Events and Treaties of World War I

World War II is still seen today as one of the most lethal wars in history. As technology advanced, more destructive weapons were created. In the hands of the wrong people and those forced to use them, these weapons paved the way for physical and psychological destruction. Furthermore, the mentality of individuals during this time enabled more marring upon themselves and upon other individuals. Even though what we now refer to as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, existed before World War II, this time period brought about a higher prevalence of PTSD, as well as began to change the way this disorder was perceived by people.

What responsibility did each of the “Big Three” have for the failure of the Versailles Treaty to bring peace to Europe? Be sure to discuss what each wanted to accomplish.

The tactics used in World War I were radically different than that of previous wars. The majority of the war was fought in the trenches, and the war itself seemed to have no end. Due to this, the psychological impact of the war was unlike anything that had been seen before. During the early days of the war, the soldiers, on both sides, seemed to lack the dedication that would have been necessary to exterminate their enemy. However, as the war progressed, the desire to avenge their fallen comrades overcame their ethics and they began to kill their enemy indiscriminately. Surviving soldiers experienced a phenomenon that was, at that time, referred to as shell shock. Today we refer to this phenomenon as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. At this time, this psychological condition was misunderstood and the doctors lacked the training necessary to effectively treat this condition.

WWI and the Versailles Treaty had only a marginal (limited) relationship to the world Depression of the 1930s

Thesis: The peace treaty that resulted from World War 1 was not too harsh of a punishment for the offenses committed.

First and foremost the topic covered is the physical and mental injuries soldier's suffer and through them family's after and during war. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is defined by the National institute of health as "a anxiety disorder that may develop after exposure to a terrifying

During World War I, thousands of British soldiers were diagnosed with “shell shock,” a condition which was thought to encompass both physical and psychological symptoms. The discovery of shell shock is typically considered to be an important catalyst in the gradual recognition of mental illnesses caused by combat. However, the characterizations of shell shock as an early discovery of post-traumatic stress disorder made by many historians are false. Shell shock should not be thought of as a credible wartime medical advancement, but as a false and primitive identification of war-trauma.

The first World War had devastated the balance of the 20th century with effects still felt today. The war had obliterated once powerful imperial dynasties, birthed new states from the fallen imperial powers, supported the idea of independence in European colonies, and led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Yet, it brought hope to the newly independent territories and minority groups, while plunging a heavy recession to countries that were once world powers. The war ended with the defeat of the Central Powers (German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire, and the Russian Empire) and the signage of the Versailles Treaty. This treaty along with the League of Nations was created to prevent another global crusade from happening again, but failed and led to World War II, which started only twenty years after the Treaty of Versailles was endorsed. And even with end of the Great War, it was evident that the world would never return to how it once was, four years earlier, in 1914. The destructive warfare brought out several unnerving and irreversible social and economic consequences that shook modern society for decades to come.

The chapter ‘Clinical Histories: From Soldier’s Heart to PTSD’ from the book ‘Fields of Combat’ by Erin Finley, examines U.S. military community’s perception of combat stress casualties. From the Civil War times until now, there has been growth in the understanding that soldiers face extreme psychological consequences, like behavioral and functional problems, after returning home from war. In 1980, this behavioral and functional problem is formally recognized as Post-Traumatic Stress order (PTSD) in the U.S. and it was internationally recognized in the late 1980’s. Not only was the diagnosis given to survivors of combat, but also noncombat traumatic experiences, such as rape, natural disaster, rape and etc. The chapter looks at the historical

In this reading from Soldier’s Heart to PTSD, Post-traumatic stress disorder was finally acknowledge as a diagnosis. It explain how the term for PTSD was changed throughout the years as it develop. W.H.R Rivers explain how warfare inhibit the “higher function of the nervous system and the mental activity” of people who were involved. The causes of PTSD was becoming more clear as the war became to an end. It had to deal with the emotional aspect of war and how these men weren’t able to deal with the combat stress. They had to put themselves back together in order to return to war. In the model that the British and French development, the men who returned to combat were able to fully recover more quicker while the men who were sent home struggled

Throughout the experience of living in the trenches, many wondered, imagined, and feared the death that they believed would come soon. Shellfire from the enemy, and the lack of protection is just one example of how easy it was to get killed in the trenches. Finally, many veterans suffered psychological issues along with breakdowns while they were in the trench warfare. One example of such a issue was shell shock, now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Shell shock is a psychological disorder that came to place in World War I, and can be caused by witnessing/being part of warfare. About 19 British military hospitals were built for men suffering from shell shock during the war. In Britain, some cases were so severe that in 1928, 10 years after the war, approximately 65000 veterans were still receiving a treatment for their disorder. This example demonstrates that shell shocks not only affected soldiers life while they were on war, but it could have changed their whole life. To conclude, living in the trenches during World War I was a horrible experience due to bad health conditions, deaths, and psychological

When people think of war, there first instinct is to think about the physical pain soldiers have gone through, the physical demand of training before and during. What people miss is the mental trauma that affects soldiers during and after the war. In today’s society it is much more acceptable to speak about mental health issues due to the war and we have established a term for it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We have established many options for soldiers and families who are affected by PTSD. The two books that I am analyzing speak about the idea of mental health or war trauma during World War I and World War II, instead of calling it PTSD the authors call is shell shock, which is close to the definition of PTSD. The two books that I am analyzing is Pat Barker 's Regeneration, which is focused on a mental institution and how soldiers deal with shell shock and many other internal struggles. The second is Elie Wiesel’s book Night, which speaks about a family that is taken to a concentration camp and is dealing with the mental trauma that they experience and how they are forced to change the way they think and feel in order to survive. Both touch upon very similar themes when it comes to trauma and survival during and after the war.

The Treaty of Versailles was intended to be a peace agreement between the Allies and the Germans, instead with the harsh end terms for Germany, it created political and economic chaos in Germany. By the end of the First World War, Germany had surrendered and signed a peace agreement. The task of forming a peace agreement was now in the hands of the Allies. In December of 1918, the Allies met in Versailles to start on the peace settlement. The main countries and their representatives were: The United States, Woodrow Wilson; Great Britain, David Lloyd George; and France, George Clemenceau. It had seemed that making peace agreement would be fairly simple. Once they started, the Allies began having different ideas about the wording of the

As a result of World War I, Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, made to pay for the war, and had to disarm themselves, which directly led into World War II. Germany went down the tubes after they were forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. There economy crashed and there money had just about no value. Many people that World War II was just a 20 year break from World War I. They were right because just about 20 years later World War II started. There are many things that could contribute to starting the war but these are the main point and the most recognized.

There were four major wartime agreements made between the European Allies and between them and Sharif Hussayn. Throughout World War I all four documents contradicted one another greatly. In 1915, a year after World War 1 started, Britain and France created the Constantinople Agreement with Russia to keep Russia from “signing a separate peace with the Central Powers…Britain and France recognized Russia’s claims to the Turkish straits and Istanbul.” (Gelvin, 2016, 195) In return France would gain control over Syria and Britain would control territories in Persia. The same year Sir Henry McMahon of Britain and Sharif Hussayn of Mecca exchanged a series of letters about the lands under the Ottoman Empire. It is important to note that during World