Trench Life According to Soldiers Rather than Official Accounts Trench warfare was a viscous and violent way to fight a war. In World War 1 there were over 600 kilometres of trenches that separated East and West Europe between Belgium and France. They were started by the Germans who dug them for protection after their defeat at Marne by Britain and France. Both sides kept on digging and digging their trenches to stop the other side form outflanking them. The trenches grew and the western front was formed. This place is where the most horrific battles occurred in the First World War. The trenches became soldier's homes as well as their protection. This essay is going to look at many sources form many different places and will try to answer the question "Did the Soldiers Themselves, Give a more Accurate Picture of Trench Life than Official Accounts?" It is my hope that by the end of the essay I will be able to come to an accurate answer to this question by using sources I have studied. In section A the sources are mainly from history textbooks of the 20th Century. I will first look at these sources because they should be accurate and reliable, they should be able to provide reliable information for me to base the other sources on. I will compare and contrast the sources form section A to other sources to help me get a more balanced, accurate view. Section B includes the official accounts of the war. These include photos, painting and adverts. From these sources I should be able to get an accurate view of what the war was portrayed to be like by officials. When looking at these sources I must be careful that they are not biased or inaccurate. I will also be able to compare these sources to other sources I have already looked at. In section C the sources are the soldiers accounts of life in the trenches. I think many of these sources will be exaggerated so I must acknowledge that when I study these sources.
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...
The First World War saw a new form of warfare known as Trench warfare which involved trenches which were deep long dugouts made by the soldiers that lived in these trenches. The trenches proved useful as they protected the soldiers from artillery and bomb fire and were most likely situated in the eastern and western fronts of Europe. However the conditions of the trenches were far from exuberant but were in fact severely terrible. There was bad hygiene throughout the trenches, for example soldiers bathed probably only once a month and as such were prone to diseases such as trenches fever (which were due to the lice attracted by the bad hygiene). The weather was no exception as well, in the summer it would be too hot and in the winter it would be too cold and due to the nature of the trenches, when it rained the trenches would be filled with water, and due to such conditions welcomed the disease known as trench foot which was due to prolonged exposure to water and claimed the foots of many soldiers. There was also the constant danger of bomb fire and snipers would always be on the lookout for any movement. Latrines, which were toilets used in the trenches also sprouted fear as the enemy could see them in this area of the trenches and therefore were in constant danger of death. Soldiers also had to follow a strict code of conduct which was known as trench etiquette which ordered them to respect higher officers and they would have to be punished if the trench etiquette was ignored.
From early in the war, in May of 1914, Blunden recalled his experience in the trenches of France. Structured with sandbag walls, the Old British Line in which the men were stationed was only a frail comfort, as the trenches were often only one row deep with no additional protection against debris caused by artillery shells. Communication between the between the front line and the Old British Line was provided some covered by through the Cover Trench, although Prior’s account of returning from The Island, the front line, states that he had to pause every two minutes to lay in a ditch along the road to avoid the infamous German machine guns. The Germans bombarded the Cover Trench with heavy fire and large shells over the farmhouse and its residents, including children. Because the Germans were known for using gas, Blunden and his men underwent training to prepare for attacks. After completing this course, he was sent to the dugout near Cuinchy Keep, which was described as “dirty, bloodthirsty and wearisome,” primarily due to the number of mines which had already been exploded, and that it was not completely finished. However, when fighting in the trenches, “There was nothing for it but to copy experience, and experience was nothing but a casual protection.”
Soldiers' Account of Trench Life Life in the trenches was horrific; the frontline soldiers dreaded having to return to them. During their tour of duty there, they lived in considerable tension. The trenches were far from safe; possibly one third of all casualties on the Weston front were killed or wounded in the trenches, mostly from artillery fire. In this essay I will be discussing and comparing the accuracy and differences between the soldiers' accounts of the trenches and official accounts composed by the government.
Trench Warfare in World War 1 and World War 2 was very deadly. Many soldiers in the trenches died from random causes. Just about every trench in both of the wars where very nasty. It was a place that no one ever wanted to be or would ever want to go.
Life in the trenches during the First World War was simply a blood bath. It was the last thing the hundreds and thousands of soldiers expected when they enlisted.
In the beginning of World War One the common outlook on warfare was that of a primarily mobile and open method of attack. Trench warfare was thought to be a temporary phenomenon which would be replaced by infantry and cavalry skirmishes. No one had predicted that only after a couple of months of open and mobile warfare, the November of 1914 would begin four years of static trench warfare.
In September of 1914, the British and French troops met the German troops at the Marne River. The German troops had been advancing toward Paris. The British and French troops were victorious in this battle and they crushed the hopes of Germany who wanted a quick takeover of the Western Front. After this battle, both sides dug trenches to maintain their positions. Both sides entered into a stalemate over the next four years. Each side battled from trenches making very little progress in their efforts to defeat each other. The trench warfare that took place over a few hundred yards of territory and cost both sides enormous casualties. Trench warfare proved to be a failure for both sides.
The Nature of the Trenches and Their Effectiveness as a Method of Defence Trenches were first introduced during World War 1, the sole purpose of the trenches being, a strong method of defence. When both armies of equal strength met, deadlock/ stalemate occurred (end of 1914). The war of movement ended, this resulted in soldiers in digging holes, roughly 3metres in height and 1.5metres wide, known as trenches, for protection along the front line. Soldiers built trenches because men wanted to find shelter from the weight and firepower of modern arms and artillery, as underground was the best hope of survival. This was the introduction of the first trenches during the stalemate, towards the end of 1914.
In the time era of world war 1, technology was beginning to advance. The soldiers in the war were deprived of these extensive resources, causing them complications while serving their countries. At nineteen, protagonist Robert Ross experiences trench warfare. As technology advances the soldiers begin to feel the physical, mental and spiritual impact of the insufficient resources. IN The Wars, Findley ultimately shows these detrimental affects, disfiguring Roberts overall well being as a Canadian solider.
In the early twentieth century, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, which in turned pulled in several countries into dispute, thus igniting the beginning of World War I. There were two parties involved, one which was the Triple Alliance, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, and the other was the Triple Entente, made up of Britain, France, and Russia. This war was one that was never fought before due to great advances in weaponry and war strategies that were utilized, on a scale that was never seen before. Many believed that the war was going to be quickly over with few fatalities, but soon people began to realize that that was not the case since the war dragged on over a length of five years. Going into the war, the fighting on the Western Front slowed down and eventually turned into a stalemate. With no other options at hand, both sides had to adapt to circumstances in order to hold down their fronts, which led to the use of trench warfare. Trench warfare was one of the most innovated methods that was used during World War I, which in itself was highly effective.
Trench warfare was introduced in order to bring a barrier between forces. They were dug by soldiers and were very lengthy, but very cramped. Soldiers crouched down for extended periods of time to keep their heads blocked from being a target for the other side. They sat their watching their friends die from disease and from being shot, bombed, or poison gassed while they waited to fire their weapons at the enemy.
When one thinks of war they think of one side attacking the other, but in this war we spend much of our time in damp, muddy trenches, which smell of sewage and rotting corpses. The sun is high so we all lay low in the trenches to avoid sniper fire. So I sit and rest enjoying the break, using the time to clean my bolt-action rifle. My fellow brothers-in-arms are busy taking care of everyday tasks such as personal hygiene or writing letters home.
I believe that throughout this spring semester I believe that my writing capabilities have improved from last semester taking remedial English and has evolved even more now that I have graduated high school. I also believe that with the new methods that I have received which was using peer reviewing and using feedback to revise my essay will improve my future essays that I will need to use to improve my grades. Word Count: 1054.
While brainstorming the process essay, I realized my weaknesses and planned better how to strengthen them. I knew simple grammatical errors and transitions were two of the most important ones I needed to correct. So while thinking of my topics to include in my essay, I thought of how each of them connected. In what ways can I draw connections between the three of these topics? Through asking myself this question, I transitioned from the paragraph of agency background to volunteer work with a more satisfying flow (“The Civic Responsibility” 2). While it took me longer to draft this essay, it ended up being worth it in the long run. I felt more accomplished of this paper and when I received feedback that required me to change minimal things; I knew it was worth