Soldiers in WWI
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This paper is a meditation on the moral and cultural values and motives that sustained the soldiers of both sides in the trenches of World War I. It draws from several different sources, including the first volume of Winston ChurchillÆs autobiography, Modris EcksteinsÆ Rites of Spring, and two articles, one by Thomas Cleary, introducing his translation of Sun TzuÆs The Art of War, the other by Bruce Lincoln, titled ôWars and Warriors: An Overview.ö The Great War pitted the past against the future, entrenched convention against a new order, the status quo against the avant-garde. On an individual scale, however, it pitted human beings against one another. The British and the Germans who faced one another across the trenches began the war with much in common. Soldiers on each side fought because they believed in their country and their cause. In the end, BritainÆs victory did not prevent disillusion and change on a deeply personal level for the men who fought and for their descendants. Those who write about war and the world events leading to war and affected by its outcome are concerned with a large picture and a significant sweep of history. When they focus on individuals, it is on the individuals in charge or those who take important actions at critical moments. Yet wars cannot be fought without the common soldier, the expendable casualty, the guy following orders. When historians look at these people, it is usually to quote a letter home to try to glimpse life i
. . .
her foreign landscapes.
The German soldier also came from a long tradition, but his nation was new and proud of that newness. Eksteins suggests, ôGermany had, in the eyes of the British, replaced France as the incarnation of flux and irresponsibility in the worldö (116). The German would have viewed things differently. British empire, colonization, and the British definition of civilization were old ideas from an old nation. Germany, on the other hand, represented a new way of thinking, appropriate to a modern age. Germany was a new source of creativity and cultural expansion, and the soldier in the trenches could take real pride in his countryÆs vigor and vitality.
Bruce Lincoln writes:
Ideological constructs supply the means necessary to persuade individuals to join in combat, providing them with motivation sufficiently great that they are willing to risk their lives, even in situations . . . wherein they stand to reap quite little in the way of personal gain (140).
The British soldier was motivated by a construct that gave him confidence in BritainÆs historic and ongoing ability to provide the ultimate model of civilized behavior. The German soldier was motivated by a construct that made him sure that the Bri
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1422
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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