War of Trenches/World War I

World War I affected soldiers, civilians, and the government in many ways. Soldiers lived in terrible conditions. The trenches the soldiers lived in were infested with rats, lice, frogs, and diseases. The rats would fall into the trenches, and would feast upon the remains of dead and/or living soldiers. There were two types of rats; black and brown ones. The brown rats were mostly feared because they were the ones who ate humans. Soldiers attempted to dispose of these rats by the use of clubs and bayonets, but their attempts were futile, rats can produce as much as nine hundred offspring a year. Lice would also be on the soldiers, causing itching. Even after the soldiers would wash themselves and their clothing, eggs would get caught in the seam of the clothing, and there would still be lice on the soldiers. All of these infestations caused diseases. Soldiers were constantly bored, and also had routines and chores to follow. The trenches were sometimes not enough to protect soldiers, some dying within the first day due to getting shot by snipers. Civilians also had to deal with hardships during the trench war. They constantly saw soldiers in their cities, and would have to yield to their every needs. Fighting also was known to go on constantly within towns and cities, which would result in civilians getting injured or even get killed. The government was also not in the best shape either. The government believed in collecting and recovering territory and the civilians living in those territories that had already been lost or taken away from them earlier in time. As a result of that, governments foolishly used the same army techniques consecutively, and did not change them, even if it meant for the better. This resulted in countless deaths of soldiers and civilians. Armies were also equally matched, so this proved to be a difficulty for both sides, causing a "stale mate." This just means that not one power was greater than the other. Armies(due to the decisions of their governments) usually picked one enemy, and focused on defeating the opposition of that one or many countries. -Kahil

looks like it posted fine

They were constantly bored? Really? Thats the worst thing that could occur to the soldiers? Sarcasm aside, it's pretty good.

<---- It's Napoleon (Animal Farm)

Hmm.. I forgot to mention shells also exploded, causing trenchs to sort of "cave in", as well as civilians lost food, their homes, and even lives to this "trench war". They were forced into the war, and paid a price for it.

How exactly were they forced into the war? And how is civilians losing

food, their homes, and even lives to this "trench war.

different from other wars?

They lose food because they soldiers take what they can while in a town. Civilians are in a town, and opposing soldiers fight in that town, civilians will get caught in the fight, causing injuries and deaths.

I didn't ask how, I asked

how is civilians losing
food, their homes, and even lives to this "trench war.
different from other wars?

Hmm.. Well, they aren't really affected differently than other civilians. They paid taxes, suffered from injuries, paid for the war in other ways, such as supplies, and their actual homes.. Does this answer your question?

Yes, which leads to another question: Why does it matter if it was no different than normal?

Well, this sort of links how the government is sort of linked to the poor conditions of civilians. If the government didn't allow soldiers into the city, the city probably wouldn't get harmed as much. But then again, the soldiers wouldn't have as much supplies and boarding...

Abdalaziz K. wrote:They lose food because they soldiers take what they can while in a town. Civilians are in a town, and opposing soldiers fight in that town, civilians will get caught in the fight, causing injuries and deaths.

I think that by this time some conventions had established rules to what armies couldn't do. Whether these were followed or not, I really don't know, but I don't think pillaging was a big concern anymore.

Hmm.. perhaps. But, I was mainly focusing on battles going on in towns, not much of "pillaging". Thanks for your comment!