Living Conditions For Soldiers During World War I

Living conditions for soldiers during World War I was tough and required courage and bravery and a bit of luck if you they were going to remain healthy, let alone survive. The lives where hard, food was scarce disease was rampant. Many men died during the first World War but as many died from gunshot wounds as died from disease and infection. Disease was usually caused by rats being in and around the food that was being eaten by the men. Lice would breed quickly without even giving the soldiers a chance to find them. The eggs were laid in their dirty clothes and they were difficult to get out, because they were hidden in the threads of clothing. Lice were the primary cause of Trench Fever, a disease that would begin with
a sharp pain and a high fever afterward. Many types of germs and disease causing bacteria could live and did live in this water making life miserable for the combatants. Another problem of living in the trenches was dysentery. This disease involved the inflammation of the lining of the large intestine. The inflammation caused stomach pains, diarrhea, and usually vomiting or fever. The cause of dysentery was, contact with human feces, and contact with infected people and improper sanitation in the trenches was the cause for dysentery outbreak

For a soldier fighting in the trenches was routine, they slept and ate their meals and fought in the trenches.
Even after the firing stopped death could still occur, a soldier could get buried alive from an explosion or contract an illness or be killed by the occasional sniper attack. Trench foot was a more common problem it could progress and become gangrenous that would result in amputation. Although the design of the trenches and the network of trenches seemed like a tremendous plan, the reality of the life in the trenches was a different story. Life in the trenches took its toll on the soldiers involved in the war. The soldiers in the front-line trenches often stayed there for at least 10 days at a time, usually with very little sleep. Every battalion went through cycles starting with the front lines. followed by reserve time then a small relaxation period. As many and seventy-two days, would be spent on the front line. The solder then had thirty days in support followed by seventy days for relaxation. if they made it that far. The trench experience involved anxiety over mud, slime and disease and the inevitable threat of gunfire. With copious artillery and new weapons such as poison gas being a threat to soldiers. Nevertheless, hand to hand combat with clubs and knives killed many during the horrifying duration of trench raids. When troops were not fighting, they were locked into trench deadlock, at which point boredom also became a serious
issue. Along with physical problems either exasperated or caused by war, emotional problems could also be brought on by battle.
The First World War is often affiliated with the condition called shell shock. This was initially believed to have a physical basis, caused by the impact of loud shelling. However, it became clear that soldiers who had never been exposed to shells were also developing similar symptoms. During the Battle of the Somme in 1916, there was a drastic increase in the number of cases. Because of its psychological origins, shell shock was defined as a neurosis, and there was little sympathy for shell-shocked soldiers. Many boys lied about their age to get into the British Army, and many of the fighting forces were ill equipped to deal with the carnage of the western front. Some refused to fight and were shot for cowardice, while others suffered the effects of shell shock for many years afterwards. In the First World War, 306 British soldiers were executed for cowardice - many of these looks likely to receive posthumous pardons from the British
government.
In conclusion, living in the trenches through disease, climate change and famine the constraint conditions scraps of discarded food, empty tins and other waste and the close approximation of the latrines, the general dirt of living half underground and being unable to wash or change clothes contributed to health risks. Rats and lice were numerous, and disease was spread by both. Troops in the trenches also dealt with weather conditions, in the winter the cold took a toll on the men. The rains would flood the trenches. the soldiers suffered exposure to frostbite, trench foot and many other diseases.