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Italy's Role In Ww1

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The novel, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, revolves around a love affair between the main character and his sweetheart, but in the process shows the horrors he experienced while serving as an ambulance driver in WW1. World War One, also known as the Great War, was a turning point in war history because of its extraordinary advances in technology in such a short time period, making it the first “modern war”. However, despite the newfound awe and inspiration such technological advances caused, they were incredibly dangerously and constructed with one sole purpose – to kill. WW1 saw the first use of aviation power in fixed-wing aircrafts, as well as naval power in the first submarines – the German U-boats (“World War 1”). There were also …show more content…

Italy, despite being allies with Germany and Austria-Hungary, “…declared war on Austria-Hungary, entering World War 1 on the side of the allies…” in hopes that they would reap the better rewards offered by the Allies (“Italy”). Italy’s involvement allowed a new front to be opened on the border between it and the Austro-Hungarians, weakening the country into a stalemate (“Italy”). Hemingway’s involvement in WW1 was similar to the main character in that they were both posted in Italy as ambulance drivers working for the Red Cross. Since Italy had become a war zone once the front had been opened, Hemingway was constantly at work aiding those who were injured and providing for soldiers in the front lines. Unfortunately, because of this, Hemingway was injured heavily after a mortar shell landed near a trench of soldiers he was helping, rendering him to the confines of a hospital as until he …show more content…

Coined by Gertrude Stein, the former employer of Hemingway, it helped describe the seemingly ‘lost’ souls of soldiers, who found regular life boring after the war. Hemingway later included it in his writing and made the term more well-known. The author himself is considered to be part of the lost generation as well, for not only facing the same terrors as the soldiers, but for also belonging to a group of distinguished writers and poets that lived through this time (O’Connor). Like his employer, Hemingway made a name for himself with the rest of the lost generation authors, using his traumatizing memories of the war as material for his novels. He, as well as other writers, embody the philosophical existentialist movement in that not only did their experiences serve as writing material, it also shook their unwavering faith for the traditional views of America and helped them look at them from a more cynical perspective. For example, Hemingway lost faith particularly in the ideals of courage, patriotism, and masculinity, among various others (O’Connor). Due to his newfound ‘shattered’ beliefs, Hemingway translated it into many of his works, hoping his audience too, would come to realize the faults in the traditional aspects of life and frame their views into something more fitting of the present. Some would even

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