Firsthand Accounts of World War I

In the history of modern western civilization, there have been few incidents of war, famine, and other calamities that severely affected the modern European society. The First World War was one such incident which served as a reflection of modern European society in its industrial age, altering mankind’s perception of war into catastrophic levels of carnage and violence. As a transition to modern warfare, the experiences of the Great War were entirely new and unfamiliar. In this anomalous environment, a range of first hand accounts have emerged, detailing the events and experiences of the authors. For instance, both the works of Ernst Junger and Erich Maria Remarque emphasize the frightening and inhumane nature of war to some degree – more explicit in Jünger’s than in Remarque’s – but the sense of glorification, heroism, and nationalism in Jünger’s The Storm of Steel is absent in Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. Instead, they are replaced by psychological damage caused by the war – the internalization of loss and pain, coupled with a sense of helplessness and disconnectedness with the past and the future. As such, the accounts of Jünger and Remarque reveal the similar experiences of extreme violence and danger of World War I shared by soldiers but draw from their experiences differing ideologies and perception of war.

World War I is marked by its extraordinary brutality and violence due to the technological advancement in the late 18th century and early 19th century that made killing easier, more methodical and inhumane. It was a war that saw a transition from traditional warfare to a “modern” warfare. Calvary charges were replaced with tanks; swords were replaced with machine guns; strategic and decisive battles were r...

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...machinery – such as machine guns, tanks, and aeroplanes – seems to have made the biggest impact. On the other hand, psychological damage – such as feeling of abandonment, disconnectedness, and disillusionment – seemed to be at the crux of Remarque’s experience. Nevertheless, both emphasize the sheer amount of carnage and violence that human race has never seen before. As such, they both highlight the worthlessness of human life, which is caused by the technological advancement in the modern European society. In studying these two texts, one must be able to carefully distinguish the subtleties of the authors’ lessons as well as be able to perceive the bigger picture in which the story is set. Nevertheless, it is paramount to understand how these lessons are derived from their experiences and to comprehend the deeper meaning of their lessons set in historical context.