World War One, No One Wins
Although many people view abandoning the war as act of terrorism and unpatriotic, a large amount of the soldiers in War World One shared a different Ideology. In many of the incidents like the “Christmas Truce of 1914” and “306 British soldiers shot by friendly fire”, these soldiers were tired of hearing the endless rounds of ammunition being fired and wanted to go home. In most cases, soldiers were everyday people that had never even shot a gun. Even children were victims to this cruel war and were used in battle. World War one, also known as the war to end all wars took many unnecessary lives when soldiers didn’t even want fight.
On the Right of the British Line is a book written by Captain Gilbert Nobbs that shows his real-life experience in World War One. He describes his whole journey from departure to return. During his departure on the train, Lieutenant Collins complained and hoped to get a blighted wound in a months’ time (P.g 21). Just from that attitude we can see how Lieutenant Collins did not like the ideal of going to war. Nobbs said “If everyone felt the same way, who do you think is going to carry on the war?” (P.g 21). Nobbs is missing the key word “everyone”. Even Germany wanted the war
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If you must shoot your own soldiers to keep them there what kind of army do you have? Your no better than the enemy. Some of these soldiers were even suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder also known as (PTSD). PTSD is a disorder after experiencing a terrifying event and causes self-destructive behavior. All these soldiers wanted was to go home after witnessing and experiencing the true result of war. To me this putting chains on your citizens and killing them when they disagree. Almost as if a prison, forcing people to fight in a war and punishing them if they
The British did not want to go to war, but they had no choice. They were more concerned
World War I was a time full of despair, it saw courageous soldiers valiantly defend our freedom, leaving families behind to face the prospect that their loved ones may never return. Upon the arrival of ANZAC’s in Gallipoli on the 25th of April 1915, the mateship strengthened with
Gandhi once said, “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” The meaning behind this quote is that violence brings temporary satisfaction, however the pain it causes remains. The important concept to grasp is that people must think about the consequences of their actions and how they will affect others. It may be a great outcome, but for a short period of time; however, it is important to consider rational decisions. This quote relates to the novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque and World War I because at first it is all fun and games until that “good” slowly fades, the evil within the good will continue to remain. World War I included a series
Every country was sure the war would end quickly and that they would also be the ones to win. Because of this nationalism and positivity, most were not hesitant to go to war. One French citizen heard people saying over and over that they wanted to actually go to war instead of the idea just looming over them. They had “no bitterness, but a secret hope.” (Document C) Another British philosopher remembered walking down the streets and felt that the average person was delighted at the prospect of war. Even German troops were told, “You will be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees.” (Document C) Both sides believed they could come out on top. Because of this mutual feeling, they ignored the warnings from others. One German socialist wrote a pamphlet back in 1887, which stated many predictions that came true during World War I. In this pamphlet, Friedrich Engels said that eight to ten million will die, the war will extend over the entire continent, and crowns will fall. Nationalism was the ignorance and arrogance that helped bring about World War
William T Sherman, a union General during the American civil war,is quoted as saying “It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry allowed for more blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell”. A Timeless saying, that reflects the toll of war. He describes the trauma that the War inflicted on him. WW1 was certainly no exception in regards to it’s cost. Trench conditions were severely damaging to the psychological well being of alliance and entente soldiers alike. Soldiers could not predict if they would be the next man to die, even while safe in the trenches.Some soldiers decided to walk into enemy fire rather than continue to serve. Many of the Soldiers relied heavily on
World War I was one of the most deadly wars with more than eight million people dead and twenty one million people wounded. It was devastating war that involved many different nations and affected many more. The day that the fighting ended was unlike any seen since the beginning of the war. It was described in a newspaper as “Last night for the first time since August in the first year of the war, there was no light of gunfire in the sky, no spreading glow above black trees where for four years of nights human beings were smashed to death. The fires of hell had been put out” (Perry, Scholl, Davis, Harris, Van Laue pg 634).” And on that day, November 11, 1918, “soldiers on both sides came out of the trenches and cheered” (Perry, Scholl, Davis, Harris, Van Laue pg 634). Both sides were happy for the war to be over, so a
The war that was to end all wars broke out in the summer of 1914, after the assassination of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire’s Archduke. World War One was so violent and so many men died; one could compare the war to the slaughtering of cattle at a butcher’s shop. The war opened the eyes of man to a new era of warfare. No longer would soldiers be worried about lining up in front of the enemy and engage in the age old traditions of European conflict. Now soldiers would have to face the age of machine guns, barbed wire fences, and gas attacks. The public would also be introduced into a new era of media coverage of the war. Unlike in wars past, pictures could now be taken and published in the newspaper and sold on the stands. The gruesome images of the
This action is one that could only come about in war. Due to the war people are more willing to act out of character and in some situations even forced to. This is best represented when Thucydides writes “Ill-considered boldness was counted as loyal manliness; prudent hesitation was held to be cowardice in disguise, and moderation merely the cloak of an unmanly nature” (3.82). The soldiers who are committing these atrocities are simply followers of a democratic regime. The leaders of this regime are in fact giving them the command to slaughter innocent people simply because they stand for an opposing cause. No leaders of good virtue, would command their followers to commit such acts, in modern society acts such as this would be considered war crimes.
Throughout World War One there were many issues that arose during the battle. An issue that came about was death. In any war there is sure to be soldiers, civilians, etc. to die. When one thinks about death being related to war most will automatically draw a conclusion that most if not all deaths are cause by close contact battles, gun shots, and in some cases friendly fire. Another key cause of death is disease. There were many diseases that took lives of those who were in the war. Diseases began to grow and spread due to poor hygiene and living, weather changes and even the common cold could be deadly. The struggles of dealing with these diseases were stressful on everyone. Some diseases went unnoticed due to fact that unless there was a
The First World War is sometimes described as the gentleman's war. All those giving orders and directing combat were high ranking officers who often did not set foot on the battlefield. Soldiers were encouraged to fight with honour and behave as gentlemen. These often resulted in more psychological torment. Men back home e.g. Yealland, the unsympathetic, practically abusive doctor clearly had no understanding at all of the soldiers' experiences, tormenting those who did not want to go back, who had mental breakdown and suffered with extreme guilt complexes because of the enormous pressure they were under.
And so the night passed and we remained where we were.” These soldiers never gave up even when they did not get any sleep or started to image what it would be like to get killed. This quote is an accurate representation of the realities of World War 1 and shows how war truly changes a
World War I was, simply put, a war like no other. It was the first total war the world had experienced and it revolutionized our idea of war and what it entailed. World War I eventually coined the nickname “the war to end all wars”; which we now find to be ironic because there have been plenty of wars since. At the time, however, it was believed that society would be rebirthed by the war and it would be changed to a more perfect form. There would be no sense in war anymore because humanity would finally be ideal. Yet when we examine the casualties and destruction post-war, they add up to a horrific amount. During this era, it seemed nearly impossible for war to continue, in consideration to the welfare of humanity. Still though, it only
World War one was a war unlike any other before it in history, with trench warfare and chemical weapons the battlefield was foreign to even experienced veterans. It was also at this point in time that nationalism started to become bigger and bigger. Leading to the belief that the citizens of the countries involved in the war had to enlist or due their duty in order to make their family and country proud of them, otherwise they would bring shame to their family and country. For the enlisted men and women, though this perception quickly changed when they were at the front and seeing the war first hand. Those who stayed home though and those who went to the front lines soon become alienated from each other. Creating a huge divide for the enlisted men and women on the front lines and back home, making it difficult for them to fit back in if ever back home. Young men and women who fought in World War I were alienated by the youth and elders back home due to their lack of understanding of the burdens of being on the frontlines.
World War I devastated Europe and brought unprecedented human suffering. There were more than 38 million military and civilian casualties: 17 million deaths and over 20 million wounded, and a toll of $186 billion in direct costs, and an $151 billion in indirect costs. [1] The allied powers negotiated the Treaty of Versailles, which officially brought the war to end in June of 1919, with very limited participation by Germany. The provisions of the treaty primarily blamed Germany for the war, and imposed unreasonable terms that were responsible for German expansion, hyperinflation, and economic downfall, and eventually led directly to World War II. [2]
In part one of “The Age of Total War”, Hobsbawm (1994) also argues that the war of 1914-1918 was senseless. It is argued that it is difficult to understand “why sensible statemen had not decided to settle the war by some compromise before it destroyed the world of 1914” (Hobsbawm, 1994, p. 29). He claims that the war was brutal and caused more death and destruction than was necessary. The battlefield of the Western Front was as brutal as it got. A field of blood, guts, mud and the abandoned bodies of brothers and friends was surrounded by the sound of never ending a gun fire, shouts of orders and screaming of men, whilst millions stood in trenches on either side and fired weapons at each other to add to the mass of chaos. Landscapes and towns were destroyed, countries lost up to twenty percent of their men, and those who weren’t lost were often mutated and severe haters of war. Moreover, it is argued that the destruction caused by the war did not end purely with the loss of human life, it