Promises of the honor of war were recalled with irony among the soldiers of the war. As they lay in the trenches among the horrors of the war they could not help but notice that all was not as they had been promised. Instead of being basked in the glory of war, they were covered in feces and the rotting flesh of horses. They had been promised glory, they had expected greatness, but instead they were narrowly escaping death at every turn, only dumb luck separated them from the men whose bodies lay rotting in the mud. Rats the size of domestic cats roamed the trenches, gorging themselves on the dead soldiers, and nibbling at the live soldiers while they slept. Fleas were rampant, and because of them many soldiers suffered from Trench Fever which began as unbearable pain and a fever. It became impossible to escape the damp, and during the winters snow would cover the battlefield and many men died from exposure or lost extremities to frost bite. At times the rain would fill the trenches until the soldiers were submerged to their waists'. Soldiers of World War I knew that their king and country expected them to fight to the death. Such was the expectation of their military commanders, their political leaders and even their loved ones that there was no question that if mortal danger came, they should face it like men. It was the only way for good to triumph over evil. But WWI quickly became the most brutal war in history and not even the most seasoned serviceman was prepared for the scale of carnage that unfolded before him. For many the horror proved too much. Hundreds were unable to cope, many were driven insane and several simply ran away, the others became desensitized to death, to the horror the war presented. The soldiers did not fight for their countries', they fought for their lives, and the lives of their fellow soldiers.
Dulce Et Decorum Est
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Wilfred Owen
A sense of distrust of political leaders and government officials pervaded the minds of the people who had witnessed the horror and destruction that the war brought about. After the destruction of the war, people abandoned all previous ideals and were in need of revolutionary new ideas to replace their old ones. A feeling of disillusionment spread across the world as people bitterly questioned everything they knew to be true. Anything which existed before the war was reevaluated. Any belief, any truth, anything and everything was doubted. The brutality of man became painfully clear as 1 in 4 men lost his life in battle, and an estimated 10 to 13 million died, nearly one third being civilians Many felt lost, and a widespread acceptance of the futility of purity permeated society. World War I gave way to a cultural revolution. The turbulent period after World War I called for a major readjustment of art, music, culture, philosophy, politics, and views on the world. The 1920s were a time when people launched head first into the new.
“They were smart and sophisticated, with an air of independence about them, and so casual about their looks and clothes and manners as to be almost slapdash. I don't know if I realized as soon as I began seeing them that they represented the wave of the future, but I do know I was drawn to them. I shared their restlessness, understood their determination to free themselves of the Victorian shackles of the pre-World War I era and find out for themselves what life was all about.”
Colleen Moore
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