I mean, when he had his eye tests and they said at first he couldn't go. Would you not feel relieved? ALthough I'm guessing those poor boys didn't know what they were in for signing up... I dunno..
Step Up is the sex! x
People didn't know about the true horrors of war when they signed up. There was so much propaganda around which basically said "If you don't sign up you are a coward". Soldier's were glorified, all you heard was exagerated stories of British fighters killing Germans
War was nothing like how men and women imagined it to be. They thought they'd be out there for a few months and be back by Christmas, they never anticipated that it would last so many years or that the Germans would be so well prepared.
I'm doing War Literature for my Lit A-Level and I'm becoming obsessed with War--not i a bad way though. I love the poetry. When all the men went over I was just imagining how terrifying it would be!
www.myspace.com/cheeky_monkeys
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The social pressure was huge - women were encouraged to hand out white feathers (symbolising cowardice) to total strangers in the street if they werent in uniform.
But even if you did know how ghastly it all was, there were all the boys you'd been at school with, all the men you'd worked with, going to the war. Whatever you thought of it, it was the greatest event of your time. Ever seen the poster, "Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War?"
And if you happened to be the son of the biggest literary propagandist for the British Empire, the pressure on you was doubled. It's on record that Kipling addressed a public meeting in Sussex on the theme "you should send your sons to fight", and hecklers shouted "Is your son going then?"
War is hell. No 2 *beep* ways about it.
But there's a pride and honour that comes from fighting for your country that encouraged men to fight. As has been said, in WW1, the pressure to join the army was IMMENSE. All the newspaper said it would be over by Christmas, and people believed it.
You go find a man who knew someone who fought in WW1, or better yet, someone who fought in WW1. Or even someone who fought in WW2. They don't regret it.
Why?
Not sure.
I am what the Gods have made me.
his friends joined up as you have watched. And its a primitive instinct to follow your friends because men need to have that competition and status. And also, England had won many wars before: e.g: Boar war/the Opium war. Therefore they have this glorious idea of war that it is patriotic and cleansing. They though the WW1 was only going to last 4 months. it lasted 4 long years.
Today. of course we can see what War is But at that time. there was no form of communication, no tvs, no internet. People at home and civilians had no knowledge of REAL war. Propaganda was the only source of information published.
And how 'ghastly' would have life been if they stayed home and did nothing ?
shareThings were different at that time, the way people thought was different.
It was considered a shame for your family and you if you didn't go to war...
Plus, his father was very patriotic, he supported the war, he did many conference so young people would enlist to go to the war... he considered it would have been a shame if his own son wouldn't have go to fight. :(
I think as portrayed in this film there was a huge amount of pressure from his dad. He had a lot riding on his son.
It was the biggest boys club of the time, middle and upper class people had been expensively educated for years in the classics and the importance of bravery and heroism. This was your duty.
i think the question of serving your country is a matter of pride, that very few are willing to do anymore!!!
shareThere was also the industrialization of warfare. The America Civil War had been a preview, but the world in general hadn't realized how the Industrial Age changed warfare.
Most still thought of it romanticized as it was in the early XIX century, in the Napoleonic Wars, with individual feats of heroism counting for something. In many ways, war on land had changed little since the introduction of gunpowder and single shot weapons (it having become more of a question of crowd control than of actual military tactics and technology).
Besides the American Civil War, repeating action weapons and machine guns hadn't been used in any major military conflicts, not to mention mass produced artillery shells, and eventually, chemical warfare, tanks, and aircraft. No manner of sacrifice or feat of heroism could win the day, no amount of blood could breach enemy trenches against these new weapons.
At the beginning, there was the widespread belief (on both sides) that a single defining engagement would be enough to end the war, either at land or at sea (with the maritime arms race to gain dominance of the seas, and through it, of the colonial holdings). Social pressures were enormous to answer the call of your country in its hour of need, not to mention that no one had an inkling on how horrible the war was to be, because each pair of arms was perceived as critical, to be there at that crucial moment when the war would be decided.
The economic system was also rigged to add to the pressure. Land was capital, it was the means of production. Germany pushed for the war because it came late to the colonial distribution of the world. It had a burgeoning population and industry, but no territory to feed it and make it grow. The only way for a young man to make something of himself was for him to go out and take it, quite literately, and there was a sense that the world had run out of land, so you had to hurry up and get out there quickly (otherwise, you'd have wasted your life).
The movie, focusing on Kipling own tragedy, brings this into focus. He, with his idealized stories of far and exotic places, is the archetypal XIX century European citizen, dreaming of a wider world at his command, dashed by the realities of the new war.
It was definitely a Lose-Lose situation. No one actually wanted to go to war, but no one wanted to be the guy in town who didnt go to war. Going to war is likely to either get you killed or leave you with a lifetime of horror and PTSD. Not going to war is likely to leave you with a life of regret and guilt at taking the easy way out while all your brothers sacrificed so much.
shareI think, at that time, a lot of young men imagined war to be heroic chaps in sharp red uniforms charging on horses during the day and drinking brandy at night. That's an exaggeration, but patriotic fervor was overwhelming; to be left out was disappointing, and to be thought a shirker was humiliating. "Real men" joined up and those who didn't measure up were regarded as inferior.
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