During the course of 5 years, the art of war evolved from a point blank shooting range type of war, to a war ruled by machine guns, chemical warfare, and espionage. The main difference, though, between wars prior to WWI and WWI itself was the use of trench warfare. Trench warfare slowly evolved from traditional war, when the French and the Germans could not advance. Neither of the two sides wanted to give up an inch of land, so both of them “dug in” and held their ground. What they did not know at the time was that this would create a whole new type of war, one filled with massive death tolls, and new advancements in weapons (such as the machine gun, the tank, and chemical weapons).
Trench warfare greatly affected the soldiers, citizens, and governments. The soldiers were extremely demoralized by trench warfare. With trench warfare, a battle could be sieged for months. So, with these prolonged skirmishes, soldiers got a sense of stalemate and failure. They felt like all of the work they and their whole army were putting into this war was useless. There was not a sense of advancement, or any positive news for that matter. Their surroundings also caused great demoralization. The constant reminder of death and carnage further struck fear and depressed the soldiers. The trenches themselves were also extremely dirty and disease ridden. They were constantly filled with muddy water that reeked of death and decay. These trenches were breeding grounds for deadly viruses and bacteria. The citizens were also affected by trench warfare. Often, cities were caught close to battlegrounds and no man's land, so they were constantly bombarded with rockets, machine gun fire, and grenades. Many of these citizens became casualties of the war, and many of them had to flee their homes for fear of death. Citizens who were away from the battlefield were also affected by trench warfare. With trench warfare came stalemates and lack of progression. The citizens also saw the same thing soldiers did. An endless war that caused the death of millions pointlessly. This greatly demoralized the citizens, which affected the war effort. Governments involved within the war were also greatly affected by trench warfare. Often, the governments would lose untold amounts of money from how expensive trench warfare was. First, the governments had to send millions of troops to the front line, which is very costly in itself, because it is quite expensive to clothe, arm, and send a recruit to basic training. Then, it is extremely expensive to further arm soldiers for 5 years. Shipments of ammunition were constantly being brought to the front line which is very costly. Also, it is expensive to feed the soldiers. One can imagine the price of feeding a couple million men 3 meals a day for 5 years. Cleanup of dead bodies was also quite expensive. The added man-power that would be needed to dispose of the dead bodies would be immense. Another expense to the government is the cost of drugs and medicine that would have to be sent to the front lines. During this time, morphine was a very prevalent pain killer, but was very expensive. The cost to make and send morphine would be great. Doctors would also have to be trained or payed for their services. So, using the given information, it is easy to see that the cost of trench warfare was gigantic.
Trench warfare ruined governments, societies, sanity, and lives themselves. It is the spawn of stupidity and a lack of willingness to lose. It wrecked the genearation at the time not only physically, but mentally. It brought the use of machine guns and tanks to the forefront of military tactics. It changed modern warfare, and Europe forever.
Trench warfare greatly affected the soldiers, citizens, and governments. The soldiers were extremely demoralized by trench warfare. With trench warfare, a battle could be sieged for months. So, with these prolonged skirmishes, soldiers got a sense of stalemate and failure. They felt like all of the work they and their whole army were putting into this war was useless. There was not a sense of advancement, or any positive news for that matter. Their surroundings also caused great demoralization. The constant reminder of death and carnage further struck fear and depressed the soldiers. The trenches themselves were also extremely dirty and disease ridden. They were constantly filled with muddy water that reeked of death and decay. These trenches were breeding grounds for deadly viruses and bacteria. The citizens were also affected by trench warfare. Often, cities were caught close to battlegrounds and no man's land, so they were constantly bombarded with rockets, machine gun fire, and grenades. Many of these citizens became casualties of the war, and many of them had to flee their homes for fear of death. Citizens who were away from the battlefield were also affected by trench warfare. With trench warfare came stalemates and lack of progression. The citizens also saw the same thing soldiers did. An endless war that caused the death of millions pointlessly. This greatly demoralized the citizens, which affected the war effort. Governments involved within the war were also greatly affected by trench warfare. Often, the governments would lose untold amounts of money from how expensive trench warfare was. First, the governments had to send millions of troops to the front line, which is very costly in itself, because it is quite expensive to clothe, arm, and send a recruit to basic training. Then, it is extremely expensive to further arm soldiers for 5 years. Shipments of ammunition were constantly being brought to the front line which is very costly. Also, it is expensive to feed the soldiers. One can imagine the price of feeding a couple million men 3 meals a day for 5 years. Cleanup of dead bodies was also quite expensive. The added man-power that would be needed to dispose of the dead bodies would be immense. Another expense to the government is the cost of drugs and medicine that would have to be sent to the front lines. During this time, morphine was a very prevalent pain killer, but was very expensive. The cost to make and send morphine would be great. Doctors would also have to be trained or payed for their services. So, using the given information, it is easy to see that the cost of trench warfare was gigantic.
Trench warfare ruined governments, societies, sanity, and lives themselves. It is the spawn of stupidity and a lack of willingness to lose. It wrecked the genearation at the time not only physically, but mentally. It brought the use of machine guns and tanks to the forefront of military tactics. It changed modern warfare, and Europe forever.
