Assess the Impact of War on the Lives and Attitudes of the British and German Soldiers 1915 to 1918!
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- Category: History: World Wars
- Date Submitted: 03/23/2016 12:15 AM
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Assess the impact of war on the lives and attitudes of the British and German soldiers 1915 to 1918!
World War 1 certainly had a significant impact on the lives and attitudes of the British and German soldiers during 1915-1918 and aspects such as trench life, tactics used in battle and change of attitudes accentuate how the impact was not one of positivity yet one of negativity.
For the British trench life was a living hell as their "timetable was fixed" meaning their routine was the same every day and the living conditions were "filthy" and definitely far from ideal. The muddy weather definitely affected the British as the mud was so deep Orr reckons "that forty Englishmen a night were drowned in it" but not only that even puttee couldn't "prevent mud from getting into your boots if you sink in ten inches or so" which shows how poor the living conditions were. This was terrible for soldiers but as shown in Source A (Picture top) not only were the trenches muddy, the drainage systems were poor meaning that mud would stay in the trenches making the soldiers feel uncomfortable. For the Germans their trenches were much better constructed as observed by British airman Bishop as "the depth and complexity of the German trench system surprised" him as the British trenches could be classified as primordial but that did not mean life was much better as both parties suffered not only from "vermin" that "were inescapable “rats in particular but also the "common possession of all" which was lice. The rats were a threat because they would feed off anything from food to human flesh and they were so gargantuan in size McEnroe a British soldier recounted “they could go and sell milk” therefore rat hunting was invented to nullify this threat which is demonstrated in Source A (Picture bottom). The relief of the German soldier’s faces clearly shows how much rats could impact a British and German soldier’s daily life. Lice were as just dangerous if not more to a soldier as they...
World War 1 certainly had a significant impact on the lives and attitudes of the British and German soldiers during 1915-1918 and aspects such as trench life, tactics used in battle and change of attitudes accentuate how the impact was not one of positivity yet one of negativity.
For the British trench life was a living hell as their "timetable was fixed" meaning their routine was the same every day and the living conditions were "filthy" and definitely far from ideal. The muddy weather definitely affected the British as the mud was so deep Orr reckons "that forty Englishmen a night were drowned in it" but not only that even puttee couldn't "prevent mud from getting into your boots if you sink in ten inches or so" which shows how poor the living conditions were. This was terrible for soldiers but as shown in Source A (Picture top) not only were the trenches muddy, the drainage systems were poor meaning that mud would stay in the trenches making the soldiers feel uncomfortable. For the Germans their trenches were much better constructed as observed by British airman Bishop as "the depth and complexity of the German trench system surprised" him as the British trenches could be classified as primordial but that did not mean life was much better as both parties suffered not only from "vermin" that "were inescapable “rats in particular but also the "common possession of all" which was lice. The rats were a threat because they would feed off anything from food to human flesh and they were so gargantuan in size McEnroe a British soldier recounted “they could go and sell milk” therefore rat hunting was invented to nullify this threat which is demonstrated in Source A (Picture bottom). The relief of the German soldier’s faces clearly shows how much rats could impact a British and German soldier’s daily life. Lice were as just dangerous if not more to a soldier as they...