A good starting point when trying to find the connections between soldiers from different nations is discovering and understanding why these soldiers enlisted to fight in the war along with understanding how the media’s filtering effects that. In the case of Paul Bäumer and his friends, they had a school teacher called Kantorek who, “during drill-time Kantorek gave us long lecture until the whole of [Paul’s] class went, under [Kantorek’s] shepherding, to the District Commandant and volunteered,” (Remarque 11). Paul even suggested those who didn’t volunteer risked being called “coward” because “at that time even one’s parents were ready with the word,” (Remarque 11). As Paul put it- “no one had the vaguest idea what we were in for” (Remarque 11), which could have been because of the filtering of the media on the war. …show more content…
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This whole situation implies that the governments of the nation’s fighting in the war did not want the true horrors that surround World War I to be available to the public- which could be for a variety of reasons. The government might have kept the war censored because they wanted to keep moral on the home front up- consider Vietnam, when the public learned of what war was truly like there was an uproar of fury- or the war might be censored just to keep people enlisting into military
During the Vietnam War, Americans were greatly influenced by the extensive media coverage of the war. Before the 1960’s and the intensification of the war, public news coverage of military action was constrained heavily by the government and was directed by Government policy. The Vietnam War uniquely altered the perception of war in the eyes of American citizens by bringing the war into their homes. The Vietnam War was the first U.S uncensored war resulting in the release of graphic images and unaltered accounts of horrific events that helped to change public opinion of the war like nothing it had ever been. This depiction by the media led to a separation between the United States government and the press; much of what was reported flouted
Mass media during the 1920s united the nation and created an economic boom in new areas of entertainment and leisure. As technology advanced, new forms of communication and entertainment began to rise. A variety of new entertainment like radio, magazines, and movies with sound became common and popular. Over 700 films were produced each year, over 100 million radios were in use, and LIFE magazine had over 250,000 readers in the year 1920 alone. The demand of new forms of media began to increase due to the thirst to live vicariously through the personas they see and hear all around them. Mass media in the 1920s united the country, controlled individual consumption, and propelled American consumerism.
There are many ways and reasons people become soldiers; drafts, poor family situations, abductions, national pride, etc.. In All Quiet on the Western Front and A Long Way Gone, two soldiers, Ishmael Beah and Paul Baumer are enlisted for various reasons, some very similar, and some very different. The reasons that soldiers joined the war during the Sierra Leone Civil War and way they joined during World War I had many similarities, and can still be related to present day recruitment.
Paul Baumer, the main character enlists in the German army along with his classmates after their schoolmaster; an older gentleman named Kantorek who Baumer describes as a “small, stern little man” (10)persuaded them to join the army to prove their patriotism. Kantorek refers to the group of young men (all are around nineteen) as the “Iron youth” (19). WW1 had so many soldiers involved in the conflict due to the heavy use of propaganda by essentially all sides involved in the
The Vietnam War was the first televised war. This allowed news stations to bring the battles right to the television screen in someone’s home. The Vietnamese would use the American media to express their thoughts to the Americans. Americans were also able to see the brutal combat that was happening and get a first-hand experience of the war. Reporters had the ability to skew Americans’ views of the war by the way they reported. Since the Vietnam War was televised many people were influenced by the images they saw on their home television and caused them to take action.
The Civil War forever changed how media was consumed, especially during war times. Never before had there been such a public outcry for consumption of news and updates of what exactly was happening on the different fronts. Plenty of printing presses existed across the country, and newly invented cameras paved the way for new ways people could witness the war. News traveled more quickly as well with the use of railroads to distribute daily papers. While some areas of media stayed the same on both sides of the war, there were some differences, such as exactly how much of the media was consumed on either side. Both sides had problems with generals shutting down newspapers, however the two sides were vastly different in how they were able to handle the ginormous growth of media consumption.
A war is a historical event that has the ability to change a person 's life both positively and negatively. Ironically, during the months preceding both World War One and World War Two, for many men the opportunity of going overseas to prove themselves worthy as men was rarely refused. However, many of the soldiers who were involved in either the First or Second World Wars quickly realized that war was not only a brand new experience; it was a new lifestyle. In both novels, Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose and The Wars by Timothy Findley, the soldiers share a common bond with one another. Soldiers learn how to become one unit, fighting for the same cause. However, although they are one unit, not
Any time there’s a war, entertainment always adapts to the mood of the country. (How did World War 2 change entertainment on the home front)
During World War 1, banned literature enclosed people’s voices to share opinions, experiences, and take away the power that words have. “Personal story is surrounded by the haunting shapes of war - its magnitude, it’s madness, it's horrible pain and futility” (Crowther). The people in the middle of war are quieted by the gunshots and bombs surrounding them and used writing as an outlet for their emotions. The stories of victims are banned because it shows have the country reacts to war or negative it comes off to the government. “ The Comstock Law, which banned the circulation of materials deemed obscene or immoral” (Censorship in the United States). All around the world, the government controlled what people know, see, or read. The banned
Paul Baumer,22, a soldier in the German Army for four years, died in the month of October in 1918. He was killed on the western front. Mr. Baumer was born in Germany [assumed] in the year of 1896. At the age of 18 he enlisted in the German army and was deployed onto the western front. Before fighting on the western front, Paul was taught the ins and outs of war by schoolmaster Kantorek and Corporal Himmelstoss. He enjoyed writing ,and before he was deployed, Paul was in the middle of writing a play called Saul. He was a normal young boy, inexperienced with women and ecstatic for the future. Paul did not join the military because he wanted to,no, he joined the military because he was strongly urged to join by Kantorek. He met some great friends in
The radio was never used more—or for a much more important reason—than during World War I and World War II. Prior to the first world war war, many ships used the radio for communication. In the early part of the 20th Century, amplification was one of the top concerns of the development of the radio. Of course people were able to communicate with others hundreds of miles away, but the clarity and amplification of the messages weren’t necessarily as good as many had expected and counted on. Often times, other means of communication—like the telegraph—were better off being used instead of the radio. Because of that, Lee De Forest invented the Audion vacuum tube in 1906, and followed that up one year later by adding his triode tube. According to
The radio became the most economical and commercial way for people to communicate during World War II. The radio waves that carry and transport messages from sender to receiver were essentially cost free except for the purchasing of the radio itself. Radiostratosphere.com published this quote stating, “The VE301 was available at a readily affordable price of 76 German Reichsmark (equivalent to two weeks' average salary), and a cheaper 35 Reichsmark model (which was even sold on installment plan)” (Wilson). This shows the asking price for two types of radios during World War II and a financial planning system to help poorer families still obtain this piece of technology. Paper was an important commodity during the time of war, mostly used in typewriters and for immediate purposes. Instead of paying for paper, ink, and postage, people were now able to send and receive messages without the added costs which increased the demand to own a radio. The low price of this product allowed many low income families to obtain their own device and communicate with their families, friends, and continue to listen to the Nazi party. During a time of war, communication with your family can be one of the only things a person thinks about. With the use of the radio, soldiers were now able to speak to their loved one’s back home. Large businesses were now capable of
Shortly after the start of WW1, young Paul Baumer was a high schooler with his friends graduating soon. Flyers and rumors were everywhere about the war, encouraging people to join the German army. It wasn’t until they were being influenced by their teacher’s stirring patriotic speeches that they were really entailed to join. Thus started the beginning of these boys road to the end. After experiencing ten weeks of brutal training, Paul realized that the ideals of nationalism and patriotism for which he enlisted are simply empty promises. He no longer believes that war is glorious or honorable, and he along with his friends live in constant physical terror. When Paul’s company receives a short reprieve after two weeks of fighting, only eighty
Vietnam was a country divided into two by communism in the North and capitalism in the South. The Vietnam War, fought between the years 1959 and 1975, was, in essence, a struggle by nationalists in the north to unify the nation under a communist government. This was a long standing conflict between the two sides that had been occurring for years. It wasn’t until 1959 when the USA, stepped in, on the side of southern Vietnamese, to stop the spread of communism. It was a war that did not capture the hearts and minds of the American people as it was viewed as a war that the US army couldn’t win and so the government lost the peoples support for the war. This ultimately led to the withdrawal of the US army from Vietnam. Some people, like
After World War I, TV stations only broadcasted a few hours a day in New York, Washington DC, Schenectady, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. By 1948, TV stations had increased to 34 channels in 21 cities and over a million TV sets had been purchased due to growing supply and demand (Sterling & Kittross, 1990, p. 251 & p. 278). Later that year in September, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) announced a hold on the allocation of licenses to new stations in order to create standards for TV stations to follow. This was known as The FCC’s temporary TV freeze of 1948 which was to last six months but instead ended in 1952 (MacDonald, 1990). After much consideration the FCC selected the key issues to be reviewed and clarified: the