The students were taught fighting was something good. War was an adventure. When being soldiers, the students did not have to attend school and they want to fight for their fatherland.…
• For many young men the whole thing was expected to be an adventure that would be exciting and promised that they would "be home in time for Christmas". Then came Kitchener's poster campaign, "Your Country Needs YOU !" and the public conception became that anyone who did not volunteer was, by definition, an unpatriotic coward.…
Trench warfare was an interesting thing, he technology changed how well it worked, and he attitude of leaders changed trench warfare as well. The war was brutal and killed millions of…
It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor. They died so as not to die of embarrassment." This says a lot about why men tried not to escape enlistment and shows their values as well, as they all seemed to think that going to war and killing people would make them seem more courageous or at the very least less cowardly as they would've seemed if they didn't go to fight for their country. Though this fear of 'embarrassment' may not be the sole reason why everyone enlisted in the war, it is still a truth. There is no fact in that sentence; only truth and truth…
Soldiers’ view of the Great War altered dramatically as it progressed. During the early years, there was a great sense of patriotic enthusiasm. Many believed in the romantic concept of an honorable death, which could be attained by dying for one’s country. Charles Peguy illustrates this idea in evidence source 2. He asserts that those who die in great battles for their country are blessed. Although Peguy does not directly state the word country, he implies it with “a plot of ground,” “carnal cities,” and “their hearth and their fire.” Such phrases can be associated with the notion of home and this home can then be further connected to the country. The idealized concept of an honorable death in war, however, faded away in the later years of World War I as a grim reality set in. Instead, Wilfred Owen demonstrates how the “Dulce et decorum est/Pro patria mori” (It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country) saying is actually a lie in source 8. He does so by describing a soldier’s gruesome death from gas poisoning. The agony that the solider had gone through, such as “white eyes writhing in his…
The first bombardment taught us better. When it comes to dying for country, it’s better not to die at all.” (All Quiet on the Western Front) This thought supports how different point of views are, based on if you have been on or off the battlefield. In contrast, to Bäumer realized that it is better to not die for your country. In contrast, his professor, not a soldier, thought fighting for your country is the most patriotic and prideful act to do for your…
Trenches were built to protect yourself from the enemy(s). Trenches were generally around two meters deep and two meters wide. There was three rows. The first row was called the frontline trench. The frontline was the closest to no mans land (the land controlled by neither side of a war), it was also the most dangerous because that was were most of the fighting went on. The second row was called the support trench. It was back-up to the frontline, just in case the enemy got passed. The third and last row was called the reserves. This is were they kept all the supplies and equipment. Also there was communication tunnels connecting the trenches, they were used to transport supplies and messages to the other trenches. Trenches were very unhealthy. Lice, rats and all sorts of vermin occupied the trenches. There was little to no running water, the bathrooms consisted of a bucket in the trench. Also there was dead bodies covering all of the land. Worst of all, there was rats. They would eat dead bodies, or eat out the eyes and live in the bodies of the dead. Rats would nibble the living while they slept or when they were wounded. The other horrible parasite was lice. Lice is hard to get rid of…
The most important issue was the effects on the soldiers during and after World War I. The constant site of death and fighting makes the soldiers become numb to the world around them. They lose a grasp on the world that they were once a part of and become consumed by the war. “We have become wild beast. We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation. It is not against men that we fling bombs, what do we know of men in this moment when Death is haunting us down...” (pg. 113). This quote demonstrates how the soldiers would often tell themselves that killing is just another side effect of being on the front lines. They are forced to push out any humanity in order to survive; they had two options, kill or be killed. After the years of war, if they survived, most of the men felt as if they were alone and haunted by their past. “We will be superfluous even to ourselves, we will grow older, a few will adapt themselves, some others will merely submit, and most will be bewildered;- the years will pass by and in the end we shall fall into ruin” (pg. 294). The quote states that no matter how much time will pass, the war will always be a part of them. Only few will learn how to truly live with the burden of war, while trying to get back into the way that life was beforehand. No matter what happens in the war, a soldier’s life is always…
| 1.) Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia got involved to defend Serbia. Germany seeing Russia mobilizing, declared war on Russia, fearing an attack from the north. France was then drawn in against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany attacked France through Belgium pulling Britain into war because of location. Then Japan entered the war. Later, Italy and the United States would enter on the side of the allies.2.) It ruined the Schlieffen Plan once and for all, France would not be knocked out in six weeks, and all hopes of a shot war were dashed.3.) The Germans would have to face full scale war on two fronts, which they had never intended. 1.) The First Battle of the Marne effectively halted the German offensive towards Paris and thereby keeping France in the war. Both the Allies and the Germans suffered a tremendous amount of casualties and were quite exhausted. 2.) There was time for the British navy to bring its crippling blockade to bear on Germany's port. 3.) The immediate cause of America's entry into World War 1 in April 1917 was the German announcement of unrestricted submarine warfare, and the subsequent sinking of ships with Americans on board (the…
Firstly Trench Warfare is a method of defence that was used throughout the First World War. We know…
During World War I warfare was carried out using one the most familiar elements of modern warfare and soldiers were forced to live in the extremely horrible living conditions of The Trenches. A trench warfare is a kind of fight where each side digs deep trenches down in the ground to defend themselves against the enemy. The trenches of World War 1 stretched for miles in order to enable one side to get the upper hand on the other. The trenches were dug by soldiers themselves they would make the trenches by digging directly down into the ground which speeded up the digging process , but at the same time left the soldiers exposed to be fired on by the enemy as they dug. These trenches were sometimes even formed in places where you couldn’t break…
Rationally most find it noble to enter into a cause such as the military, it gives one a true sense of pride. But the reality of it is…
At the commencing of the novel the soldiers were somewhat intrigued at the thought of going to war. Their teachers spoke to them of patriotism and war as a heroic deed in which the young boys should be eager to partake. The students were before war still naïve and had an innocent perception of war, but as the story continues we notice the transformation in the characters and their behavior. By entering actual fighting grounds and seeing the truth about what went on in battle the boys altered their view on war. Having seen so many casualties and deaths…
Soon after, the French did the same and dug trenches to take cover from German fire. Soldiers lived in the trenches for years on end and life was not easy. Mud in the trenches could reach over two feet deep and sometimes even drowned wounded men. The mud also caused trench foot, an infection caused by prolonged exposure to cold, wet and unsanitary conditions that sometimes led to amputation. The trenches were dug in a zigzag pattern to keep any sort of shell fire or explosions from spreading too far down the line, minimizing injury and or loss of life. Trenches were doug in sets of three main lines with sets of communication lines connecting them. The trench line furthest from the front was used for reserve troops. The next line was for travel and is where the majority of combat happened. The trench line closest to the front was referred to as the “Stand to”. This “Stand to” trench line was mostly used at sunrise and sunset. Many trenches started out as simply dirt, but as time went by soldiers had to adapt to making them their short term home. Trenches evolved with wooden walls, medical quarters, office quarters, some including beds, furniture, and even some electric amenities. Even with these WWI was a long and terrible war with extreme losses of life. Soldiers lived in the trenches of Europe for years on end and life wasn’t easy for any of them. They…
Trench warfare was one of the biggest parts of World War One, it is why World War One is sometimes referred to as a ‘War of inches’. It is referred to that because taking shelter from enemy fire they would have built these parallel lines of trenching around with tunnels connecting the two…