Hello respected teachers,

Would you please explain the meaning of the following sentence?

The war that the English waged almost without intermission between 1793 and 1815 was one that in an unprecedented manner had a "home front": the menaced sanctuary of the domestic fireside became the symbol of what the nation's military might was safeguarding.

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The custom of speaking is the original and only just standard of any language. Joseph Priestly- Rudiments of EG, 1761.

No, not the people. What was at home was the symbol. It was about why they were fighting - what they were fighting for.

putting the sentence the other way round:

the symbol of what the nation's military might was safeguarding
was
the menaced sanctuary of the domestic fireside

menaced - under threat
sanctuary - safety
domestic = in the home
fireside = family gathered round the fire, cosy and safe and warm.








What was the army safeguarding? What was their motivation?
To win territory in France?
To conquer Spain?
To stop the colonies from rebelling?
To free Jerusalem?
No.
What was the symbol of what they were fighting for?
What did they fear would happen if they lost?



The coalition won, and Napoleon never successfully invaded Britain. But what if the British had not won their wars?

They made jokes about the French invasion, and in the end the only attempt failed. But he had been unstoppable across Europe.



There is a difference between fighting a war in France or America, and fighting to stop a perceived threat of invasion, where an invading army is going to attack your wife and children in their home if you don't stop them abroad.

thank you!

That is not to say there was no military defence at home - but the way I read the second sentence is about the motivation and symbolism used.


But all around the coast of Southern Britain, in among the defences built to resist the expected Nazi invasion, and the defences built to resist the Germans in the First World War, are the defences built to resist the expected attack from Napoleon's forces.

Martello towers from the Napoleonic wars crop up in the strangest places along the coast.