Germany
Diary of Ernst Jünger:
July 1, 1916, Monchy, near Arras:
"In the morning I went to the village church where the dead were kept. Today there were 39 simple wooden boxes and large pools of blood had seeped from almost every one of them, it was a horrifying sight in the emptied church."
July 1, 1916, Monchy, near Arras:
"In the morning I went to the village church where the dead were kept. Today there were 39 simple wooden boxes and large pools of blood had seeped from almost every one of them, it was a horrifying sight in the emptied church."
These three artifacts are a display of the different faces that war can have, and shows how different peoples views on war are. The propaganda poster displays a man holding a rifle and grenade. The slogan says “Your fatherland is in danger, register!” while also displaying the benefits that you can receive if you join the militia. This is the face of encouragement that the government had towards war and how they influenced men to join the army by using benefits as a way of persuasion to ensure that there would be enough soldiers to battle with. The German nation responding positively to this propaganda poster, among many, because nearly 3.8 million Germans had joined the army by the time WW1 had started. The diary of Ernst Jünger had displayed the more depressive side of war. This was one of many diary entries that Ernst had written during war, and displays the other side of war that happens after the men get killed. Ernst Jünger approach on war was on the opposite side of the spectrum compared to other portrayals of war from German writer Erich Maria Remarque in that he described the deaths he witnessed in great details and almost scientifically. He also wrote on the affect that death had on soldiers in the trenches, which was very little, displaying how soldiers partied when under constant shellfire, and how soldiers continued to do whatever they were doing at the time when another soldier died. This diary entry can represent the views that some Germans had on war and how they believed that going to war should not be the way that Germany resolved issues. The final artifact is that of a picture displaying four German soldiers wearing gas masks. The Germans introduced gas warfare to WW1 because of the stalemate that was happening between the conflicting armies. The stalemate had caused both armies to create new types of warfare in order to win the battles. With the Germans introducing gas warfare they also had to produce proper protection against gas, leading to the production of gas masks. The production of gas warfare displays the affect that war had on the Germans who had not been in the army. The Germans not in the army had helped make gas masks among many other things, such as supplies and weapons, for the soldiers in order for them to survive.
Britain
These are two propaganda posters that were used by the British government at the time of World War One. As the posters display, there are different ways that the British government tried to persuade men into joining the army. Such as the second poster, it makes the men think about their future. The first picture uses guilt in a way to try to ensure more soldiers will enlist to the army. These posters had changed the view that British citizens had on war and did persuade many people into enlisting into the army. This picture of British men using artillery to attack the Germans displays the use of different weapons in order to try and break the stalemate that was happening because of trench warfare. The British government had to continue creating new warfare and improving technology to try to win the war.