The Experience of War
The nature of the Great War was one of horrible conditions the soldiers on the front line had to endure and the suffering of the civilian population at home. In the passage 'The Experience of War', we are given a first hand look into the conditions that both the soldier and the civilian had to go through during this difficult time. The letter from the soldier expresses his concern over the losses his regiment incurs as well as how the newspapers glorify what is happening on the battlefield. The excerpt from the diary of the Viennese women explains in detail the dilemma that the civilian population had to go through just to get a small serving of horsemeat and the civil unrest associated with it. World War I was an experience that educated all people on the home front as to the gruesome conditions that the soldiers had to go through during times of conflict. The media of the time presented the war as a "romantic endeavour", an adventure that all men should not want to miss. This could not have been farther from the truth. Life in the trenches, on the front lines of the war was intolerable. Men sleeping in the wet mud, with little or no shelter, artillery smashing the earth all around you with their massive concussions and t
The nature of the Great War was for the soldier a life with the constant fear of death and the ever present sounds of battle all around them. The civilian population at home had no idea of the horrible events that occurred on the front lines until well after the war. For the housewives in the city, their lives were filled with misery from the constant hungry that plagued most households and the violence that seemed a daily issue. For the civilian population at home, they did not have to worry so much about the threat of artillery shells bursting around them, but they did have to worry what they were going to eat nearly everyday. In some of the major urban centres of Europe, such as Vienna, there was not enough food and many people went to sleep at night with empty stomachs. There was rationing of many goods, which meant that there was less to go around to the general population. This passages describes how food shortages became such a concern in the area around Vienna that the army started to slaughter reserve calvary horses to try to help relieve the problem. Each person would get "ten dekagrammes (3.5 ounces)" of horse flesh to last them for a week. Considering how easily a full grown man can eat a 12 ounce steak at one dinner and probably still have room for more afterwards makes us realize the extent of suffering those people must have went through. The woman in the passage reveals what people are willing to go through just for that one little piece of meat when she tells us "hundreds of women had spent the night in order . . . to make sure of getting their bit of meat." The masses would have to wait in the "queue" for hours upon hours. "They passed the time by chattering", their conversations would mainly consist of what they have eaten and what they were going to eat. The woman tells us that "one could scent an atmosphere of mistrust", and goes on to explain how everyone seemed to be hiding something , being e
Some common words found in the essay are:
Europe Vienna, Lord God, World War, Experience War', , soldier passage, civilian population, civilian population home, population home, front lines, constant hungry, hit artillery, artillery shell, front lines war, lines war, woman passage, hit artillery shell, newspapers glorify,
Approximate Word count = 1303
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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