Looking at the First World War

Looking at the First World War The First World War brought about much destruction and horror to

extents that the world had never before seen. With the suffering came

a wave of change that saw millions after their opinions towards not

only war, but life itself. The romanticised adventure of defending

one's country had utterly vanished as people were shown the cruelty

and brutality that was associated with the First World War. An

unreserved hatred towards those that promoted this fabled ideal

emerged and this was exemplified through poetry, literature and above

all, the people.

The war robbed millions of their homes, families and lives. To talk of

all the physical ramifications of the First World War, not a hundred

speeches would suffice. Statistics such as 38 million casualties and

185 billion dollars worth of destruction cannot 'wholly' capture the

true damage World War I brought about. Much of Europe was shaken to

its very foundations, and it revealed a vast domain of devastation and

rubble. Even decades after the war, its physical effects were still

not healed. The small roots of development that had been sown were

rocked again by both the Great Depression and World War II. It could

be said that these two events, although separated in time from each

other, were promoted by the effects of the First World War.

Another consequence the war had was its total demoralisation, which

instigated a people to see no reason for their existence in a horrific

life that could only be comparable to the darkest of nightmares.

People now saw war not as the grandeur battles of ancient times that

governments told they were to be.