Would I make it through the end? Would I even get past the first battle? According to WW1 historical facts, only 35% of men that joined the German army came back home which in theory does not make much sense as these men received the same amount of training, the same lessons and techniques yet 65% of them died. The reason is simple: though training and war tactics are beneficial for the survival and success of a soldier, it will always be limited by how far his luck and mentality allows him to go.
Fortunately for some soldiers war was packaged with so many unpleasant scenarios that they were forced to adapt into an instinctive state of mind if they were to have any chance in the war. The typical man that was shipped off into the army was a man who not only lacked in training but also lacked in the mental aspect of war too. When a soldier is forced to fight an enemy to the death their only chance of survival is to disregard him as another regular being and find a way to out think what he’s thinking. He must find a way to live off his experiences and logic without “allowing the sad faces of war to make one too attached”.
For example, Paul was a caring boy who “lived a simple life with the same friends” yet once he got into the heat of things he found that the only way to keep a sane mind is to disconnect from everything, disconnect from any possible consequences, and disconnect from any worries and/or troubles as they never provide any positives during life in war. Their path to survival started from here, whether they can handle the pressure of being “the image of iron youth and heroism”. Unfortunately, it goes without saying that internal struggles are not the only thing one has to deal with in war.
The Term Paper on American Colonies And In England War Men Man
If we compare the present with the past, if we trace events at all epochs to their causes, if we examine the elements of human growth, we find that Nature has raised us to what we are, not by fixed laws, but by provisional expedients, and that the principle which in one age effected the advancement of a nation, in the next age retarded the mental movement, or even destroyed it altogether. War, ...
While one soldier is risking his life in order to complete the missions set out for him, there are “those with unknown faces with bad credentials” on the other side of the front that are trying to stop him from doing so. They will both risk their lives for it and only the man with more experience and mentality up for the challenge will succeed in doing so. Paul’s training consisted of several days under the guidance of an abusive leader named Himmelstoss who had “the reputation of being the strictest disciplinarian in the camp”.
He taught Paul and his friends the same basic war strategies and techniques that all troops were expected to know yet he did it in a manner that would help them all out in the long run. He humiliated and abused them and even treated them like dogs, so much that they “trembled at the mere sound of his voice”. While the boys were infuriated with Himmelstoss it provided Paul and his friends the type of experiences they were missing. They learnt to not have any compassion for others and to instead think selfishly and only provide for oneself.
Whether Himmelstoss did it in intentionally or not, he managed to break down the troops and convert them from caring and innocent souls into “hard, suspicious, pitiless, vicious, tough” soldiers. Despite making Paul feel that “without this period of training most of us would certainly have gone mad” it was not enough for the soldiers of Germany to ultimately succeed in their true goal which was to survive. As mentioned numerous times before, there are several situations that occur in which a man can not follow a plan anymore and has to take chances with his life whether it is intentionally or unintentionally.
Two great examples of luck and instinct both involve Paul. During one of his positions inside a dug out he decided to leave and to go see others at another dug out. This simple act of oblivious decision making saved him from getting blown up from the dugout he was in just moments after leaving it. The other example contains the key component of survival, the same tactic other mammals win their wars with and that is logical instinct. During an enemy attack, Paul noticed that a bomb dropped nearby and made a dug out in the earth.
The Essay on A Soldiers Life in the Civil War
Life during the Civil War was not a pleasant time. There was basically utter chaos going on the South. Soldiers had to deal with the harsh conditions and the thought of death. Plantation owners had to worry about who was going to work their fields. Business owners had to worry about who was going to buy their products. Citizens had to worry about soldiers destroying their property. And the ...
Though there is no facts or proof that the enemy would not hit their again he decided to take his odds and throws himself into the dugout without a second though. This act of instinct turned out save his life but it easily couldn’t have. That’s the sad reality of it, war is just one of those things that no matter how much a soldier tries, his fate is something that he can’t control. One could be the most skilled troop in the army but the simplest things can make the difference.
A simple hesitation and you might not make it, one second to early and you may find yourself with a bullet in your skull, you may even be in the right spot at the right time but still find yourself covered in your own blood. That is why luck is the biggest factor of it all, it is what brings men back home and what leaves them still on sandy beaches and all a man really can do is hope that his fate guides him to where he wants to go because simply put “No man can outlive a thousand chances, but every man trusts his luck and follows it”. | |
