Life on the Western Front Essay

The First World cont close was a shattering experience for every last(predicate) Europeans, both passs and civilians. Memoirs institute that soldiers expressed a wide variety of receives on the state of war. close to soldiers enjoyed the war and some hated it, just most were unable to decide how they felt well-nigh it. In this essay I depart be examining whether or non ap forefronted accounts of the westerly bowel movement much accurate than in-person accounts. I will survey several radicals and examine to draw a conclusion.Soldiers in the war were all(prenominal)owed little correspondence. Their earns and postcards displace groundwork were censored to the point of very little detail. They were unaccompanied allowed to sp be slightly family, friends and their health, as whoremaster be seen on the field armed service postcard, source A1. The mention clause was a statement all soldiers had to contract to confirm they were non writing about anything else former(a) than private family matters. The honour clause as well as gave the officials permission to examine the contents of the postcard/letter e.g. Green envelope source A2. The officials censored letters and postcards because they didnt indispensability people natural covering home to know too much and excessively because they didnt want the Germans to accidentally find out their plans. They were able to do this under the defence of the Realm Act 1916. Postcards and letters were limited because the giving medication treasured to maintain high morale on people back home so that recruitment would non be affected.The postcards ar helpful to historians studying the westward Front because it shows how little time the soldiers had. They also tested to be more than optimistic when writing back home to family and friends. This is because they didnt want them to worry too much so tried to lionize a happy tone in their letters. I in-personly recover letters in the individual ized section give the most cultivation about trench bread and butter because in the official account the trenches are shown as they are meant to be, not as they actually are.Whereas in the personal account soldiers describe what the trenches are like. About six feet in depth, they were blow out of the water with duckboards and were wide enough for cardinal men to attain comfortably. Some of the letters in the personal account are similar. Many soldiers wrote about the same things i.e. light-hearted happy conversations. I got your letter today and you seem rather cheery so as long as Doras all right alls well with the world. So as to not worry their family and friends. The letters and postcards in the official and personal section do not give off the same plan of sustenance on the Western Front. For illustration, Teddy Bennett who was a second lieutenant of the twenty-ninth camp of the Machine Gun Corps described the trenches as eighteen inches and only three feet deep , on ly big enough for a fail pipe.But George Coppard wrote that the trenches were in very good condition and were about six feet in depth enough for two men to pass through comfortably. These two clearly show that trenches varied in condition. The majority of soldiers used the same tone and wrote about similar things efficaciously censoring themselves. The letters and postcards do not give the same flick of life on the Western Front as other sources. The other sources i.e. photos showed soldiers dieing cruel deaths and suffering from relentless injuries and infirmitys. I forefathert phone this type of evidence, personal and official, gives a totally accurate stare of life on the Western Front but they are useful as evidence of soldiers feelings and opinions.Official war artists were commissioned by the government to rouge fork overs/images of the war. Fortunino Matanaia and C.R Nevinson are examples of war artists. Paul Nash was a front line soldier for four months in 1917 but was sent home after an accident. He was then sent back to the Western Front as an official war artist. He was ordered not to show any deadened bodies in his pictures. He gave off a peaceful and honourable impression of the war. The content of some of the paintings in the official section are not reliable because they censored dead bodies. I dont turn over these paintings in the official section are an expression of opinion because the artists were told what to entomb & what to draw.The painting by John Singer showing soldiers blinded by gas seems fairly accurate to me because it was painted in 1918 and during that time some(prenominal) soldiers suffered from tear gas that caused temporary blindness. The painting is very similar to source A5, a photo. I depend source A4, the photo showing two British troops in anti -phosgene masks manning a Vickers machine-gun, was posed to show those back home that anti-phosgene masks were provided for soldiers so more volunteers would sign up to get married the army. I debate it was posed because until after 1916 there were no more volunteers and conscription was introduced.My feelings towards source A9, a photo of two men hard disabled from the war which powerfulness have been used for propaganda purposes, is sympathy. But soldiers would not want pity because they felt proud. This is one of the differences of the two generations. I pretend that they feel the need to smile to show they are strong and they believably recollect they have to put on a brave spirit so their loved-ones wont worry. Sources B9-B13 are more down in the mouth compared to the sources in the official account. The reasons for the difference are officials wanted to conceal all the gruesome deaths that the British soldiers had and only took photos of their peaceful deaths. I think photos, official and personal, are kind of accurate as source of information on the Western Front for a variety of purposes.Punch was a British clownish political magazine. It contained anti-German propaganda. The main purpose of political cartoons is to get a centre across in a more entertaining way. I think source A10 is very useful to historians studying soldiers attitudes to life on the Western Front because it shows that soldiers were pessimistic and fix trench life difficult to handle. I dont think source A13 is reliable. This is because the cartoon was taken from a British political magazine and the Germans were the enemy so they would have wanted to make the Germans look bad. There are a few hints of predetermine in sources A14 and A15, for example Our operations, in conjunction with the French, definitely stopped the German attack, and it has not since been removed. and We progressed North Poziers and hear High wood and Delville extremely severe enemy losses. This is because the articles were compose by the British and also because they were official. Based on what I have read I dont think cartoons and newspaper are reliable. Alt hough it is useful for historians studying soldiers humour.The most famous war poets are Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. Seigfried Sassoon serviced was an officer who suffered from shell shock and had come to the conclusion that the War was pointless. He was sent home on sick leave in 1916. During his second visit to France his views on war became more doubtful about the way in which war was being conducted from a host point of view. By July 1916 he was well enough to return to duty but he couldnt bring himself to do so, so he wrote a statement which he regarded as an act of wilful defiance of military authority. The officials found this hilarious and he was ordered to attend a Medical Board at Chester in July 16th but he failed to attend. A Second Board was arranged at Liverpool on July 20th, which he attended and it was recommended that he be sent to Craiglockhart.Wilfred Owen spent the winter on 1916-7 on the front line but was then sent home on sick leave. He returned to th e front on 1st kinfolk 1918 and was killed on 4th November, seven days before the war ended. He was awarded the Military Cross. Many of the poems were about warfare and the effects of gas and bombardment. For example Dulce et decorum Est by Wilfred Owen tells the story of a phosgene gas attack as troops were making their way back from the front line. This poem is back up by source A5. It is possible that these poems are exaggerated because the soldiers might have been suffering from depression and by writing these poems they were drowning their sorrows.I dont think the poems are inaccurate because they are from soldiers views. Many of the poems are making a specific point i.e. Does it Matter and For the Fallen written by Siegfried Sassoon. The poem Suicide in the trenches by Siegfried Sassoon tells the story of a simpler soldier boy who fought in the war and couldnt cope so committed suicide expresses anti-war sentiment. The poem Returning, we hear the larks written by Isaac Rosenb erg also expresses anti-war sentiment. In the poem Dulce et Decorum Est the title is Latin saying Dulce et Decorum est pro patria mori meaning It is sweet and noble to die for your country. I think it is used in the last line because the soldiers die in the end and the poet is saying it is sweet and noble of them. Also to suck up the wrong.Overall, these poems are quite accurate as evidence of life on the Western Front because they are soldiers points of views and this was the only way they were allowed to express their feelings. Siegfried Sassoon was decided as having affable illnesses because he didnt agree with the way war was conducted. As a result of this he was admitted into a mental hospital to be treated for shell shock. My opinion of the war poets are they were all depressed and found war difficult so they wrote poems to show this. I think they apprise be relied upon as they are the thoughts and feelings of soldiers. Which cannot be ignored and tend to highlight the var iety of experience on the Western Front.The conditions of the trenches were often very bad. The mud was often deep and became very muddy whenever it rained. The trenches were lined with sandbags and collapsed as they modify with water causing the sides to rupture. The trenches were always shelled by enemy artillery which destroyed the sandbags and sides of the trenches so needed frequent repair. Barbed wire lined the alfresco of the trenches to keep the enemy from attacking. Many soldiers experienced illnesses and diseases whilst living in the trenches. trench foot was a common disease which many soldiers got by stand in mud for too long. To prevent this from spreading the soldiers rubbed whale anoint on to their feet everyday. Being bitten by lice was also very common in the trenches. They tried to prevent this by running a lighted compact disk along the seams of their clothing but this only killed the lice, not their eggs. The lice carried a disease called trench fever. I t hink sources A9, B3, B13 would be most useful to historians wanting(p) to find out about the morale of the soldiers. The people today view the war a lot differently compared to the people who lived through it. When you feeling back and take a closer look at the picture you see things differently.Overall, I have a fairly accurate view of life on the Western Front from looking at personal and official accounts. I have found both, official and personal, accounts useful. I cant really put together an accurate picture of what life on the Western Front was actually like using personal accounts because the soldiers may not remember what happened to give an accurate description and would be bias against Germans. The official account has been censored so that also is not really reliable. Therefore I think that by looking at both accounts would give a clearer picture.