Today, we discussed World War I. I believe this war only occurred as a means for Germany to show how strong it was and as a catalyst to unite the people of their country. I believe that Germany being a fairly new country did not get the recognition that it deserved. They believed that they were stronger than the countries of Great Britain and France, who they felt looked down on them. This war was primarily to show that Germany deserved recognition.
I do not believe that the Germans particularly hated the French or the British. I believe the French hated the Germans for all the crimes the Germans committed against them and also the destruction the war had caused the French countryside. I believe that there was really no hatred for the Germans by the British.
Based on the readings we had, I do not feel that there were any bad feelings between the British and the German soldiers. They both were simply obeying orders. World War I was unlike World War II because in the Second World War, hatred was mutual between Germany and the countries they were fighting against. But, in World War I, I believe that a British soldier would have given water to a dying German and the German would have done the same for a British soldier. In one of the letters that an English soldier wrote home, he said that at times they preferred to speak to the German prisoners rather than their French counterparts. I do not believe this to be true during World War II. Also, in the story of Christmas day, where the German and British soldiers agreed not to fire a shot shows that they were not holding resentment towards these men. In World War II, the battles were much more heated, not by mere obligation, but revulsion.
I also believe that the German soldiers on the front lines did not want to use chemical warfare on the British and the French. They were forced to. I believe that the war would have been more civilized if it had not been led by the aristocrats. I believe the aristocrats were willing to do whatever it would take to win and show that Germany was superior to Great Britain and France. I believe this war was one of the last wars that was fought with dignity by both sides. I believe this, like many other wars, was decided by the rich and fought and died by the poor.
I believe the reason there were so many deaths in this war was not because the soldiers were improperly trained, but because the commanding aristocracy was not properly trained, and they also would not admit when they were wrong. I believe the best commanders work their way up; they do not start out at the top. The reason is because they have no true experience, and they have no idea how the conditions truly are and what it takes to be successful in battle. They also do not know the true value of life. Some one who fought in the front lines knows this value, and would never do anything that would put their soldiers in harms way. However, the aristocrats do not know this value; they just want to win. They see soldiers as chess pieces.
An interesting perspective on the events leading up to the war. Certainly in the period after the war, Germany was blamed for the war by the victors and certainly the actions of Germany's leadership helped to initiate the war. I think that you are correct to point to class differences as a part of the explanation for the high casualties in the fighting but I think it more than just the aristocrats failing to care about the poor people in society.
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