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Effect of war on individual family society
Family life during war
Nazis and totalitarianism
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Last month on the 21st of October my brother and I joined the British Royal military guard of George VI to suppress the Nazi Regime and to seek political and social justice. I was a young man of only seventeen and my approach to politics and religion at that time were scarcely practiced. In truth the spirit that inspired me had nothing to do with any noble factors whatsoever. There were no careful articulated reasoning that drove me to this conclusion nor was I a patriotic citizen that believed so strongly in the countries cause that I wanted to lay down my life for her. I was in fact a simple man of seventeen who only wanted his pockets worth from his society and granted the protection and service of her promises. It did not surprise me then that after I have joined this particular cause as a result of ignorance and blind indifference that I had failed to meet her demanding expectations. Needless to say I share you this memory and I share it with you. My names is James Wyard and this my account of the incident in Cornwall. The night was young and the church bells were screaming with laughter. The town of Cornwall was celebrating its annual festival with parades of bottled beer white lust and hard red liquor. The invitation was open to anyone and the teasing colors unbridled with her open arms was too good for the squad of 764. “Come on lads. Hurry!” What if we get caught? What if he finds out?” Charlie’s trembling voice was humming through the air as David, Pascal and I were marching through the brown hazel thicket. Walking in agony, it was clear that Charlie’s expression radiated doubt. “Charlie, Here!” Grabbing a nearby flower, David tossed a rose into Charlie’s arms. Pascal sniggered softly. “What’s this for?” Charlie asked... ... middle of paper ... ...n number. We only had a dozen in strength whilst our enemies seemed to double our number. “Roger squad leader 755, how many are we?” “22. Over.” I sighed. The world was turning upside down in fire and destruction. As I looked outside and prayed in this ungodly hour my veins rippled in fear because I realized something. Charlie, Pascal, David and I were all a part of this world. Sooner or later all would come and pass but I realized that we had a part to play and that I failed to play mine. I looked to the radar screen and sure enough there were numerous dots around our tired twenty. “Roger squad leader 755. Any reinforcements headed this way? I trembled in fear and made a cross. “… No reinforcements. Over. Out” And so this is how this story ends with these ungrateful words. I could not say it to Pascal, David, Sarah and Charlie but I say this onto you. I am sorry.
On Hitler’s Mountain is a memoir of a child named Irmgard Hunt and her experiences growing up in Nazi Germany. She herself has had many experiences of living during that dark time, she actually met Hitler, had a grandfather who hated Hitler's rule, and had no thoughts or feelings about the Nazi rule until the end of WWII. Her memoir is a reminder of what can happen when an ordinary society chooses a cult of personality over rational thought. What has happened to the German people since then, what are they doing about it today and how do they feel about their past? Several decades later, with most Nazis now dead or in hiding, and despite how much Germany has done to prevent another Nazi rule, everyone is still ashamed of their ancestors’ pasts.
In Erich Maria Remarque’s, “ All Quite In The Western front”, he tells a story about a young man, Paul Baumer, and his classmates, Leer, Müller, and Kropp, who voluntarily enlisted in the German army during World War I. They chose to enlist voluntarily after their teacher, Kantorek, made a very inspiring patriotic speech. But after a few weeks they regretted their choice. The barbaric training and the life in the front brought constant mental and physical terrors to the life of these soldiers. They no longer believed in the ideals of nationalism and patriotism that the teacher’s speech had inspired in them. This quote maps out what the book is about, “This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure,
The warfare before World War I was that of chivalry and heroic ideals, in which soldiers gave their lives for noble causes and, by doing so, went down in history as honourable heroes. The high recruitment rate at the beginning of the Great War shows that in 1914 a whole generation of young men wanted to fight because they believed in the just cause of it. However, the soldiers quickly discard and outgrow this simplistic view and become aware that “the War is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it” (Sassoon). The tragedy of World War I lies in the fact that so many people lost their lives, either as soldiers or as collateral damage, simply because of rival imperialism, which once more shows that humanity’s greatest enemy is man himself.
Pat Barker's novel Regeneration explores the effects that World War I has on the human condition and more specifically on the condition of the British people. One particular area of exploration is the detrimental presence of class distinctions within the ranks of the British military. This issue of class distinction is addressed specifically on pages 66 and 67 of the novel through a conversation between Billy Prior and Dr. Rivers. The characters' discussion reinforces Barker's theme of the injustices of these class distinctions and the harm they produce on the war front.
Churchill, Winston S., M.P. “Churchill as War Leader: Lessons for the Future.” Address to the International Churchill Society. The Churchill Center. Online. Nov. 7., 2002. www.winstonchurchill.org
Living in the crumbled remains of Germany, or the Weimar Republic, in the 1920’s was a dismal existence. Hyperinflation was rampant and the national debt skyrocketed as a result of the punishing features of the Treaty of Versailles. During the depression, however, a mysterious Austrian emerged from the depths of the German penal system and gave the desperate German people a glimpse of hope in very dark times. He called for a return to “Fatherland” principles where greater Germany was seen as the center of their universe with zealous pride. Under Hitler’s leadership, Nazi Germany rapidly grew and expanded, continually approaching the goal of world domination and the “Thousand-Year Reich” that Hitler promised the German people. Only a few years later, Nazi Wehrmacht soldiers could be seen marching the streets from Paris to Leningrad (St. Petersburg, Russia). The German Empire, however, like all other expansive empires, had its limits and integral components such as resources, manpower, and industrial capacity began to fall in short supply further crippling the Nazi war machine. Basically, by 1944, “Nazi Germany’s fundamental problem was that she has conquered more territory than she could defend” (Ambrose, 27). Hitler conquered a vast area and vowed to defend every single inch of his empire with every last drop of blood at his disposal. As Frederick the Great warned, “He who defends everything, defends nothing” (Ambrose, 33). It is interesting to study any empire’s rise and fall because similarities are always present, even with some nations today promising to fight the evil, when it reality, it might be becoming what it vows to fight.
Norman Schwarzkof once said, “It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of the men to go into battle”. As young adults, many of us have a preconceived notion that being a hero is in some way the same as being a leader. In times of war, being a leader defines ones as a superior that others look to for guidance and direction in predicaments; not necessarily a hero. The true heroes are not always the ones calling the shots, but the soldiers who courageously leave their comforts behind to fight on the fronts for their country, even if it results in their death. In All Quiet on the Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque, describes the journey of a young man named Paul and the struggles he endures as an effect of the declaration of World War One by his elders. Remarque develops the theme of how older men’s decisions of declaring war effects the younger generation by elaborating on how this declaration effects the younger soldiers’ physical physique and their mental wellbeing.
After John Dunbar has ridden across the front lines twice, he falls from the horse out of mere exhaustion and is taken care of immediately. To show that Dunbar is valued by those around him, the do...
...ings by then, whose memories, fears, and enthusiasms should not be remembered." Thus, unlike the title suggests, this remarkable war memoir is not about one soldier. Instead it refers to the entire German army who were defeated by the Allies. Although the German cause was very controversial, these gentlemen bravely fought for their country. Many men died, many were mutilated, and many more had to forever live with the atrocities they encountered. At war's end, however, they were merely "forgotten" for their failure of success. And although The Forgotten Soldier is an astonishing account of the horrors of infantry warfare, it serves a much greater purpose. It allows the historian to glance into the German experience and realize they too were young men fighting because their nation called upon them, and they deserve to be remembered for such a courageous act.
Frei, Norbert. “People’s Community and War: Hitler’s Popular Support.” The Third Reich Between Vision and Reality: New Perspectives on German History, 1918-1945. Ed. Hans Mommsen. Oxford: Berg - Oxford International Publishers, Ltd., 2001. 59-77.
...the narrator and all people a way of finding meaning in their pains and joys. The two brothers again can live in brotherhood and harmony.
On the night of March 5th, it is believed that a small group of boys began taunting a British soldier. Over the boys’ nonsense, the soldier battered one of his oppressors with his musket. Soon after the alleged incident a crowd of about fifty or sixty people surrounded the frightened solider. The enraged crowd of people sounded the soldier, encouraging him to call for backup. Soon after calling for help, seven soldiers along with Captain Preston...
This memoir, which sits on the library shelf, dusty and unread, gives readers a view of the reality of this brutal war. So many times World War II books give detail about the war or what went on inside the Concentration Camps, yet this book gives insight to a different side. A side where a child not only had to hide from Nazi’s in threat of being taken as a Jew, but a child who hid from the Nazi’s in plain sight, threatened every day by his identity. Yeahuda captures the image of what life was like from the inside looking out. “Many times throughout the war we felt alone and trapped. We felt abandoned by all outside help. Like we were fighting a war on our own” (Nir 186). Different from many non-fiction books, Nir uses detail to give his story a bit of mystery and adventure. Readers are faced with his true battles and are left on the edge of their
The Second World War marked one of the most important eras in the history of the British Empire. Never before had the British isles faced a threat quite like the Nazi menace across the English Channel. Yet, Britain’s situation could be viewed as even more precarious once one considers the state of Britain’s economy, but more importantly war machine, at the outbreak of the war. Years of austerity during the Great Depression had left her armies in serious decay, while Germany had built arguably the strongest military in the world. Yet, Winston Churchill’s famous “Their Finest Hour” speech illustrates a level of confidence in victory that many Brits carried. And, this was in no small part due to the fact that they knew that they had the rest of the British Empire supporting their cause. Through the empire’s contribution of both materials and
This essay will look at how adequately the motive ‘For King and Country’ drove men to enlist and fight in the Great War. Dedication to the monarch and jingoism was a huge motive in this period of time. Often this was more of a reason to fight than more than any other. People expressed a sense of nationalism that perhaps isn’t seen as much in Britain today. Along with the drive to fight in honour of the sovereign and Britain there are numerous other factors that encouraged men to join the army such as propaganda, unemployment, conscription and peer pressure. Some incentives could have affected the men’s decisions more than others. Certain individuals were not supporters of the Royals and therefore refuted the very idea of encountering near death on the battlefield in honour of the King. There were also reasons that persuaded men to opt out of engaging in battle leading them to bear negative criticism that labelled them cowards. If anything this led men to scorn the notion ‘For King and Country’ feeling their personal reasoning for not taking part was irrelevant and unimportant. What was deemed to be a great encouragement for one man to join the armed forces was not for another and the reasoning behind many men’s decision to enlist differed from their comrades. In some incidents men lacked any motivation at all and it was the mere case that they were called upon and requisitioned to join in the conflict.