How Trench Warfare affected Soldiers, Civilians, and the Government

Trench warfare was a devastating part of World War I. It affected almost everyone who participated including soldiers, civilians, and the government. Soldiers spent most of their time in the trenches, where they were exposed to disease, rats (Somewhere said that the rats got to be the size of cats), and lice. The smell of the trenches was overpowering. Soldiers occupied the trenches for weeks at a time and in that time they become numb to what happens around them. Trench warfare is dehumanizing process as was apparent in All Quiet on the Western Front. Civilians were affected by trench warfare more indirectly. They heard the horrible stories of the trenches and began to fear for themselves and for their family members in the trenches. There was also always the possibility of a family member dying or having a serious injury while in the trenches and becoming an economic leech on the family. This would disrupt the harmony of family life and made this time in European history a trying and terrifying time for civilians. The government was impacted the most financially. Trench warfare was a slow process and any amount of significant progress was rare due to the stagnant position of the trenches and difficulty in gaining victory. The government had to continue to supply the troops with weapons, food, and other necessary supplies during this time of stalemate, which grew to be costly. Soldiers were also dying left and right and this obviously hurt the army in the long haul.




P.S. How do you indent on this site?!

I don't think you can indent.

I also used All Quiet on the Western Front in mine. I think it is a magnificent insight to how truly awful, and dehumanizing, as you said, the Great War truly was. There must have been some atrocity that the writer could not even begin to convey, as well, which is amazing to me. I know I could not have lived through that, and really would not have wanted to. Good job. I didn't think of some of the family aspects you mentioned.

I agree. The impact of the trenches were worst on the soldiers or maybe the government. A huge problem was that trench warfare couldn't stop. Once the people were in the trenches, they couldn't just get up and leave or start a less horrible form of war because they'd get killed. So trench warfare just carried on for a really long time because neither side could really do anything about it. Even though each army was attacking the other with gas and machine guns and stuff, it all kind of evened out. It was kind of like a staring contest--you didn't want the other army to blink or else you could destroy them, but you didn't want to blink or else you'd be destroyed. This was bad for the government because they had to keep paying for food and weapons the whole time that the war was going on.

And don't be so demanding, Hannah. It doesn't want you to indent. There's no NEED to indent. Some people...

Only barbarians don't indent.

And I agree, there was no stopping it once it had begun.

Good thing we have nuclear weapons now.
No need for silly trenches when we've got weapons of mass destruction :]

i disagree. WMDs are too destructive and will one day destroy the world and we'll all have to load a spaceship with only the best of the best humans to escape the Earth before it gets destroyed. I read a book like that once. except it was a meteor, not a WMD.

Sorry, Sam...
You wouldn't be on that spaceship.

Anyways, back to trench warfare...
fun, right?

Let's talk favorite weapons.
Mine would be: the flamethrower
I think it's more of a psychological weapon than a destructive weapon, considering it didn't have a very large range.
But it's definetely the coolest.

Totally grenade launcher.

You did such a good job on the question, you don't have to indent

The question is, what weapon did you kill the dog with? Mustard gas? Maxim gun ?

Nice work!

i prefer the gas attacks. it was very clever of them. plus, you had to get all those gas masks for everyone. it was really effective too. and yes. i would be the first one on the list for the spaceship. you could be the one who fills the ship with gas?

Well, yeah
Chlorine and Mustard gas are pretty bad.
But I don't think they ever were very decisive in any victories.
And they aren't very fatal (according to a site I read)
but they would definetely hinder your opponents.

it'd ruin your lungs and make you fell all die-ish. which is good enough for me.

Does anyyone know why it's called mustard gas? There's no mustard, or even ketchup, for that matter

Sam, I liked the comparison of trench warfare to a staring contest. I thought that was interesting.

I did a little quick reading on mustard gas and is is also called sulphur mustard. It blisters the skin and mucous membranes in the lungs on contact, and it usually took people who were exposed to it four to five weeks to die. It was very painful and some of them had to be strapped to their beds. Very nice thoughts.

I'm still not exactly sure why it is "mustard" though.