For the soldiers within them, the trenches quickly became evil, smelly bogs of death. Between the trenches of opposing sides lay a No Man’s Land, through which ground attacks to the other side would be made, but the strategic planning of machine gun placing and other long-ranged weapons made gains from either side difficult. The constant fog that hung over the battlefield from gun firing, chlorine gas, and mist rolling off of the earth, also made it hard for soldiers to see where they were going, and would often fall into craters from bomb blasts. Within the trenches, the only protection from bombing was a tiny, concrete shelter which also served as their bunk house. With no way to create a sturdy drainage system, the frequent rainfall of France and Belgium caused the trenches to flood often. The water mixed with the diseased ground, covered in droppings from rats and lice and dead bodies, forming a poisonous slur that infected any open sore or wound. One of the most common diseases called trench foot caused gangrene to form inside a soldier’s foot from the constant wet and cold conditions. Most likely, a soldier with trench foot would have to have it amputated.
Lacking any recent knowledge of terrors of warfare, citizens of the counties involved celebrated at the outbreak of war. The total war required the commitment of everyone in a country. Other than just young men going to join the army, everyone was caught up with the “Uncle Sam” complex: that they could do something to help their county win a war. Especially in America, families rationed food with food stamps, children looked for scraps of tin and other metals to send to businesses to make weapons, and normal car factories became factories for weapons and vehicles needed for war. After the drafts left may job positions unoccupied, women began taking over men’s jobs to keep the home country running while the men were away at war.
Like a revolution, those who were able to see the destruction of war questioned their own government and harbored distrust of current political leaders. People whose land, families, and countries were directly affected felt that their governments did not know or refused to act in the best interests of the people. The spread of socialistic and republic forms of government grew soon after the end of fighting in World War I. In Russia, the collapse of the Romanov monarchy and the return of V.I. Lenin from exile, courtesy of Germany, allowed for a communist revolution. With Lenin’s help, The Bolsheviks created a communist dictatorship in Russia, which Lenin hoped would serve as an example for the rest of Europe to encourage communist revolutions. Another distinct change occurred in Germany after the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. Once Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated his throne, Germany proclaimed itself as a republic in order to deter socialist Leninist control. Detest of the new republic and the embitterment of the German peoples over the blame and war debts set on them by the Treaty of Versailles caused an overall want for a new government, which forms the beginnings of Hitler’s rise to power and World War II.
Lacking any recent knowledge of terrors of warfare, citizens of the counties involved celebrated at the outbreak of war. The total war required the commitment of everyone in a country. Other than just young men going to join the army, everyone was caught up with the “Uncle Sam” complex: that they could do something to help their county win a war. Especially in America, families rationed food with food stamps, children looked for scraps of tin and other metals to send to businesses to make weapons, and normal car factories became factories for weapons and vehicles needed for war. After the drafts left may job positions unoccupied, women began taking over men’s jobs to keep the home country running while the men were away at war.
Like a revolution, those who were able to see the destruction of war questioned their own government and harbored distrust of current political leaders. People whose land, families, and countries were directly affected felt that their governments did not know or refused to act in the best interests of the people. The spread of socialistic and republic forms of government grew soon after the end of fighting in World War I. In Russia, the collapse of the Romanov monarchy and the return of V.I. Lenin from exile, courtesy of Germany, allowed for a communist revolution. With Lenin’s help, The Bolsheviks created a communist dictatorship in Russia, which Lenin hoped would serve as an example for the rest of Europe to encourage communist revolutions. Another distinct change occurred in Germany after the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. Once Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated his throne, Germany proclaimed itself as a republic in order to deter socialist Leninist control. Detest of the new republic and the embitterment of the German peoples over the blame and war debts set on them by the Treaty of Versailles caused an overall want for a new government, which forms the beginnings of Hitler’s rise to power and World War II.
