Trench Journal-Writing Extension

Trench Journal-Writing Extension

Dear Mother,

I hope you are better. If you have written me I have not gotten your letters and so I am beginning to worry. Have you had your operation yet? Has father been able to pay for it? I wish I could help you but I am stuck here in the hell that is this war. We are losing Mother. We all know it. The reinforcements are few and far between and the enemy just keeps coming. We are being pushed back by an enemy that seems never-ending. I see my friends falling around me and I can do nothing to save them. Sometimes I am gripped with this unimaginable terror that I can do nothing but sit there and wait for it to pass.
The bombs keep falling and the men keep coming and I keep living. I have escaped death by a hairsbreadth countless times and I have gotten rather used to leaving a dugout to get some food and coming back to a smoldering ruin just in time to help shovel it out. I have become a living ghost. I feel as if I have been here for an eternity and there was no before and there will be no after. This war has ruined me and it is all I know. If peace ever does come I do not know if I will be able to function in a normal setting or if I will become a burden to whoever inherits me.
I hope this letter finds you well. I miss you and hope that you will continue to write me; perhaps I will actually receive them. Continue to pray for me, though I do not know if it will do any good for God seems to have abandoned us. No, that’s not true; I am still alive am I not? If you can truly call this miserable existence that I lead life. I hope to see you soon.

Your loving son,
Paul

Song of the Soldiers
by Charles G. Halpine

Comrades known in marches many,
Comrades, tried in dangers many,
Comrades, bound by memories many,
Brothers let us be.
Wounds or sickness may divide us,
Marching orders may divide us,
But whatever fate betide us,
Brothers of the heart are we.
Comrades, known by faith the clearest,
Tried when death was near and nearest,
Bound we are by ties the dearest,
Brothers evermore to be.
And, if spared, and growing older,
Shoulder still in line with shoulder,
And with hearts no thrill the colder,
Brothers ever we shall be. By communion of the banner,
Crimson, white, and starry banner,
By the baptism of the banner,
Children of one Church are we.
Creed nor faction can divide us,
Race nor language can divide us
Still, whatever fate betide us,
Children of the flag are we.

In war the people you fight and die with eventually become closer to you than family. You survive together and lean on each other; you rescue each other and are rescued. Without your comrades you are nothing, but with them you have the potential to be everything. This poem really stresses the bond formed by soldiers when they go to war together. In the line, “But whatever fate betide us, Brothers of the heart are we,” Halpine concedes that they may fall and they may be separated, but no matter what happens, they will always be brothers because of what they have experienced together. Another line that reinforces this is, “Tried when death was near and nearest.” Soldiers must look out for one another and a true brother has been tried, meaning that he has in some way been selfless toward one of his comrades; he has risked something that is dear to him and done it without hesitating for one of his “brothers.” Without family what do you truly have? In war, your family is the soldiers you fight with, the ones you are out risking your life with, and without them, you probably wouldn’t survive.

In war you do not abandon your comrades; you fight to save them just as they would have fought to save you. They are your brothers and you must stick together. This photograph really encompasses that ideal. It shows two men carrying their wounded comrade, they did not just leave him where he fell to die, they are doing whatever they can to help him stay alive because he is there comrade and they are bound by honor and duty to stick together and leave no man behind. Because there are two men carrying him instead of one it signifies the unity of the men who fight, it proves that the character of one man is not unique and that any other man in that army would have simply left the wounded soldier to die, it shows that the soldiers share the same beliefs and the desire to save as many of their comrades as possible. It also shows that the soldiers understand that without teamwork they will be destroyed. If the soldiers of an army simply left their wounded comrades to die without even attempting to save them it would not be an army, it would be a collection of men who have no hope of winning the war because they do not care about one another. They do not understand that if they leave everyone to die soon there will be no one left to save them and they too will fall as the army that was not an army slowly topples into the blood and dust of the battlefield.

Trench Journal-Self-Reflection

I enjoyed this project because it allowed for creativity integrated into technology. We were given a format but it wasn’t completely structured and we were given some leeway with what we wanted. We didn’t have to adhere to a definite format. We were also given the choice of the way we wanted to do it, whether we wanted to do it online or by hand, which I believe made us feel like we had a little more control and a little more freedom.
I do believe that my work reflects my learning because I enjoyed writing as if I were one of the soldiers that had to fight for their country in one of the worst wars of the age, and because I enjoyed it I was more willing to learn and didn’t fight it because I wanted to know.
I learned that I have more of an interest in history than I thought. I really enjoyed reading about the Schlieffen plan and the strategy behind it. I liked how they took into account all the different aspects of the countries, how Russia couldn’t mobilize quickly because of their poor railway conditions and how they could use the Belgium railways for supply lines once they conquered it. I was really interested in how a few changes in the plan could completely change its effectiveness.
War is a deadly business, and the people who start it are not the ones who die. It is the innocents, the people who are swept up by their country for reasons they don’t understand because nobody bothered to explain them to them. War is a disease, and it spreads. Wars are fought because of the pettiness of mankind and their unwillingness to concede that they may be wrong. Whole generations are wiped out because of wars. But is suppose in a way they serve a purpose, they thin out the population. Humans hunt everything, even each other. I suppose that is the bane of being the dominant species, there is no one to maintain our population so we find way s to do it for ourselves.

Trench Journal - Literary Analysis

Trench Journal- Literary Analysis

Chapter 1:

A. In this chapter we are introduced to Paul’s bitterness toward this war and his teacher for failing to educate them properly about it. We hear about his friends and how wonderful it is to finally be full, rejoicing in the fact that there is more than enough to eat because almost half their company has fallen under enemy fire. He tells of the latrines and how they serve as a place of refuge for him and his friends in the war, a place they go for hours to sit and play cards, look at the sky and their surroundings, or just to talk. We hear of the imminent death of a friend, and visit him in the dressing station where we meet his coveted boots that everyone, knowing that he is done for, yearns to have.

B. I believe that Paul feels betrayed, by his country, his teacher, even his family. They pushed him into this war when they knew nothing about it, they saw it only as serving one’s country without having to witness its’ horrors. He is bitter towards them and feels infinitely old, aged by this war that he was pressured into by those he trusted.

C. War continues until someone decides to quench it. Without the person to turn on the hose peace will never be restored. In this cartoon we see the caption, "World Unrest," over various different evils and unpleasantries of the world portrayed in a fire suggesting the terrble state the world is in at the moment. Then we see the hose with "Peace" on it, lying coiled on the ground, untouched by anyone, because it seems that no one really wants peace. Because the people in power haven't done anything to begin the process of rebuilding the safety and security necessary for the people of the world to truly feel as if their government cares about their welfare. If no one cares enough about peace to try to doing something about the violence then we have no hope of survival.
D. War is not about glory, or honor, or patriotism towards one’s country. It is about death and pain and who can kill the most people. Life is not regarded as precious; it is expendable, until you can no longer have it to spend. Then it is begged for by the people who want it and the people who come to them are held onto in case they might get away. Family is something that can be both good, and bad. On the one hand their advice may be good and you may listen to it, trusting them to know and want what is best for you. On the other hand their advice may be bad, clouded by their misguided sense of honor and you follow it for the same reasons, and end up in a situation that causes you great pain and suffering.

Chapter 2:

A. In this chapter we hear of Paul’s training before going to fight. We hear of his platoon leader Corporal Himmelstoss and his dislike of Paul and his class friends. Paul tells of his cruelty and the few times when he was thwarted, and finally their triumph over him in which he bothered them no more. Paul tells us of how this training saved him and his class and how without it they would have gone mad. This is also the chapter in which Kemmerich dies. We hear of how Paul sits by his bed and does his best to console him, to give him hope but how Kemmerich is beyond consoling and knows what lies ahead of him. He tells Paul that Muller can have his boots and then slips away while Paul is off trying to get an uncaring doctor to come help his friend.

B. Paul is angry at the world for cutting off the life of one so young as Kemmerich, who was but nineteen years of age when he died. He is angry at the doctor and the orderly and this war for killing his school friend. He feels that the world is not impacted enough by his death and that they should care more, everyone should care more for the life of this boy who was killed in a war at the age of nineteen. But at the same time he is exhilarated, because he is alive and can fully feel the joy of it through the death of another.

C. War does more than take lives during combat; it leaves behind so many terrible things, famine, anarchy, plague. These are the “ghosts of war.” War doesn’t just affect the people fighting; it affects the civilians, the innocents. In this cartoon the cartoonist has "The ghosts of wars past." Famine, Anarchy, Plague; these are the things that war leaves in its wake. They continue for years to come and their horrors cut swaths from the population of civilians. Also pictured is a sword and roman helmet amidst a pile of wreckage, comparing the German conquest to that of the Romans and bringing to mind the vastness of their conquered lands and the innumerable deaths they sustained and caused in the course of their conquests. War is a bane on this earth and it involves anyone and everyone no matter who they are or how little they did to deserve its destructiveness.

D. War takes the lives of many children who are too young to know better. It cuts off the life of so many who are too young to have truly experienced life, all they know is war. And the sad thing is that is doesn’t seem to matter to the people sending them off to die. Family is something to be cherished. When you are young you should spend as much time with family as possible because you never know how much time you are actually going to have in the future.

Chapter 3:

A. In this chapter we hear about Katzinskey and his resourcefulness. His uncanny ability to find food wherever he goes and the way his friends benefit from it and his enemies don’t. We learn that Paul wishes he could go back to the days of drill back at home with his sour corporal. He tells of their final triumph over Himmelstoss, how they beat him black and blue on the eve of their departure to the war.

B. Paul feels old and all knowing, like he can learn nothing else about the horrors of war. He sees the young recruits and remembers when he was that green and naïve, and laughs with his friends at their disgust at turnip rations. He yearns for their training days and rejoices in the way they prepared them for what was in store. He rejoices in his friends and the camaraderie they share, the bond they have formed from the war.

C. The League of Nation's victory over the axis of power was extremely unexpected and a little unbelievable. This cartoon portrays a baby taking on a three-headed, six-armed giant wielding a myriad of terrifying weapons, armed only with a sling-shot and some pebbles. It brings to mind the story of David and Goliath from the bible and portrays the incredible victory the League of Nations won over the Axis of power. The rocks represent the various Nations of the League and their own individual efforts and accomplishments in the victory over the greater powers. To use the words of one of our illustrious presidents, "United we stand, divided we fall."

D. War hardens you, creates an entirely different person from your former, carefree self. It also forms bonds between soldiers that are unbreakable because without them you wouldn’t survive. These bonds survive throughout your life, whether or not you actually see the person again, you remember them and what they meant to you. They are your family in war, they are all that you have in the world during that point in time and therefore they are all that matter.

Chapter 4:

A. This chapter tells the story of a span at the front, of bombs falling and horses screaming, of new recruits soiling themselves during it all. It tells of the horrors that even a short bombardment can cause and of the dreaded gas that slowly and painfully kills you while you cough up burnt pieces of your lungs. It tells of a bombardment where the only cover available for Paul’s unit is a graveyard. And so they crouch behind mounds of earth as shells whistle through the air above them, wounding men whose cries are muffled by the sounds of the guns.

B. Paul is afraid, but he is not terrified. His is wise fear; a fear that keeps him alive throughout the long hours of shelling that is his fate. Without that fear he would have died long ago and he knows it, so he does not try to banish it, he embraces it and uses it to his advantage to keep himself alive.

C. During war various fights often break out amongst powerful figures in a single country because of various contradicting opinions on the best course of action for that country at that particular time. In this cartoon Dr. Seuss portrays numerous cats fighting each other. The cats represent the US decision makers duking it out over what they should do and not focusing on actually putting into motion a plan to end the Nazi threat because their own egos' are so swelled they won't even entertain the notion of listening to each other. He also refers to the natzis' as "rats," implying that we are the hunters and they are the prey but because we are too preoccupied over whose territory they're in we are fighting each other instead of them. Power corrupts and so must be kept in balance, but when people cannot come to a decision and their is an equal balance of power, what are we to do?

D. War first makes a boy of you before making you into a man. You must experience the terror of that first night of death before you are hardened by it so that you can think throughout it. You must learn from your fear in order to keep yourself alive and being a man means knowing when to cower amongst the graves to stay alive.

Chapter 5:

A. Himmelstoss finally arrives and he immediately comes up to them, demanding to be treated as an officer, in his opinion, should. Tjaden insults him and is court-martialed, given three days open arrest. Kropp mocks him and is given one day open arrest. They talk of how war has ruined them for anything else and what they are going to do when peacetime finally arrives, if it arrives. Paul and Kat go and steal a goose, Paul getting attacked by a bulldog in the process, and cook it, taking some to the two imprisoned men who regard them as “magicians.”

B. Paul is eternally grateful for Kat. He loves him, even, and is not ashamed to say it. The camaraderie he shares with Kat is so great that they can communicate without words, or gestures even, they can simply sit there and communicate things that no words can express.

C. German ingenuity is both a blessing and a terror; during WWI their constant creation of new and terrible ways to wage war left the Allied Nations struggling to keep up. One of these creations was the submarine, or U-boat, as the Germans called it. A vehicle that could travel underwater. In this cartoon we see a skeleton riding on one of these U-boats, suggesting that with them rides death for the navy of anyone who opposes them. Underneath is the caption "The New Death," reinforcing the supposed obsession the Germans have of creating new ways to kill people and portraying them as cruel heartles beings of whom it is difficult to think as humans. if the Germans had put their talents to better use, perhaps their country would be in a much better state than it is in now.

D. You cannot survive in war without your friends, both physically and mentally they keep you whole, sane, and complete. They become your family and your friends. Your saviors and your confidents. They are your comrades, and you must watch as they fall around you.

Chapter 6:

A. This chapter tells of a span at the front. Of the constant shelling of the enemy and finally there attack. After one man has run of the dugout because of claustrophobia and been blown to pieces by the enemy. Two others were restrained from doing the same and one has gone mad. Food is scarce because no one can get through the heavy shelling. It tells of the thwarted attack of the enemy and the pursuing them to their trenches, throwing grenades into every dugout and stealing the food of their enemies so that they won’t starve. It tells of the new recruits, so young, with no experience and their blind courage. It tells of their slaughter and the attempts of Paul and his comrades at teaching them something, anything that might keep them alive another day. It never works because they are too green. It tells of Paul’s encounter with Himmelstoss, and his disgust with him and his cowardice. It tells the story of how one-hundred and fifty men went to the front, and thirty-two came back.

B. Paul feels remorse at all the deaths of those young recruits, cruelly sent to the front by men who surely must have known the inevitable fate that lay in store for them. During the fighting he is little more than an animal, unfeeling even towards his own countrymen as he sees them lying there, blown apart by the bombs of their enemy. Away from the front line he regains some of his humanity, and begins to feel again.

C.

D. War turns men into beasts. Animals fighting only to survive, no matter the cost. Survival is all that matters in war and those with no experience do not survive. They are killed almost immediately, and yet they keep coming. A steady stream of youngsters who know almost nothing. They still hold onto their former life, they do not yet miss it and it is still a part of them.

Chapter 7:

A. They return from the front for a few days rest. There is thirty-two of their company left out of one-hundred and fifty. While swimming one day they meet some French women who invite them over to their house. They go over that night with food as gifts, getting Tjaden drunk so that he will fall asleep because there are only three girls for the four of them. Paul gets seventeen days leave. He goes home but it no longer feels like his home. He is no longer the carefree youth that feared his schoolteacher’s wrath. He is a hardened soldier who is simply annoyed by the naïveté of his former superiors and their grand ideas about what should happen. They know nothing. His mother is sick and does not wish to talk about the war, for which Paul is infinitely grateful. His old schoolteacher is now a territorial and he and one of his old school friends have great fun torturing him. The night before he leaves once again his mother comes and sits by his bed and they talk, Paul doing his best to comfort her. She is in pain and Paul finally gets her to bed, but not before wishing he could just bury his head in her lap and cry as if he was the boy of long ago.

B. Paul feels out of place in his hometown, he no longer belongs there, can no longer function in a normal setting. All he knows is war and he yearns for the carefree days of his youth that he knows will never come again.

C. Political Cartoon

D. Some people, after going to war, are no longer able to live a normal life. The have been ruined by war and war is all they know. They no longer connect with their families and friends and try to distant themselves from those who know nothing of war.

Chapter 8:

A. Paul tells of the Russians in the training camp. About how miserable they look and how they are fed barely enough to survive. But he does not feel sympathy for them because he cannot talk to them, and sees only how miserable they look. His father and sister visit on the last Sunday and they talk of his mother and her cancer. His father has no money for the operation that is necessary so he will have to work overtime to raise the money.

B. Paul feels helpless. He can do nothing but stand and watch as his mother slowly dies from an incurable disease. His father will work from morning until midnight to raise the money that may or may not cure her, and he can do nothing to help because he will be back on the front line.

C. Political Cartoon

D. War keeps men away from their families, their mothers, brothers and sisters. They must watch from a distance as their families suffer from the war that they are fighting in.

Chapter 9:

A. Paul returns to the war and searches for his regiment. He finally finds them and is reunited with his old friends. He learns that they may be bound for Russia, and they are being issued new gear if their’s is torn. They finally learn that the Kaiser is coming, which is the reason for all the polishing they have been made to do and the new gear. There is a discussion among them about war and why it starts. About how, even though it is the simple folk who make up most of the country but it is there rulers who make the decision. They are the only ones who benefit, not the simple folk. They learn that they are not actually going to Russia, but back up the line. On the way they pass much destruction, dead men scattered everywhere. Paul volunteers to go on a patrol mission to see how heavily their enemy is manned and is suddenly consumed with a terror that he cannot explain or rationalize. He is finally reassured by the sounds of his comrades behind him in the trenches, them talking and walking about gives him renewed courage to climb out of the hole he is in. He becomes disoriented and suddenly a bombardment begins, he is forced to lie low and pretend to be dead as they pass by him after the bombardment. One of the enemy stumbles into his hole and he strikes madly at him. Paul finds that he does not have the strength to kill him and retreats to the far side of their hole to watch him die. It becomes light and Paul slowly creeps over to him, he tries to help him, giving him water and bandaging him so that he might be a little more comfortable. He dies in the afternoon, and Paul soon misses his gurgling. He begins to think about the dead mans life, his wife. He begins to feel guilty about killing him, begins to think of “what ifs.” He picks up his pocket-book and looks through it, looking for something that will identify him, finding pictures of a woman and a small girl. He makes promises, but knows that he will not fulfill them, and makes plans to escape back to his people. He accomplishes this, and meets up with his comrades. He tells them the story of the printer the next day, and they try to calm him, succeeding. And Paul no longer feels remorse, “After all, war is war.”

B. At first Paul feels guilty about the affair with the printer. He makes empty promises about helping his family or writing his wife. When he makes it back to his own trenches his friends soon soothe his guilt. And he sees the affair as silly, he only felt guilt because he was there with the man and had to look at him, he tells himself, and he is convinced.

C. Political Cartoon

D. Family is a compelling motivator, when faced with it one may lose all rationality and become flustered. One may do anything to make the feeling of guilt go away, to remove that overwhelming sense that you are damned for all eternity. In war one often faces these situations, and soon after comes to the conclusion that they were simply feelings brought on by the situation and mean nothing.

Chapter 10

A. Paul and his friends have been ordered to guard an abandoned village. They search through the village and come up with all sorts of things, beds, sheets, eggs, butter, and even two live pigs which are a real treat. They cook the food and have a time getting it back to the dugout because the smoke has been spotted, but they all make it. Unfortunately they become sick from all the fat and are out many times during the night to, shall we say, relieve themselves. They leave the village, that paradise of plenty, taking the four poster bed with them and the cat. They go to evacuate a village and are fired upon, Kropp is hit in the leg and they must run for cover. They leap over a hedge into a ditch where there is sufficient cover but soon realize that they must get out. They are picked up by a passing ambulance wagon. They are informed that they are both off for home and bribe the medical sergeant-major so that they can stay together. They go off in the train in the same car, on beds with clean white linen sheets. Albert becomes feverish and Paul fakes a fever so that they may be put off at the same station to a Christian hospital. While they stay in the hospital Paul witnesses many things, many deaths, many injuries, and a few miracles. One of his roommates’ wives comes and visits and they do what they can to give them some time for, reacquainting themselves with one another, and succeed. He goes home once more and once more must leave once more for the line.

B. Paul feels a sense of loyalty toward his friend and comrade. And he must stay with him through his time of need. He travels with him to the hospital and heals with him, making sure he does not commit suicide in his absence.

C. Political Cartoon

D. War ruins many lives, and creates none immediately. It first destroys indiscriminately. Friends must stick together and families are destroyed. Loyalty is born and infidelity is rife. Life comes to a standstill and everything revolves around the war and those in it.

Chapter 11:

A. Time seems to have stopped for Paul, and is just an endless circle of the death and destruction that is this war. Detering deserts and is caught heading back to Germany. They hear no more of him. Berger goes mad and tries to either rescue a dog or put it out of it’s’ misery, he gets a wound in the pelvis and is carried off. Muller is dead and bequeathed to Paul the boots he got so long ago from Kemmerich. Their Company Commander falls in one attack and Leer in the same. They all know that they are losing the war but still they press on, and still they die in hordes. The summer of 1918 is the worst of the war; they have no more men to send to die. It seems hopeless, they are outnumbered and there supplies are pitifully low. Kat falls with a shin wound, and Paul carries him back to the dressing station, but he is dead. He caught a splinter in the head on the journey to his salvation.

B. Paul feels all alone. He is the definition of desperation and loneliness and truly has nothing to live for. All his friends have fallen in the war and he is all that is left of his class. There is no one else. How can he go on, why should he go on? What’s the use?

C. Political Cartoon

D. Without friends you are nothing. Without other people to validate your existence what is the point of you living. You no longer have a purpose in life and you feel like everything is lost. War takes away your purpose, and all you can do is watch as it slowly destroys you.

Chapter 12:

A. Paul has fourteen days rest because he has swallowed some gas. Everywhere rumors float of peace, and hope is in the air. Paul yearns for home, and even he believes in the truth of peace now. But he wonders what will become of his generation. They will be pushed aside, bewildered, confused by the older and younger. He is now without hope, utterly alone, but he has his life.

B. Paul feels a little helpless and confused. He does not know what will happen to him after the war because all he knows is war. He does not know if he will be able to adapt or if he will simply be pushed aside, if he will no longer matter. He feels useless, and believes that they can take no more from him.

C. Political Cartoon

D. War changes you. And after war, you either adapt and go on to lead a full life with a family, you go mad, or you stand and watch as the younger generation pushes you aside as useless, because all you know is war.

Trench Journal-Interview

1. Do you ever feel guilty for killing the soldiers of your people’s enemies?
2. Do you believe in this war?
3. What is it like to be on the battlefield? What does that kill or be killed mindset that is a necessity in war feel like?
4. Do you know what you are fighting for or do you blindly follow the orders of officers you have never met and who may be corrupt?
5. Would you rather be at home or do you feel more at home on the battlefield than in the place you grew up?

Trench Journal: Battlefield Orders

Trench Journal: Battlefield Orders

The weapons used by us have been modified and created just for this war. The Flamethrower, which is a weapon that spreads fire by burning fuel, has been wonderfully effective in clearing the trenches of our enemies. The French have tanks, huge metal vehicles that seem like monsters when coming towards us as they cut through our trench defenses. The German army does not use them, even though the French and the English have proven countless times with the number of German deaths that they are marvelously effective. The machine gun is another ingenuity of our time, with their great barrels and belts of bullets that would stream forth and rain hell upon our enemies. Unfortunately, because these machine guns kill so many, they are the target of every rifle of our enemies and as a result, not many men who operate them survive. But because machine guns are worth about 80 rifles, the lives of two men are a sacrifice our commanders are willing to make, even though it's not their lives they're gambling with. U-boats are another deadly invention that we, with all of our German intelligence and wisdom, have created. The U stands for undersea, thus, Undersea boat. These vessels slide through the water underneath the boats of our enemies and decimate them, though they are most effective in enforcing naval blockades against enemy shipping. Planes were, for a time, used to deliver bombs and to spy on our enemy. But eventually they morphed into fighter planes with mounted machine guns, bombs and the occasional cannon. Three inch mortars are old weapons that found new life in this war. They are short tubes that are fired at a steep angle and can thus be fired over our people and onto the heads of our enemies.

No Man’s Land is the area of land between us and the French. I cannot count how many newly arrived soldiers have died on their first day because they could not resist its allure, peering over the parapet to gaze at it and falling from a well aimed bullet from enemy snipers, put there it seems, for that very reason.

The most effective gas by far has been poison gas, though we have on occasion been ordered to fire tear gas. Death by gas is much worse then death by gunfire, it is long and drawn out and the victim goes through weeks of agony before finally succumbing. Every time a gas attack is spotted, a bell is wrung and we must scramble to put on the masks that may or may not be effective in protecting us from the deadly menace.

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, aka “The Red Baron” was a famous pilot. He was the commander of the flying circus, a unit comprised of the top flyers in the German army. He was shot down pursuing an enemy aircraft, after eighty confirmed kills.

The Schlieffen plan was a plan created by Alfred Graf von Schlieffen in 1905 that was subsequently destroyed by the modifications of Helmuth von Mutke in 1906 following Schlieffen’s retirement. The plan was created by Schlieffen as an attempt to avoid a war on two fronts with Russia and France. It called for the quick destruction of France by sending 91 % of the German army to France and 9 % to Russia. The idea was that by destroying France quickly they could move on to Russia before the Tsar had time to mobilize his forces due to the poor railways of his country. Helmuth von Moltke succeeded Schlieffen and made modifications that may have been the downfall of the plan. Von Mutke decided not to send as many troops to France in order to fortify Alsace Lorraine and the Russian border. Because of the lack of troops the Germans were not able to break through the Allied forces into France and without that break through the plan was destroyed. He also decided to reach France via Belgium only and not go through both Belgium and the Netherlands. This created a bottleneck and a supply problem because they did not have access to the Dutch railways.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne. In August of 1914 he was assassinated by Serbian activist Gavrilo Princip. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 18 1914, which began the domino effect. Russia, who had ties to Serbia, was seen as a threat to Germany’s existence and so Germany, who was bound to Austria-Hungary by treaty, declared war on Russia.

Helen Burrey is a World War I nurse caring for wounded men in the cars of a train. In her journal she writes of her experience as one of the first nurses to be sent to France to care for the wounded. Her explanations seem all too familiar to me, even though we are on opposite sides of the war, she being an American. She tells of the sufferings of her patients and the ordeals they go through, just to die.

The notion of Pal battalions was a scheme to get people to enlist in the army. The idea was to get whole towns and villages to sign up with the promise that they would serve together. It was met with enthusiasm and whole towns did indeed come in flocks to sign up. Unfortunately those who enlisted together also died together and as a result whole towns were killed by this system. Personally I think it is a stupid system. Yes you get to be with your friends, but you also have to watch them die. You are the ones sitting by their bedside as they slip away into oblivion. Maybe it’s a blessing for them but for you, it’s agony.