...Life in the trenches wasn’t as pleasant or safe as it may seem.The trenches were the front lines. the most dangerous places.They were holes dug by soldiers to protect themselves from the enemy. With many weapons and mass of supply. Trenches mostly took place in Europe during Wworld Wwar 1 1914-1918. However, trenches changed the way the war was fought.The most interesting part of World War 1 was the trenches because it supplied poor protection when it was supposed to supply protection. Mostly the trenches were the most interesting part of World War 1 because they had poor protection. Trenches held mass of supply lines, training establishments, stores, workshops, and headquarters. However, “Rats were by no means the only source of infection...
Words: 373 - Pages: 2
...Each year on April 25th, Australia commemorates the day when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the beaches of Gallipoli. These soldiers known as the ANZACs were slaughtered but even though there was no hope they stood their ground and helped shape Australia into what it is today. Soldiers in the Australian and New Zealand armies had to endure life in trenches which to some children might seem fun but the reality of their situation was terrible. Soldiers were in danger constantly whether it be to enemy soldiers or to sicknesses that came from trenches. Shifts had to be taken to keep order and dogs were also brought which were good for keeping the spirits of the men up. As such life in these trenches was much harder than it would seem. The trenches lived in were long and narrow leaving not much space to manoeuvre, these trenches were dug out and lined with sand bags for the protection of the soldiers. Sand bags were good because they were able to endure hits from bullets without taking much knockback which proved quite helpful in enemy attacks. Though these trenches were well protected from enemy soldiers, sicknesses were a whole other...
Words: 774 - Pages: 4
...American and World War I Alina Ibrahim HIS/125 January 25, 2013 Matt Brickley American and World War I World War I began as a domino effect of one thing leading to another. In June 1914 the Archduke Franz Ferdinand heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was assassinated by a Serbian Nationalist while visiting Sarajevo (Schultz, 2012). Austria-Hungary then issued an ultimatum to the Serbians to bring the assassins to justice. This was an ultimatum that the Austro-Hungarians knew the Serbians would not meet prompting Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia (The Causes of World War I, 2009). Compelled by a treaty with Serbia, Russia mobilized its army in defense of Serbia. While Russia was an ally of Serbia, also bound by a treaty Germany was an ally of Austria-Hungary. This obligated Germany to mobilize its army in defense of Austria-Hungary. Britain and France also entered the war bound by treaty as an ally of Russia (The Causes of World War I, 2009). Hence, the domino effect of one country leading the other to enter the war. Throughout the first three years of the war America remained a neutral country. They were not bound by any treaties to ally themselves to fight for either side in the war. The war in Europe was at an impasse and both sides realized that in order to win the war they needed to submit the other to starvation (Schultz, 2012). The economies of the countries at war in Europe were quickly in ruins and they looked to the United States for supplies...
Words: 1578 - Pages: 7
...total war, and the overall long term mental and physical effects of war. Minus minor flaws where minimal information is given, the film appears to be a historically accurate portrayal of Trench Warfare and Total War. The film accurately portrays major elements of WWI, giving historically accurate insight into life in the trenches, war tactics, and gas warfare. The film accurately depicts the trenches as home to, not only the soldiers, but also to disease spreading rats and lice. Those fighting in WWI faced the devastating trench foot condition which was treatable only by amputation; the film truthfully portrays this issue as the duckboards which were used in an attempt to avoid this are shown on the trenches’ muddy and puddled ground. “No Man’s Land”, the term referring to the gap of land between the trenches of the opposing armies, is distinctly portrayed as lifeless, with smoking artillery induced craters, and the bodies of fallen soldiers left strewn across it. As the war progressed, bodies had to be left as it became too dangerous to collect them. Precisely as it was during the war, the film shows soldiers going “over the top”, as they attempted to climb out of the trenches to attack many are gunned down even before clearing their own bunker and if they were lucky enough to make it out they were likely killed shortly after. These futile tactics are both historically documented and displayed in this film as being used throughout...
Words: 1631 - Pages: 7
...Life on the Western Front by early 1915 was influenced because of the physical conditions of the trenches, the prevalence of sickness and disease in the trenches and the psychological effects of trench warfare on soldiers. As shown in Source A, trenches frequently became waterlogged and muddy entailing that it was not uncommon for men to have to stand for days deep in cold water unable to remove wet boots and socks, the condition trench foot developed as a result. The mud on the Western Front also provided the conditions for gas gangrene to be contracted due to the soil being highly cultivated. There were many health problems of just simple disease that took many more men out of combat than direct fire (Source B). This was as it was not only...
Words: 260 - Pages: 2
...America and World War I World War I was a world conflict lasting from 1914 to 1919 (2006). Soon after the war began Britain, France, and their allies set up a naval blockade of Germany and Austria. The Wilson Administration complained bitterly that the blockade violated international law (2010). It was not the conventional surface vessels used by Britain and France to enforce its blockade that enraged Americans, but the German submarines used. When American ships were intercepted by the British, the crew treated well. German submarines attacked without warning, and passengers had little to no chance of surviving (2010). While Wilson weighed his options regarding the submarine issue, he had to also evaluate Germany’s attempt at a secret alliance with Mexico. On January 19, 1917, British naval intelligence intercepted a telegram sent by Arthur Zimmerman, a German Foreign Minister, to the German Ambassador in Mexico City (2010). The “Zimmerman Telegram” promised the Mexican Government that Germany would help Mexico recover the territory it had lost to the United States following the Mexican-American War. In return for this assistance, the Germans asked for Mexican support in the war (2010). Initially, the British had not shared the news of the “Zimmerman Telegram” with U.S. officials. However, on February 24th, the British shared the note in hopes of persuading American officials to join the war. The British finally forwarded the intercept to Wilson. Even with this news, Wilson...
Words: 935 - Pages: 4
...In the essay, “Triste La Guerre” Robert Graves explains his experience in war. Graves was apart of World War 1, and those times were extremely dangerous. All of the soldiers within his company were terribly superstitious. They believed in the saying “touch wood.” With how treacherous their lives were while at war and people dying left and right the soldiers tried not to let it all overwhelm and let everything overthrow them with grief. They all adapted gallows humor to help them cope with all of the atrocious situations happening all around them. Ironically, Graves states that it is primrose season while they are at war and that is the time for beauty, birth, and happiness; however, that was the time he was living in the trenches and fighting...
Words: 320 - Pages: 2
...The living conditions in the trenches were absolutely awful and inhumane. Most of the time, it was raining in the trenches, causing constant dampness. Completely covering the ground and walls of the trenches was thick, deep, gluey mud. The trenches were infested with rats and lice which fed off of the dead bodies of soldiers. Due to the mass amounts of deaths that occurred in the trenches, a putrid stench of blood and rotting bodies is all that could be smelt. The rats were oversized and spread diseases throughout the trenches and the lice resulted in many soldiers getting trench fever. The damp, freezing cold environment of these trenches also led to trench-foot which is a condition similar to frostbite that sometimes caused the soldiers to get gangrene or to amputate their foot/feet. While in the trenches, all the soldiers could hear was the frightening sound of crashing explosions and shells flying through the air. Because of this, it was very hard to sleep. The trenches were also extremely crowded, as well. Sometimes, men in the trenches would be buried alive - as high explosive shells would fall upon the dugouts. In the trenches, soldiers spent all of their time doing nothing but eating, sleeping (despite all the noise), and crouching behind their rifles. Trench warfare involved a lot of random shelling and sniping...
Words: 2054 - Pages: 9
...I’ve been in the trenches of the battle of the Somme for a few weeks now, and I can safely say, the conditions have not improved since I’ve been stationed here. We have steadily, for two weeks been trying to push into no-mans land, without success. It seems every time one of our men pushes out of the trench, he falls back in without life. I’m worried one day that the soldier who falls back into the trench next will be myself. It is certainly not an easy life living in these trenches. We typically spend eight days in a frontline trench being shot at, then return to the reserve trench for four days, and after that we would have a short stay in a rest camp for another four days. By far the most relieving step in the trip was the return and stay at the rest camp. Although the Somme and the surrounding area are quite nice normally, in time of war it’s a hellhole. Non-stop shells going off, seeing the ones who you’ve become acquainted to fall, and on top of that, the extremely poor conditions of the trenches. Over these weeks I’ve had to endure the seemingly endless struggle of this great war. At this point I am almost regretting enlisting, however, I know once the war ends, it’ll be well worth it....
Words: 560 - Pages: 3
...soldiers. Soldiers began to bury the bodies and as Leonard Thompson describes it, “ We pushed them into the side of the trenches, but bits of them kept getting uncovered and sticking out… The bottom of the trench was springy like a mattress because of all the bodies underneath.”...
Words: 976 - Pages: 4
...the allies during World War One to celebrate the holiday of Christmas. The book depicts what living through World War One was like by painting pictures of how life was like through living conditions, what the fighting was like, and how eventually people come together. Two areas in this book that stuck out so far were the depiction of the living conditions and how people can really come together even if there is so much hate. The trenches during World War One where wretched because of all of the situations that could go wrong such as drowning in the mud from the trench or getting infections on the body from the mud such as ringworm. Reading that the Germans and allies came together during Christmas was surprising because they seemed to hate each other a lot and seeing them come together was unexpected....
Words: 558 - Pages: 3
...The first world war began in the year 1914. There are several factors believed to have triggered the war. The assassination of the Austrian archduke and his wife immediately triggered the war. He was assassinated by the Bosnian Gavrilo Princip an irredentist serb on 28th June 1914. The world war began on august the same year. This event just triggered the war. The actual factors leading to the war are complicated. Some of this factors are: Mutual defence alliances. Throughout Europe countries made alliances. The alliance in countries was to give each other help if needed. Thus if, a country is attacked, the allied countries were supposed to protect them. The alliances that existed before the world war are like Russia and Serbia, germany and Austria-Hungary, Russia and France, Britain , France and Belgium finally Japan and Britain. Austria-Hungary first declared on the Serbians. Russia defended the Serbians. When the Germans saw the Russians getting ready for the war, they declared war on them. France then come in against Germans and Austria-Hungary. Britain was pulled into the war when Germany attacked France through Belgium. Japan then entered the war.later the united states and Italy joined their allied countries. Imperialism is believed to have also caused the war. The british empire by 1900 had taken over five continents. France also had a large control over Africa. Countries needed new markets with the rise of industrialization. The number of continents that...
Words: 1458 - Pages: 6
...first world war was unlike any other war. The living conditions were terrible because they were living in trenches for months. They had to deal with the fear dying from being shot because of the skilled snipers, gases being thrown into trenches, which have never appeared in any other war, and the deaths from diseases. People were dying daily and were in fear of just peaking their heads out side of the trenches but there was also issues with living in the trenches. Soldiers had infestations of rats, lice and other new medical issues come from living in the trenches. First off the rats in the trenches feared because the ate the remains of the others soldiers who had passed. These rats carried many diseases and got into everything. The soldiers were contently trying to fight them off and get rid of them but they populated so quickly it was hard to keep up. Also these rats would get to be as large as house cats from time to time. Lice became another big issue because they spread quickly and caused illness like trench fever which starts of as pain through out the body then a fever. Due to living in trenches the area was always wet and moist. Many soldiers got trench foot, which is a fungal infection, that was caused by their feet consistenly moist and in unsanatary areas. Living in these conditions and being cooped up in these trenches for weeks would make anyone crazy. The trenches were always crowed with hundreds of men in one small trench. If you were asked to do a task out side of...
Words: 1690 - Pages: 7
...Italy, once part of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, fought on the side of the Allies. * Soldiers fought largely in trenches during the war, and thousands suffered from stress, known as shell-shock. The British and French trenches were often squalid, whereas the German trenches were almost luxurious in comparison, with bunks and decent cooking facilities. (Click here to learn more about life in the trenches) * By the end of WW1, over 9 million soldiers had been killed, and another 21 million wounded. Over a million soldiers were killed in the infamous Battle of the Sommealone, including about 30,000 in just one day. * Around 11 percent of the population of France was killed or wounded during the war. About 116,000 Americans were killed, even though the US was only in the war for about 7 months. * During World War 1, dogs were used to carry messages in capsules attached to their body. Dogs also carried and placed telegraph wires in important areas. * Pigeons were also used during the war. About 500,000 pigeons were regularly dropped into enemy lines by parachute, and then sent back with messages. * On Christmas Eve, 1914, both sides declared an unofficial truce and sung Christmascarols to each other. A football match was played in no-man’s land (the area between the German and British) trenches, and German and British soldiers exchanged food and souvenirs.The following Christmas, sentries on both sides had orders to shoot any soldier...
Words: 416 - Pages: 2
...The Second Battle of the Marne marked the turning of the tide in World War I. It began with the last German offensive of the conflict and was quickly followed by the first allied offensive victory of 1918 (In Viereck & In Maerker-Branden, 1929). Although US troops assumed mainly a support role in this action, the battle came to be known as the beginning of the end for Germany. 85,000 US troops participated, with 12,000 casualties, gaining the praise of not only their own officers, but the French and British commanders as well. In the Second Battle of Marne with 30,000 killed and wounded, the United States started suffering casualties on the enormous scale usually associated with the battles of the Great War (Coffman, 1968). In late May, the German high command had ordered a major offensive from the Chemin des Dames northeast of Paris towards the River Marne threatening both Paris and the Paris - Verdun rail link (Dupuy, 1956). The 2nd and 3rd divisions of the AEF helped defend along the Marne on either side of the river town of Chateau Thierry. What resulted was a rounded bulge in western front thirty miles wide at the base, extending south about 25 miles to its apex right at Chateau Thierry (In Viereck & In Maerker-Branden, 1929). With American encouragement, a plan evolved to eliminate this salient with a two pronged assault from the west and south. In July, when it became clear that the Germans would renew their assault in the area, a decision was made to absorb the assault...
Words: 751 - Pages: 4
