World War One

What everyone believed was going to be a short, decisive war between the European states turned into The Great War, also known as World War 1. It began in 1914 as countries mobilized their military causing an outburst of nationalist pride and ended in 1918, closing a horrendous chapter in world history. Soldiers would enter the war searching for glory and an escape from the boring way of life at home. A wide range of writers of this era sought to capture the experience of men and women in combat and at home. During the war, Wilfred Owen wrote “Dulce et Decorum Est,” where he describes how the British Government had lied to it’s people, while Ernst Junger’s The Storm of Steel describes his experience in the German army. Though these two men each view the new methods of destruction caused by war as participants, they view how they became participants in a vastly different manner.

On July 28 1914, Austria declared war on Serbia. A few days later, Germany declared war on Russia, and France. The idea of national pride and eagerness for power soon had all of Europe at war. Ernst Junger embraces the idea of German citizens marching towards death for a stronger and more precious Germany. “It is not every generation that is so favoured” (Junger, 317). Junger believes that patriotism is a motivating force, even in defeat. “Germany lives and Germany shall never go under” (Junger, 319). On the other hand, Owen describes young boys as “old beggars coughing like hags,” (Owen, 1) that were not happy fighting. “On the haunting flares we turned our backs and towards our distant rest began to trudge” (Owen, 1). Owen believes that his fellow soldiers are being stripped of their youth and masculinity by participating in a war. He believes that the British government sent them off to war in search for glory where there is only death. Owen does not limit himself to comment only on the physical suffering but also on the psychological damage the soldiers suffer. The nightmare of the trenches can never be erased. The images of the dead haunted him in his sleep. He could see “in all [his] dreams, before [his] helpless sight, [a soldier who plunges at him], guttering, chocking, drowning” (Owen, 1). Once you have seen so much you could not forget. Owen suggested that soldiers had no idea of a righteous cause or a meaning behind their sacrifice. His poem acknowledged the awful cost of war and even questioned the “glory” that led his fellow soldiers to the trenches. Owen’s poem was written in direct response to patriotic and sentimental slobber. “Dulce et Decorum Est” translated is as follows: it is sweet and proper to die for one’s country. “To children ardent for some desperate glory, the old Lie: Dulce et decorum Est” (Owen, 1). Owen and Junger differ vastly in their perception of Patriotism.

During World War 1 nations clearly knew whom they had to fight against. Germany was clearly up against Russia, France, and Great Britain. Citizens of these nations had a changing sense of the enemy. During the beginning of the war, German soldiers had respect for British troops. “The only comfort was that the English were no better off, for they could be seen busily scooping the water out of their trench” (Junger, 48). As the war went on, British troops were supplied with better weapons, and so this respect was lost. “This [communication trench] showed the unequal terms on which [the Germans] fought,” for if [they] had ventured on anything like it [their] men would have been shot to pieces in a few minutes” (Junger, 102). Based on Junger’s accounts, the

Germans clearly knew who their enemy was. On the contrary, Owen never clearly points at a nation and labels them as the enemy. Owen’s enemy is the war itself. The British government tells his fellow soldiers that they are desperate for glory, and glory awaited them on the battlefield.

Both Owen and Junger perceive aspects of the Great Was differently, and at the same time, they both note that there is an increase in technology. During World War 1 planes were used for the first time to bomb targets and lunch gas attacks, and machine guns would take out an entire line of soldiers. “A whitish wall of gas, fitfully illumined by the light of the rockets” (Junger, 83). Gas attacks would wither any green of living thing. “Gas! Gas! Quick boys! – An Ecstasy of fumbling, fitting the clumsy helmets just in time” (Owen, 1). Both Owen, and Junger noted these new forms of fighting the enemy.

Glory and fanatic nationalism at the beginning of the war was the motivation for people to join. By the end of the war that same fervor for power and a nation’s desire for supremacy and absolute control represented a disgrace to the human race. Literature of this era paints the devastation that the world involved itself in. In The Storm of Steel, Junger’s perception of the enemy and patriotism differs from that of Owen in “Dulce et Decorum Est,” and at the same time, they both note the increase in technology. What they assumed to be joyful and a display of pride turned into something disgusting that marked humanity for the rest of our lives. War is never good but it is even worse when it is not for a noble cause. One could not justify with strong arguments the sacrifice of all those who participated in it. The First World War was the first tragedy of the Twentieth century. Emerged in great shame we can say it was not cruel or barbaric enough to make us stop the race for auto destruction.