What made WW1 more depressing and bleak when compared to every other war?
Is it because there really was no point and was all just mindless violence and blood-shed?
What made WW1 more depressing and bleak when compared to every other war?
Hunter Torres
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Christian Kelly
War was always brutal, now the upper and middle classes, who could write were sent to war.
Leo Cruz
Upper and middle classes always went to war. Leave your kindergarten class politics out of this.
Hunter Turner
trench warfare and all of it's horrors(skin literally slipping off your foot if you kept your boots on for too long).
Massive casualties and death more indiscriminate and industrial in scope(great soldier? oops, he just got killed or horribly maimed by a round or machine gun bullet. Next!).
disturbing weapons(poison gas, machine gun)
War more ideological.
Aaron Evans
Actually World War one was a holocaust of British nobility and educated males. Part of the reason it was such a travesty to be honest...
Leo Harris
because in most cases, there was nothing to show for all the fighting in death.
There were plenty of morale boosters in World War II to keep the soldiers going. Russians recaptured Kiev and took Berlin, British and US forces secured Normandy or sicily, etc. There was something to show for their hard work.
but in WWI, all that work and struggle was met with almost nothing. A battle at the Somme river that rages for months and kills damn near 1 million people, and all there is to show is a few hundred yards of territory gained. Having to exert that much effort for no reward is absolutely soul-crushing for soldiers morale.
Xavier Adams
Media coverage.
Logan Reed
Jews
Nicholas Lee
Get ready for a long ass list man
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Noah Peterson
They are still feeling the effects of it today
Blake Reed
Obligatory:
Ryder Diaz
>over the top
>no counter measures against gas early on
>trench conditions
>disease, bacterial infection and starvation
All for a couple of feet at a time
Blake Nelson
ww1 had new technology mixed with the shitty old thinking, the type that had the british not use machine guns because it was not sporting. this type of thinking got the armies to dig in, making the war more centered on attrition than on the taking of land.
the objective was a major factor, in WW1 the militaries wer more concerned with making the other side run out of money and troops, which means battles longer. in general longer battles are more gruesome.
Carter Reyes
>the type that had the british not use machine guns because it was not sporting.
>this type of thinking got the armies to dig in
Wow Veeky Forums is really going off the deep end this time.
Blake Thompson
>biggest war since Napoleon (nearly a century)
>convoluted beginnings (British boys are being sent for the sake of tiny Belgium? French boys are being sent because of Nicky's Balkan ambitions?)
>death tolls that were staggering ( unlike anyone had ever seen in their lifetime)
>Attrition is not romantic (kids were sold a war by their leaders that was suppose to be glorious & uplifting, turned out to be anything but)
>horrible new methods of killing people
>appears that young boys are paying for the sins of old men
>disconnect between the flowery encouragements of the generals and the situation on the ground (especially for France, while the 'donkeys leading lions' is a misconception, France's ill-conceived doctrine of the offensive was a blundering tragedy)
>seemingly futile engagements (On the Western front)
>millions of soldiers coming back maimed or insane
>war drags on in a stalemate for years and years with no substantial change except bodycount (again western front, writers were musing about 'a war that never ends')
>worst flu epidemic of all time hits during the war, millions more dead
>brought just about everyone to the brink of collapse (seemingly apocalyptic)
>unsatisfying peace
>post-war depression (economies of France, Britain, Germany & Russia didn't recover to pre-war years until the eve of WW2)
The Great War was really the first time you had total war between industrialized nations, nobody quite knew what to expect and the results were more horrid than anything that had been seen in anyone's lifetime. The war shattered the pre-war idealism and replaced it with a brooding cynicism, which was fertile grounds for the rise of fascism.
Leo Harris
Meanwhile in 1865:
"Fighting from holes in the ground and using telegraph wire to trap soldiers? How barbaric, clearly those idiot colonials have no idea how to fight war like us gentlemen."
>*goes back to eating baguette/schnitzel/boiled beef*
Zachary Williams
Atrocious leadership and pointless objectives.
Joshua Morris
Hourly reminder that nietzsche predicted both world wars
Austin King
>There was really no point
God damn, let's put this meme to rest. Every major power had damn good reasons to fight. Perhaps some of them gained those reasons after the fighting started, but the were still good reasons.
Austria needed to defend it's reputation after the second most important man in their country was shot. It also needed to shore up regional influence in the face of increasing irrelevance.
Russia needed to intervene or risk becoming a second stringer.
Germany needed to bank up its only reliable ally, while also taking action against the conspiracy if surrounding powers to limit its power and respect in the world stage.
France was invaded, say no more.
Britain had to defend its position as global hegemon, and after Belgium was invaded had to prove that its oath held value.
America needed an excuse to draw attention away from Wilson being a shitty human being.
Luke Collins
>America needed an excuse to draw attention away from Wilson being a shitty human being.
Why the hate for Wilson?
Logan Butler
Mostly the fact that he was a massive hypocrite. It got to the point that when he was preparing to give a speech denouncing "gunboat diplomacy" and promoting self determination, his secretary of state had to point out that he had authorize the invasions if several central and south American countries. Similarly, he called for the international community to recognize oppressed (white) minorities in European empires, while turning a blind eye to the horrific conditions in the colonies of the Entente, and actively opposing civil rights at home.
In my opinion, this stemmed from a fundamental flaw in his character. It's well documented that he was religious to the point if extremism. He legitimately thought that God wanted him to be president, and that his political opponents were sent by the devil to oppose him. He couldn't wrap his head around the idea that people might oppose him based on the merit, or lack thereof, of his policy.
He also paved the way for America to assume the ruinous role of world police, the effects of which we still feel today. In the interest of fairness, it was Teddy that opened that can of worms.
Plus, he signed the federal reserve act and the 17th through 19th amendments. Fuck that noise.
Evan Russell
>The Crimean war never happened
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