HST 702 Lecture 6: Lecture Week 6
Document Summary
Many different/unique soldier"s wars : nationality, ethnicity, geography, class status, military rank. Many common experiences: why did men enlist, why did men continue to fight, war as beautiful, war as terrible. The beauty and horror of war: comradeship, nationalism, employment, masculinity, fun/adventure. Life in the trenches: boredom and terror, nationalism, employment, masculinity, fun/adventure. Artillery: the tyranny of the machine: artillery as a weapon, fighting instinct, shellshock. A psychiatric illness resulting from injury to the nerves during combat: trenches dugouts used as protection from artillery, on average: 1 soldier killed per 100 artillery shells. Trench life: the christmas truce & the live and let live system: everyday life and live and let live , christmas truce(s): a myth and a reality, the end of christmas truce. Life and death, capture and surrender: the ordinary soldier in the first world war was a beast of burden, young men died in droves because of a cruel coincidence of technological progress and social evolution.
