A long day in the trenches with the decay and stench of death and despair and you are tasked with destroying an enemy in the same common conditions. For the soldiers of World War I they dealt with this on a daily basis for what many thought would be a short war. To summon the strength over the hardship of being in a trench filled with diseased water, rats and death on a daily basis, is a testament to the bravery and fortitude these men showed during this engagement. Both the Allied and Central powers fighting for basically the same causes, the freedoms and the rights of their country. They thought they would be home for Christmas, but for four years’ man’s new found technical advances made this into a war of utter devastation and death. …show more content…
The machine gun and artillery used widely in World War I was a game changer in the existence of war. It changed the face of warfare forever, and took a level of humanity and integrity from the solider. They were now faceless and no longer had to meet the enemy face to face but were prisoners in the trenches and obstacles that occupied the modern day battlefield. “And the worst friend and enemy is but Death” (Brooke, 469) shows that the fighting was out of the hands of the grunt in the trenches. They were a mere expendable pawn in the battle strategy of the officers. The technology was supposed to make the troops and fighting more mobile, but it is ironic that the new weaponry and tactics made this a war of attrition and confounded the soldiers into a routine of living in a trench. Ernst Junger made a comment in The Storm of Steel: From the Diary of a German Storm-Troop Officer on the Western Front that spoke volumes “All the while the wounded came trailing back with white, dejected faces, huddled into the ditches by the gun ammunition columns that rattled past.” (Junger, 475). This statement emphasis that the spirit of the soldier was secondary to the destroying ability of the man’s evil creation during this time
The long 47 day siege has finally come to an end. The town of Vicksburg, Mississippi and the Confederate troops have made the decision to surrender to the Union army. It is another very disappointing loss for the Confederate troops. It lasted from May 18 - July 4, 1863. There are a total estimate of 37,402 casualties.
The tragedy of Branch Davidian’s Mount Carmel struck the city and lives of innocent people. FBI and ATF officials raided in hopes of finding David Koresh red handed. Officials believed Koresh possessed illegal weapons. Their objective was to capture Koresh, dead or alive. Janet Reno granted entry and approved the FBI’s assault plan.
Although “nothing ever seemed to go right in the infantry,” Charles Macdonald shows his men’s perseverance, resilience, and discipline (Macdonald 1999, 174). These attributes imbedded from adapting to the environment in the cold, winter snow, facing adversity despite having fear, and following order even when it is not in favor, signifies the unbreakable character of the men in companies I and G. Their determination contributed to the successful completion of the Second World War, in which “life was worth living again” (Macdonald 1999, 276). This was an interesting read, and I believe it would benefit a lot of prospective military officers, prospective historians, and anyone interesting in developing a concise understanding of what life entailed on the front lines during World War
This continuously occurred throughout the war, showing a small difference that made a big impact in the living conditions and morale of the
On December 16, 1944, the Battle of the Bulge had made its everlasting mark in World War II. I chose this topic because I love how the Allies had a strong endurance and stayed powerful and thrived until the very last second of this battle. This year long war started with Adolf Hitler trying to separate the allies in the Ardennes Mountains. The Germans break through the front lines of the Allied armies. The Generals in this battle included, George S. Patton, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Adolf Hitler.
The men in the war had to face pelting bullets, explosive bombs and even mustard gas poisoning. As quoted by Vera Brittain in her memoir, “I wish those people who talk about going on with this war whatever it costs could see the soldiers suffering from mustard gas poisoning. Great mustard-coloured blisters, blind eyes, all sticky and stuck together, always fighting for breath, with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know they will choke”. Despite the huge negativity the war had on the people who were involved in the war, there were some triumphs that generated because of WWI.
The Expanse of War on the Homefront and Battlefield The American Civil War, a conflict that began after diminishing relations between the Northern, free states, and the Southern, slave-holding states, led to the gradual secession of eleven states and the beginning of the war. Many historians believe that the Civil War was the first time in American history that used total war tactics on a wide scale because the homefront essentially became the battlefield. Lance Janda states, “But if ‘total war’ is defined as using ‘military force against the civilian population of the enemy,’ then the Civil War stands as a watershed in the American evolution of total war theory. The application of force against an enemy’s noncombatants and resources, the
The Unbeatable Souls The Lost Battalion is based totally on a real story of an American battalion that was sent out to battle during the World War I. Major Charles Whittlesey, a New York lawyer, who ends up in the trenches of France having under his command mostly young, unexperienced men. When Whittlesey and his battalion of five hundred men are ordered to advance into the Argonne Forest they find themselves surrounded by Germans troops when the other battalions instantly withdrew, leaving Whittlesey’s battalion on his own. Confined behind enemy lines, Whittlesey’s battalion turned into the only force in the German army’s plans to move forward. Trapped and with no other way to rescue, Whittlesey is given an opportunity to surrender, but chose to continue fighting and keep his men together.
On all Quiet on the Western Front, there were several notions that the new recruits were not equipped with the precise knowledge or abilities to accurately fight in the war; without immediately dying. For instance, they were not aware of the chemical timings and procedures, how to cover from bombing and gun fire, and the timings of when to fire themselves. In addition, Peck stated, “at least 95 percent of the men going off to risk their very lives did not even have the slightest knowledge of what the war was about” (page 392). This was caused by the societies from which these boys came from, ideally forcing them into war through social norms. The culture within one’s nation when war arose was that males go and fight for their loved ones and for their nation and if they refused they were seen as cowards and taken to war anyway.
In the book, Soldier Boys, by Dean Hughes two boys who are on opposite sides of the war tell their struggles and stories of battle in the War and how their two different lives collide together. The author of the book, Dean Hughes, has spent 7 years doing research on World War II and finding information about the war. Dean Hughes has interviewed war veterans, studied newspapers that were written in the time of World War II, and read hundreds of books like, “The Burden of Hitler 's Legacy” by Alfons Hecks to help his understanding of this time period and events. With all this information and facts he collected, he wrote the book, Soldier Boys. The years that World War II took place was in between 1939 to 1945 and around those years the holocaust
The biggest force that shaped a soldier’s daily life on the Western Front was the trenches. There were two aspects of trenches that shaped the soldier’s daily life. The first was the maintenance and creation of the trenches. The second was the living conditions inside the trenches. Updating and up-keeping a trench required a lot of physical labor.
Throughout the ages, wars have wreaked havoc and caused great destruction that lead to the loss of millions of lives. However, wars also have an immensely destructive effect on the individual soldier. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque, one is able to see exactly to what extent soldiers suffered during World War 1 as well as the effect that war had on them. In this essay I will explain the effect that war has on young soldiers by referring to the loss of innocence of young soldiers, the disillusionment of the soldiers and the debasement of soldiers to animalistic men. Many soldiers entered World War 1 as innocent young boys, but as they experienced the full effect of the war they consequently lost their innocence.
“Imagine yourself in the pitch dark, after two or three days of wet, cold, hunger, sleeplessness, staggering down a trench, knee-deep in mud, carrying various burdens that almost equal your own body-weight” (Ellis, 48). This was the everyday life of the typical soldier involved in the World War I trench warfare. During WWI trench warfare was common. It began in September 1914 with the German army digging themselves in for a battle that would last what seemed like a life time for the soldiers involved. Soldiers on either side alike lived in deplorable conditions.
Soldiers train rigorously, preparing for the departure of war. They sacrifice all that they have to fight for their country. As they return after the war, they are left with painful experiences and traumatizing memories, suffering from their inevitable conditions. However, the spouse, families and children back at home are suffering even more than soldiers.
'It is all here, the mud and rats of the trenches, the hellish noise of the bombardment, the insane waste of life, the high heroism and the bitter cynicism' -- Illustrated London News ' Mr Gardner steers his course... with skill and discrimination' -- Cyril Connolly, Sunday Times 'Mr Gardner, who has chosen, introduced and put notes to this admirable anthology, shows the First World War poets in all moods' -- The Times 'To read through this anthology is ... to live the years 1914-1918, adding to the images of battle which most of us have already, the actual feelings expressed by the soldier poets who lived, and died, through trench warfare' -- Times Education Supplement Susan Hill wrote ^Strange Meeting(2) in 1971 about the relationships that were formed in the war. INSERT FACT it was common for soldiers to form this kind of friendship/comradeship.