World War 1 opinion essay
World War I Opinion Essay
Most wars can have a dramatic and lasting effect on those who are involved in it. This can easily be seen in the case of World War I and how it shaped the world economically and socially. When first learning of the war, Europeans were ready to take up arms for their country and not at all suspecting the kind of destruction that would occur. On the day that France declared war, Roland Doregeles describes in That Fabulous Day, “No more poor or rich, proletarians or bourgeois, right-wingers or militant leftists; there were only Frenchmen[...] The word “duty” had a meaning for them, and the word “country” had regained its splendor” (Document 1). They thought that the war would only last a fraction of the time that it actually did but due to the advances in weapons and new battle techniques involving trenches, it waged on for four long years from 1914 to 1918. By the time the Western and Eastern fronts were established, it was clear that the war would not be won quickly due to the stalemate that neither the Allies nor the Central Powers could break. This was the turning point in people’s attitudes towards being involved in such a destructive war as WWI. During this stalemate, people began to witness the senseless killing that left 15 million dead, 20 million wounded or disabled, and many orphaned or homeless. After ending the war with an armistice on November 11, 1918, people all around the world had been affected in some way and they had come to realize that war was not something to be celebrated but rather to fear and hate. Throughout World War I, people’s opinions differed greatly from start to finish and were changed through the death and destruction that the war brought with it.
In the waning moments before the war, the mood among many eager Europeans was of excitement and anticipation. The reason for people welcoming the idea of a war of this magnitude lied in the ideas of militarism and nationalism. These helped
Most wars can have a dramatic and lasting effect on those who are involved in it. This can easily be seen in the case of World War I and how it shaped the world economically and socially. When first learning of the war, Europeans were ready to take up arms for their country and not at all suspecting the kind of destruction that would occur. On the day that France declared war, Roland Doregeles describes in That Fabulous Day, “No more poor or rich, proletarians or bourgeois, right-wingers or militant leftists; there were only Frenchmen[...] The word “duty” had a meaning for them, and the word “country” had regained its splendor” (Document 1). They thought that the war would only last a fraction of the time that it actually did but due to the advances in weapons and new battle techniques involving trenches, it waged on for four long years from 1914 to 1918. By the time the Western and Eastern fronts were established, it was clear that the war would not be won quickly due to the stalemate that neither the Allies nor the Central Powers could break. This was the turning point in people’s attitudes towards being involved in such a destructive war as WWI. During this stalemate, people began to witness the senseless killing that left 15 million dead, 20 million wounded or disabled, and many orphaned or homeless. After ending the war with an armistice on November 11, 1918, people all around the world had been affected in some way and they had come to realize that war was not something to be celebrated but rather to fear and hate. Throughout World War I, people’s opinions differed greatly from start to finish and were changed through the death and destruction that the war brought with it.
In the waning moments before the war, the mood among many eager Europeans was of excitement and anticipation. The reason for people welcoming the idea of a war of this magnitude lied in the ideas of militarism and nationalism. These helped