Examples Of Hardships Faced By World War I

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World War I is often considered the second worst war in history. In the view of past warfare we typically focus on the death total that flashes over twenty million. However consequently in doing so we often forget the sheer horror of the warfare and the life of the soldiers on the front line. The soldiers faced many hardships both mentally and physically that shouldn’t be neglected. The journals of Quiren Grossel, Reese Russell, and George Sheppard highlight the extreme difficulty of the hardships they faced while on the front of the vast battlefield. The first noticeable extreme example that highlights the difficulty of the hardships faced by WW1 soldiers is Quiren M. Groessl. Groessl was a part of the Fifth Wisconsin Infantry Regiment serving …show more content…

Sheppard served in the 29th Division as a First Lieutenant. During his time overseas in France he has seen fellow soldiers blow their last dollars gambling and drinking as they gloomed about their doom. Furthermore he has seen how two American officers faked orders as a part of a ruse that made his men spend hours waiting for the enemy that was never to come. During Sheppard’s time on the front line he has experienced vast trama’s and challenges. An imploring example of this is in his journal. “ The second night we tried to sleep… I remember waking several times with Bill’s feet resting upon my stomach. Furthermore this shows the difficulty on the front lines as it is cramped and extremely difficult to sleep. Another example is when he writes '' The biggest man physically in the platoon was continually suffering from hallucinations. One night he insisted that three Germans in long black cloaks were moving stealthily from tree to tree not seen yards in front of his post… The French Corporal got out of the trench, walked to the tree in question, and fired into it with no result, he still saw Germans gliding on. '' This consequently shows the extreme conditions of being in the treacherous trenches on the front line as itr causes soldiers to have

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