Scariest thing about WW1?

[The Modern German Kaiserreich]

World War 1, it's a war that is often overshadowed by it's successor, World War 2, which is honestly sad to me because of all the important events that happened in the war and how they shaped the world today, and events to come that is. But we're not really here to talk about the entire history of the war, I created this post to discuss what you think was the scariest thing about the war itself, there were many things about this war that are terrifying to think about, gas weapons, constant artillery bombardments, and even disease. Out of all the things in this war, what do you find the scariest and why? Personally, I find the idea of gas weaponry to be pretty scary, not only does it kill you slowly, but even if you get your mask on in time, sometimes you mask might not work properly or might have been damaged from a past battle.

[Great Britain et Ireland]

N/A

[Scalizagasti]

Uh... this is the General Assembly

[The Modern German Kaiserreich]

Uh... this is the General Assembly

Shoot, I meant to put this in general, my bad.

[Side 3]

I suppose this could fall under "Disease" but I'd say just the general lack of sanitation. This video illustrates what I mean. If you have a weak stomach, I wouldn't recommend watching it.

[The Modern German Kaiserreich]

I suppose this could fall under "Disease" but I'd say just the general lack of sanitation. This video illustrates what I mean. If you have a weak stomach, I wouldn't recommend watching it.

Well, bad sanitation typically leads to disease, so I'll count it.

[Punished UMN]

That it plunged the entire world into a period of violent political chaos (which granted had been built up to) and that pretty much all optimism was lost in the world.

[Bombadil]

I went to Passchendaele, and walked among the gravestones of 17 and 18 year olds.

A lot of people, if not most people, died of drowning in the thick wet sludge blown into craters by incessant shelling. There's a corner at Ypres nearby as well that was basically Russian Roulette if you went through.

500,000 casualties for just 5 miles.

"I died in hell. They called it Passchendaele"

[Ethel mermania]

Just how happy about it they all were at the start of the thing

[Hakinda Herseyi Duymak istiyorum]

Unfortunately, Homo sapiens are creatures that like to fight each other. The war itself

[Adamede]

Gas. I’d rather die in any other way that they used in the Great War (well save maybe the flame thrower). But gas was just horrific.

[Thermodolia]

Just how happy about it they all were at the start of the thing

Ya this is probably the scariest part. Especially that everyone thought it would be over by Christmas

[My Political Fantasy]

WW1 is probably the defining cultural moment of the 20th century where religion, values, and beliefs changed into something more nihilistic. Idealism and progress of the 19th century was turned into something more pessimistic and more uncertain.

[Thermodolia]

I went to Passchendaele, and walked among the gravestones of 17 and 18 year olds.

A lot of people, if not most people, died of drowning in the thick wet sludge blown into craters by incessant shelling. There's a corner at Ypres nearby as well that was basically Russian Roulette if you went through.

500,000 casualties for just 5 miles.

"I died in hell. They called it Passchendaele"

The scary part is that 18 year olds would still fight and die in other wars. From WW2 to Vietnam to Afghanistan you’d have 18 to 19 year olds fighting and dying side by side

[Adamede]

Just how happy about it they all were at the start of the thing

Ya this is probably the scariest part. Especially that everyone thought it would be over by Christmas

I can deal with being optimistic of how quickly a war would take place. But the attitude that it was some florist thing, and even like a game or some “adventure” just boggles my mind.

[My Political Fantasy]

Ya this is probably the scariest part. Especially that everyone thought it would be over by Christmas

I can deal with being optimistic of how quickly a war would take place. But the attitude that it was some florist thing, and even like a game or some “adventure” just boggles my mind.

Well, you should probably give the people living in that time some more slack as there wasn't a major war on the European continent for over 40 years at this point; neither did people expect technology to change so fast either. The crazy thing about ww1 is that many of the nations were still using napoleonic tactics to fight.

[The Modern German Kaiserreich]

I can deal with being optimistic of how quickly a war would take place. But the attitude that it was some florist thing, and even like a game or some “adventure” just boggles my mind.

Well, you should probably give the people living in that time some more slack as there wasn't a major war on the European continent for over 40 years at this point; neither did people expect technology to change so fast either. The crazy thing about ww1 is that many of the nations were still using napoleonic tactics to fight.

Well, not entirely. While they certainly did march to the battles, I'm pretty sure there isn't any documented evidence that soldiers marched in straight lines and took turns firing at the enemy, but I do agree that a lot of the tactics were outdated.

[The Marlborough]

I can deal with being optimistic of how quickly a war would take place. But the attitude that it was some florist thing, and even like a game or some “adventure” just boggles my mind.

Well, you should probably give the people living in that time some more slack as there wasn't a major war on the European continent for over 40 years at this point; neither did people expect technology to change so fast either. The crazy thing about ww1 is that many of the nations were still using napoleonic tactics to fight.

Napoleonic tactics weren't being used, this is a common myth used to discredit the officer corps as being out of touch with reality.

[Adamede]

I can deal with being optimistic of how quickly a war would take place. But the attitude that it was some florist thing, and even like a game or some “adventure” just boggles my mind.

Well, you should probably give the people living in that time some more slack as there wasn't a major war on the European continent for over 40 years at this point; neither did people expect technology to change so fast either. The crazy thing about ww1 is that many of the nations were still using napoleonic tactics to fight.

There’s a difference between not knowing the horrors that the World War would be and then there’s acting like war is a sport where boys become men.

[Andsed]

Hmmm tough question. You already got the objectively bone chilling fact that millions of soldiers(some still teenagers or even younger) dying for a cause that was very far from noble. And of course you got the initial reaction to the war being disturbingly disconnected from the reality of how the war would turn out. And then you got shit like gassing, flamethrowers, hand to hand combat, and like a thousand other horrifying ways to die. And not to mention the illness and conditions of the fronts.

I guess I would go with gas or flamethrowers due to just how horrifying of a way to die they are.

Oh and of course there was the trauma inflicted on survivors and the fact many were unable to get proper help for it. That is also a pretty horrifying thing to think about.

[The Marlborough]

That it's cultural impact is so powerful that it still influences the world today and yet it is largely forgotten by many. I would actually consider WWI to be more influential on recent human history than WWII.

[Thanadal]

Gas attacks.

[Rusozak]

What always got me was the sheer destruction of the Earth at the trench lines. For warfare to render huge swathes of land utterly unrecognizable from the habitable land it used to be. But I would still say gas attacks or flamethrowers. Or both.

[The Modern German Kaiserreich]

What always got me was the sheer destruction of the Earth at the trench lines. For warfare to rendered huge swathes of land utterly unrecognizable from the habitable land it used to be. But I would still say gas attacks or flamethrowers. Or both.

True, I've seen a lot of pictures taken from places like Verdun, nothing but dead trees and mud, scary but also sad.

[Heloin]

How senseless is everything that can ever be written, done, or thought, when such things are possible. It must be all lies and of no account when the culture of a thousand years could not prevent this stream of blood being poured out, these torture-chambers in their hundreds of thousands. A hospital alone shows what war is.