapons, specifically [[blister agent]]s<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
* Submarine and air warfare<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
* Battlefield communications including telephones<ref name=":3" />
== See also ==
* [[Biological warfare in popular culture]]
* [[Biological warfare]]
== References ==
<references />
[[Category:1883 novels]]
[[Category:French science fiction novels]]