The Impact of Western Front on the Lives of British Soldiers at War 1914-1916
The Great War was a war of uncertainties. At 1914 the war set to end
by Christmas, but was still going by 1916 and the attitudes of war
lifestyle differed. The perspectives of the already-recruited soldiers
and the public in England, contrasted. Initially soldiers flocked to
join the army they had a vision of them returning as heroes also the
‘Pals Battalion’ scheme further encouraged people to recruit, as they
could be with friends and family in the Western Front which the public
saw as a great idea . The soldiers were enthusiastic, brimming with
‘war fever’ and had a great feeling of patriotism, even so that some
soldiers lied about their age to recruit in the British army. However,
as the soldiers already in the trenches knew, the reality of trench
warfare is grim. As they soon see the real trench warfare, with the
huge social, mental and physical impacts on the soldiers in the
Western Front.
The British soldiers in the western front were hugely affected
physically. The trenches were dug as a consequence of stalemate, where
both armies could not advance, so this was where the soldiers spent
most of their time. The conditions of these trenches affected the
soldiers immensely. The trenches were unhygienic, with many troops
living in close proximity, soldiers caught lice, and these lice were
irritating and led soldiers to loose morale. They were pale, and left
blotchy red bite marks all over the body, they caused frenzied
scratching and left a sour smell. The method of getting rid of these
lice was ‘chatting’ this was when the soldiers burned the lice with a
candle. This became a regular job, the trouble was that the lice laid
eggs in the seams of the clothing so no matter how much u washed and
shook your shirt there would always be a new-generation of eggs
waiting to hatch as soon as the shirt was put on again. Therefore this
affected the soldiers by leading them to loose their enthusiasm and
Paul Bäumer's leave from the war is an opportunity for him to see life removed from the harshness of war. As he makes the journey home, the closer he gets the more uncomfortable he feels. He describes the final part of his journey, "then at last the landscape becomes disturbing, mysterious, and familiar." (154) Rather than being filled with comfort at the familiarity of his homeland, he is uneasy. War has changed him to the extent in which he can no longer call the place where he grew up home. Bäumer visits with his mother and recognizes that ideally this is exactly what he wanted. "Everything I could have wished for has happened. I have come out of it safely and sit here beside her." (159) But ultimately he will decide that he should have never gone on leave because it is just too hard to be around his family and see how different he has become. Bäumer finds that it is easier to remain out on the war front than return to his family.
World War I, also known as the Great War, lasted from the summer of 1914 until the late fall of 1918. The war was fought between the Allies, which consisted mainly of the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire, and the Central Powers, which consisted mainly of the German Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria (Alliances - Entente and Central Powers). In total, it is estimated that twelve million civilians and nine million combatants died during this horrific and devastating war (DeGroot 1). When the war first began in 1914, many people thought that it would be a war of movement that would quickly be over. However, that changed when the Germans, who were trying to reach and capture the city of Paris in France, were forced to retreat during the Battle of the Marne in September 1914 (Ellis 10). German General von Falkenhayn, who felt that his troops must at all cost hold onto the parts of France and Belgium that they had overtaken, ordered his men to dig in and form defensive trench lines (Ellis 10). The Allies could not break through the enemies lines and were forced to create trenches of their own (Ellis 10). This was only the beginning of trench warfare. A war of movement had quickly come to a standstill on the Western Front. A massive trench line, 475 miles long, quickly spread and extended from the North Sea to the Swiss Frontier (Ellis 10). With neither side budging, soldiers were forced to live in the most miserable of conditions. Simply put, life in the trenches was a living hell. A lieutenant of the 2nd Scottish rifles wrote, “No one who was not there can fully appreciate the excruciating agonies and misery through which the men had to go [through] in those da...
All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque, is a classic anti-war novel about the personal struggles and experiences encountered by a group of young German soldiers as they fight to survive the horrors of World War One. Remarque demonstrates, through the eyes of Paul Baumer, a young German soldier, how the war destroyed an entire generation of men by making them incapable of reintegrating into society because they could no longer relate to older generations, only to fellow soldiers.
trying to obtain an hour or two of sleep. As well as being in the
World War I, or the Great War, lasted from 1914 to 1918. In harsh battles between some of the world’s strongest economic powers, millions of people were killed and wounded. Woodrow Wilson was the President of the United States during these years, and he yearned for peace. Towards the end of the conflict, Wilson delivered a speech called “Fourteen Points” on January 8, 1918. His goal in doing so was to create some stability in a time of crisis. Even though the leaders of some countries did not jump on board right away, they eventually agreed to signing the Treaty of Versailles, officially ending the war. Through emphasizing peace, security, and freedom, President Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” paid off overall, ultimately revealing that
Life on the Western Front During World War One A dispassionate look at the numbers of the horrendous casualties sustained by the armies of the Allies and the Central Powers on the Western Front in WW1, clearly indicate that these casualties figures are far inferior to what might be anticipated if, indeed, total war had reigned in every location, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and along all the 475 miles of trenches that extended from the North Sea to Switzerland. A couple of simple examples will readily make the case. Imagine two front-line trenches separated by only 20 to 30 yards of ‘No Man’s Land’ (in some extraordinary situations, distances were even less). A determined and prolonged effort by a few hand-grenade bombers on either side could make any hope of a sustained tenancy quite impossible. Again, given the accuracy and rapidity which trench mortars could be deployed against routinely manned trenches (one battalion per 1,000 yards) and their associated dug-outs, a quite short, but determined, and mutually hostile, barrage could readily reduce both trench systems to total ruin.
By 1914, everyone seemed to know that a war was on the verge of break
order to have a war, you need yet more causes for that to come about,
“What is it good for, absolutely nothing, huh, war” (Edwin Starr). The Horror of war, effects of war on the soldier, and nationalism are all themes in “ All Quiet on the Western Front”. World War 1 , is basically about the war that started over the killing of the archduke Franz Ferdinand.The war then escalated between 28 countries. The novel is about a guy named Paul and his school friends who were all persuaded to enlist to fight in World War 1. Paul and his company no nothing about what war is really like. They know nothing about the horrors of war.
Professor Geoff Hayes, “4 August 1914: Slithering Over the Brink, The Origins of the Great War,” Lecture delivered 31 October, 2011, HIST 191, University of Waterloo
Social, Political and Economic Effects of WWI. Everywhere in the world heard the sound of things breaking." Advanced European societies could not support long wars or so many thought prior to World War I. They were right in the way.
we have no means of knowing if what he wrote was true or not. He may
“War is unorganized murder, and nothing else” (Harry Patch). In World War 1, which was first called the Great War, there were many causes of the war breaking out. The Great War started August 1st 1914, days after the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia, when they visited Bosnia. Many soldiers went to war for no reason but to fight for their country. The Great War was not only affected by the soldiers, but also by the civilians as well.
Throughout their lives, people must deal with the horrific and violent side of humanity. The side of humanity is shown through the act of war. This is shown in Erich Remarque’s novel, “All Quiet on the Western Front”. War is by far the most horrible thing that the human race has to go through. The participants in the war suffer irreversible damage by the atrocities they witness and the things they go through.
World War 1 was called “The Great War”, “The war to end all wars”, and “The first modern war”. It had many causes and a few repercussions and I will describe them in detail.