Respond to the following prompts:
- What ideas or themes presented in your chosen reading were new to you?
- Did the article lead you to look at teh bigger picture of history any differently? Why/Why not?
- Can any of the lessons/events of the WWI period be applied in a contemporary setting?
(PHOTO: Francis Derwent Wood @ http://www.projectfacade.com/index.php)
61 comments:
While it certainly makes logical sense that plastic surgery would begin to become prevalent in the First World War, it obviously cannot compare to the kinds of facial reconstruction procedures of today. The primitive nature seems to render the attempt to "reconstruct" the faces of the wounded soldiers of the Great War useless. Although it was a painstaking process to create accurate renditions of the victims' face, all that the work amounted too remained a mask, a copper cover that only served to remind any with memory of the war that the wearer was severely wounded. Sometimes the expressionless horror of the masks themselves was equally as frightening as the destroyed features beneath.
It is important to realize developments such as facial reconstruction in their rightful time period. Oftentimes the destruction caused by the Great War to the individual soldiers could be overlooked because they lived generations ago. However, while the First World War is tied heavily to an old-world Europe, it was not ancient history, and some developments of that time period are still being built upon today. The first modern war often remains un-glorified and ignored as opposed to latter wars and military actions, while in retrospect it was just as important and just as relevant to combat of the 20th century. Medical care, transport, psychology, technology and mechanization all were enhanced both directly and indirectly from Trench warfare and the buildup of arms prior to and during the war.
In this day and age, as further emerging world powers, or pugnacious third-world antagonists, continue to build greater supplies of weapons and we continue to be put in more delicate diplomatic situations. We must learn from the actions of the world powers prior to the Great War not to allow the dominoes of a third world war to not be set up through careless action.
After reading “Faces of War”, I came to understand a few themes better. First, I had always heard the term ‘duty to one’s country’ but I never understood its significance fully until after this article. Both Ladd and Wood, the surgeon’s who created life-like masks for soldiers, answered the call of their country greatly. They stepped up to help men who, due to machine gun fire, were now considered grotesque and deformed by society. Ladd and Wood were able to look past such physical absences and create pieces of art for the men who had risked their lives for their countries. The idea that it was not only the soldiers who were serving their duty to their homeland, but also the countless others who helped heal the broken faces and spirits of the men in battle.
I had also looked at machine gun fire as a blessing, as it would help whatever side advance, causing unlimited amounts of destruction. However this article also showed that as it is a blessing, the machine gun was also a curse, especially to those who were hit by its fire. The men who suffered facial damage were most often hit by machine gun rounds when they stood up in a trench and mistakenly thought they could dodge bullets. The advancements in technology during World War One were hugely significant to the outcome of the war. The creation of the machine gun enabled the gunner to eliminate multiple men with constant fire, proving that as it is helpful to one side, it is also deadly to the other.
“Faces of War” didn’t change my views of history, but rather showed me in greater detail the importance of all those who helped during wartime. As much as it was the soldiers who won the war, the men and women who were behind the scenes did as much as those on the battlefields. This article also illustrated the fact that many people were willing to step up and serve their country in the areas they could. One surgeon, Francis Wood, was too old for active duty so instead he answered his country’s calling by enlisting in the Royal Army Medical Corps. His knowledge and talent of sculpting led him to his work making masks for the disfigured men. Wood’s embrace his country’s need made him a hero in the eyes of some soldiers, who could now face a world which would have otherwise abandoned them.
Many ideas in presented in this article can be related to the war we are currently in. The technology behind the machine gun parallels the nuclear technology we are capable of today. As much as nuclear warfare is a blessing for those who acquire it, it is also beyond deadly for those who might be on the other end of the bomb. The soldiers who are fighting today are much like those who were fighting in World War One. They face the same possible deformities only due to IED’s and other hidden bombs, rather than just machine gun fire. “Faces of War” explains the importance of those who were willing to step up and serve the soldiers. This idea is just as important now as it was in the early 1900’s. Americans need to answer the country’s call to aid the soldiers in every way we can if we cannot join them in the fight. “Faces of War” explains too that you don’t have to bring much to be able to help. The surgeon’s behind the masks brought only their love of art and medical abilities and were able to produce a product that greatly enhanced the moral of those fighting. Overall, this article expresses the ideas that we all need to help the men and women fighting for our freedom in whatever ways we can.
Reading: Faces of War, by Caroline Alexander
Previous to this reading, I did not accurately understand the magnitude to which the Great War devastated so many solders. I did not know about the thousands of facial mutilations that happened as a result of this war. I also did not know about the crude efforts employed to try and cover up these mutilations. The whole article opened up my eyes to the devastating effects of war at that time, and how gruesome it was. Today, we think of war as mechanical. We believe that everything can be fixed and rebuilt. We do not concern ourselves with the brutality of it. Instead, we are naiveté to it. But this article revives the theme that war is brutal and devastating to all participants. The author reveals the true brutality of war by first talking about the crude surgery that the wounded must undergo. This theme is continued when the author talks about those with scars so bad, they need masks. This disturbed me, mostly because I too am naiveté to the true nature of war. This article brought up the theme of a brutal and painful war, which I, until now, have not fully recognized.
This article made me look at the big picture in history a different way. Normally, I am used to reading about history in a textbook. This gives a very impersonal look at battles, only presenting facts and not getting into details. But, this article gave a much more in-depth and personal view of the soldiers affected by war. I learned about the details of wounded soldiers, from the surgery to the masks they wore. This exposed me to the realities of war. Now, although this article seems like it only affects the details of history, it does more. This idea of a “gruesome war” is a big picture idea. It takes the war I knew and changes it. I thought of war as a map of arrows indicating who battled who. I thought of war as a timeline of events. But this article changes that. This article makes war much more personal. It makes it heavier, darker, and harder to swallow. In this way, this article changes how I view history.
Unfortunately, I do not believe that the lessons of this article can be applied to a contemporary setting. As mentioned above, the main theme of this piece is that war is brutal and devastating, and that the crude medical efforts were not enough to help the patients. Today, we have much better medial care than before, to treat wounded victims. Advanced plastic surgery or prosthetics can repair a person’s face, or any other body parts to working condition. Also, our primary attack mechanism is not longer infantry. We no longer rely on trench warfare to attack our enemies. Warfare today is much more mechanical, using machines as attack and defense weapons. Less people are engaged and hurt in battle this way. On the other side of this, today’s weapons are mush more powerful. This means that if a person is attacked, they will more likely die than suffer strange deformities. Because of all the advancement in technology, this article does not apply to today’s situations. This article can not be applied to a contemporary setting.
I read the article on military advances in World War One.
The theme most new to me in this reading was the idea of medical advances in World War One. I had always considered World War One a war of uncleanliness and disease because of the miserable conditions in the trenches. This article opened my eyes to the fact that I had never really heard all that much about disease in this way despite the uncleanliness that men were living in. In reality, disease was actually less prevalent than in other wars. This is really quite remarkable considering that men were living in trenches made out of mud. These trenches often contained huge quantities of pests like rats and lice. Despite this, disease was actually less of a factor than it had been in wars past. Also, chemical warfare came into vogue with this war which presented another challenge for doctors and medics. They were able to handle this fairly well too. This war really highlights the advances in safety and medicine made during the time period.
This article definitely made me look at the bigger picture of history much differently. It really changes my whole outlook on World War One. Most of the time we simply view World War One as simply the war that came before World War Two. It is often seen as a petty land dispute and nothing more. This article made me realize that it was much more than that, it was a ground-breaking war in many respects. First of all, it was the first war in which such a huge number of troops were used and used effectively. These were mobile troops, able to cover large distances much more quickly. This was due to the advances in transportation with things like trains, airplanes, and automobiles being used to move troops quickly and quietly. Also, there were new weapons like machine guns and tanks being used. These weapons had the ability to kill more efficiently than any other weapons which had been used before. This war saw the introduction of chemical warfare in chlorine gas. It also saw various medical advances which helped soldiers avoid disease. There were new strategies being used, such as trench warfare. All in all, this war was absolutely revolutionary. It started a whole new way of waging war which would be continued in World War Two.
I think that the lessons and events of the World War One period can be applied to a contemporary setting. We can definitely learn from the techniques used by the soldiers in World War One. First of all, the technique that we could follow the most is the idea of having allies. Britain, France, the USA, and Russia were steady allies during WWI and ended up winning the war. Germany was possibly the strongest country in World War One, except for the USA, and lost because they were forced to go to war without a really strong ally. In a contemporary setting, as we try to fight the war on terror, how are we going to win without any steady allies? Second, we see the dangers of buying in wholeheartedly to the patriotic propaganda out in the media. I wonder how many Europeans really knew what they were fighting for. We have learned from that here in America, as a lot of people still refuse to support the Iraqi War. Lastly, we learn the importance of diplomacy as opposed to posturing and combatitiveness. This war could have been avoided if Austria-Hungary had taken the death of one of its most important leaders a little more diplomatically, and if Serbia had taken a more peaceful path to its independence. It seems sometimes that the politicians who run this country are a little too confrontational and that sometimes the first choice shouldn’t be war, but diplomacy.
Before my research on propaganda in the Great War, I was unaware of the influence propaganda had in the war. Although I knew that propaganda and censorship was used by fascist and communist regimes in WWII, propaganda was used in WWI to gather support in the war, and more importantly, to get neutral America’s support in the war. Thus, I grew a new understanding of the war and history, based on the influence of propaganda.
One example of my new understanding of the war, is how countries imaged themselves and their enemies. A British poster portrayed Germans as savages, and portrayed themselves as knights who need to fight the savages. Propaganda used imagery that was wildly excepted within the state to further support their side in the war. A famous poster in America, having a man known as Uncle Sam, dressed in a American flag stating “I want You”. By looking at the different types of propaganda, I tried to imagine the mindset of the time period.
In return, I learned how propaganda is used and the different techniques of communication. I learned how to categorize propaganda and analyze how it influences the masses. Not only was this important to understand the great war, but I can now analyze different techniques of propaganda that I see today on television or magazine ads. I learned that propaganda has a long history and that institutions and businesses use it wildly. I was amazed how similar the portrayal of the Germans was to that of middle eastern people today in America, and I realized that propaganda can be used in any circumstance that involves influencing the mindset of the masses.
The Marital Status and the Rhetoric of the Women's Movement in World War I Germany reading discusses the position of women living in Germany during World War I. I found the ideas to be particularly interesting to add to background knowledge on the changing women’s roles and new movements led by prominent figures like Emmeline Pankhurst. The new ideas of women are categorized and detailed in depth in this reading.
I learned of the classifications of “conservative”, “moderate”, and “war opponent” women, which I incorrectly made predictions about. I realized as the author grouped moderates and conservatives as being most similar that the moderates were women who adapted to the war in order to achieve strides in their women’s movement. I would have thought the war opponents and conservatives would have been women with almost identical opinions, but the conservatives were completely loyal to their fatherland. This reminded me of the American colonies where most people held the conservative view to stay loyal to Britain. As I read on I learned that the war opponents were against the war mainly because of their belief in international pacifism and against capitalistic competition. This idea was not necessarily new to me but really put a new outlook on the war by seeing it as a “capitalistic competition”. I also find it amusing that in the reading it says that the women also blamed “male principles” for causing the war. This idea I found very easy to imagine being popular. Besides new opinions on the war, the reading pointed out to me how the war really influenced women’s movements by forcing the women outside of their domestic sphere. I never really thought of how this caused so many adaptations to a woman’s character that would benefit greatly in a movement. (i.e. leadership and independence)
Another part of the reading I found amusing was when they discussed women like Anna Pappritz who basically preached that every woman wanted to marry in her lifetime. This stereotype for women’s expectations is exemplified in her speech when she said that especially in the time of war some women were unable to marry and therefore must be prepared to be alone. The place for women was being explored and I find this interesting because it is a continuous happening to think of a place for oneself in the world. Clara Zetkin asked “where do we find a meaningful life as well as a job that gives us mental satisfaction?” which is still a relevant question today.
It was also interesting to read how women activists were primarily single women, or at least they tend to be the most commonly studied. It reads, “…debates surrounding citizenship, marriage, work, education, and sexuality made those unwed women a more dynamic and also problematic element of German society”. It seems that the unwed women were the majority of women causing the “problems” but my question is what about the married women? Where did they stand on the ideas for changing their roles or rights in society?
I also read of the three major factors for change in women’s lives: unity, patriotism, and maternal citizenship. I realized that the unity was brought together by women of different social classes who were left behind to come together with a common interest. It seems that is a timeless factor in society… that common goals can bring the most unexpected groups of people to work together. The patriotic factor proved interesting because “it is the nature of certain intellectual movements not to be contained by national boundaries”. And finally the idea of maternal citizenship and advocating women to contribute to society seemed to end the reading on a positive and optimistic note. It reminded me of the changes in women’s roles in America with their glorified roles from their cult of domesticity.
Overall I found the reading very interesting as it focused on the narrow topic of woman’s roles during WWI. The most interesting part was the realization that even a narrow topic can prove to be complex and capable of great details.
Mark Morris
April 2, 2007
Mr. Kirby
Military Lessons of the Great War
There were several lessons and ideas presented by the article that were new to me and greatly impressed and surprised me. The first of which is the emphasis that was put into the study of old tactics. It seems that at the start of a new war these tactics were implemented and failed time and time again spectacularly. WWI was no exception. The tactics of previous wars were used to help create one of the bloodiest conflicts in our history. Even after this spectacular failure the generals would hold dear to the old tactics sending men t the slaughter. An example of this was the old battle lines. This was when men lined up shoulder-to-shoulder and charged across open ground to attack the enemy. This was nothing but a turkey shoot to and enemy who was fortified by trenches and had weapons like machine guns to lay waste to the attackers. Another interesting idea was change often came from the front lines rather than higher up in the chain of command. Soldiers invented grenades by first stuffing explosives into cans and hurling them at the enemy. The brass was to busy with the tactics of old they had spent their lives learning to notice what was going on at the front unless it really worked. Then and only then was the idea adopted? Another theme was transportation and mechanization. In WWI many people hear of the advancements in technology that were made. New ways to kill new ways to move troops and supplies. Trains made the mobilization of men faster, but the numbers of soldiers was what really astounded me. It was millions that were involved. Either side at the beginning of the war never anticipated these vast numbers. At the end of the article it was stated, “wars of the past were won by the numbers of men involved now it is the number of factories.” (28 Maurice)
This article really did look at the big picture. It did not glorify the mistakes or miscalculations made by either side during the War; it simply put them, as they were, mistakes. One of these things as mentioned before is the change up front. If the Generals took one second to take their heads out of their behinds and listened to the grunts up front they might have gotten some idea of what was really going on up front. For example the poor supply, the bad tactics, the improvements that could be made to weapons and armament. If either side paid attention to this stuff than the war would have been won a lot faster and most likely with less bloodshed. Another part of the big picture that the author looks at is the fact that each war is fought using tactics perfected from the last war, and almost always the tactics of the old war do no apply to the war presently being fought. It has been shown throughout history that people must adapt to the situation at hand so they will not annihilated. This includes changing ones methods of combat to fit the present situation. As the old saying goes you cannot fit a square peg in a round hole. Also another insightful comment made by the author was the fact that mechanization was taking hold in the military. On its way out were the days of the horse and Calvary and the fancy battle lines on a battlefield. In were in came tanks, and machine guns, and cannon that must be countered with new tactics, or other tanks, cannon, and guns. These new war machines were things that needed to be coped with on the battlefield if either side ever went to war again.
Several of the topics illustrated in the readings could be used today. For example the fighting a new war with old tactics is a thing we see occurring today. For example in Vietnam the soldiers were not trained how o fight in the jungle or look out for enemies, these were skills they had to learn. This also shows that learning often comes form the front for these new tactics were brought back and taught to incoming troops later in the war. Also in Iraq we are still learning how to fight an invisible enemy. The type of war over there is like nothing ever fought before. There are no set battlefields, and it is often very hard to name a winner and a looser. This war is also rewriting the definition of victory. How do we no when we’ve won? Iraq is also and example of how we underestimated our enemies. This article says that many troops in WWI thought the war would be over by Christmas, well they were very wrong. Four bloody years later the war weary nations finally called it quits. We thought that this would be and in out job with a year or two max for occupation. We are in year four with no end in sight. The enemy is staying hidden and is waiting out our occupancy to end in Iraq.
It is often said we should learn from our past mistakes, but times like those of the Great War and our now occupancy of Iraq make us question how much we have really learned.
Andrew Morris
4/2/07
AP European History
Mr. Kirby
The article that I read was Military Lessons of the Great War. New ideas that were presented to me while reading this article were how the generals fought World War One. They used strategies that were perfected during the last war. They used ideas that had been outdated for nearly 40 years. They also didn’t take into account the new technology that was being developed. They had to wait for stories to come in from the front line to bring about any change. This surprised me. I thought that the generals would have been more open to new ideas on how to break through the enemy. I didn’t think that they would be so stubborn in outdated ideas that obviously didn’t work and were costing hundreds of thousands of lives. I was also surprised that the generals weren’t listening to the soldier’s ideas and stories. It seems logical to listen to the people out fighting on the front lines because they would know the most current weapons, enemy tactics and new tools and improvised inventions that were effective against these new fighting circumstances. I was really surprised by the ignorance and stubbornness of the generals on all sides. I was show by this article how much technology effected the war. Because of the invention of the machine gun and other new weapons like artillery and gas each side didn’t need a huge amount of men with rifles it need these new machines strategically placed. Also it made forts and strongholds obsolete. Simple trenches were a much better defense then a giant castle that could easily be destroyed from miles away with the new artillery. Also the new combustion engine made it more affective and easy to move supplies and food to the front making it much easier to sustain a larger fighting force. Also the invention of the airplane made the battlefield much larger because of its increasing flight distance. It also made spying on troops much easier. Also disease had always been a problem in war killing as many as the actual fighting. However soon new medicines were being made that could cure these diseases allowing more men to be healthy and fighting fit.
This article made me wonder if any lessons were learned from the war. This war was a massive waste of life because generals didn’t adjust strategies according to new technology and enemy tactics. Did anyone learn to be more flexible later in history to avoid such a tragic and unnecessary lose of life. It makes me look at these wars differently especially the generals. They were always hailed as the most cunning and intelligent members of the military but it seems that them winning battles in this war was a result of just luck and more bodies to through at the enemy. This also showed me how much army and societies have changed. For example war used to only really affect the people in the army. Maybe farmer’s taxes would go up but that’s about it. In this new Great War style of fighting everyone was involved. The entire country had to ration, people’s jobs were changed to making bullets instead of say nails. This article showed how far the societies had changed and how much they did change forever as an affect of the Great War.
Lessons can be applied from WWI to today. The first is being ready to fight a war that was different than the last one. For example in Iraq we don’t have a visible enemy to fight like in say Vietnam or the last Gulf war. Our enemies are normal people that have bombs under there clothes. We need to learn to adapt to this new threat. Also we can’t expect major offensives or long weeklong gunfights. The attacks we face are quick guerrilla attacks that are either a simple care bomb or a quick howitzer attack. Then the fighters blend right back in with the crowed. We can also apply the lesson that for every new weapon that is developed a new technology is made to counter it. This can be found in the new army uniforms that have Kevlar plates that protect from bullets and flack jackets that protect from explosives. This is a great improvement from the cloth uniforms that were in WW1. Like all great wars World War One had many important lessons that can be learned from it. Let us hope that we learn them to help from ever having to fight such a long and bloody conflict ever again.
Military Lessons of the Great War
Military Lessons of the Great War, by Major-General Sir Frederick Maurice, lists and explains major military and strategic errors concerning the various nations involved in the Great War, or World War I (WWI). In the beginning of the article he explains some of the history involved in the events leading to the war. By addressing history Maurice was able to arrive at the conclusions presented in this article.
One idea that Maurice particularly stressed through out the article is the original notion that the Great War “would be over by Christmas [1914]” (21). Obviously the war continued years beyond Christmas of 1914. Expecting a short war, European countries such as Germany and Great Britain did not take the proper steps in preparing for a long war lasting until 1919. According to Maurice, German supplies almost ran out by the spring of 1915, barely a year and a half into the war. Once an enormous war mobilization on the home front took place in Germany, many war plans were put on hold and many original plans to quickly seize France were abolished. Even though the Germans were the best prepared for the war, they still faced supply issues in the beginning of the war. The German situation is much different from the position of the United States. The United States was able to prepare for war before fighting bettering the chances at victory by having constant manufacturing and supplies of goods.
Through out the year while studying the various wars in European History, very little has been written on the day-to-day combat conditions concerning many wars such as the Thirty Years War or the Franco-Prussian War or the Austro-Prussian War. The simple explanation to this lack of information, as stated my Maurice, is the fact that in past wars day-to-day combat was rare and wars lasted forever. “There have been none [wars] in which the opposing armies were permanently in contact, in which men were being killed and wounded every day…The feature that was without precedent was that from the first day to the last the guns never ceased firing” (Maurice 24).
Maurice explains both the failed French plans and the Central Powers’ ignorance to British mobilization. French military leaders had planned “Plan 17” which forecasted German advances on Belgium and eventually France. When Germany marched through Belgium with about 1.5 million men, “the elaborately prepared French plan of campaign came tumbling down like a house of cards” (Maurice 23). The British were able to hide the movement of their troops well. One major reason accredited is that Great Britain is not attached to the continent of Europe. The British were able to easily transport supplies and troops across the English Channel and help the dying French army. When Germany attacked France through Belgium, they were surprised by the offensive provided by a British and French force.
Military Lessons of the Great War provided an unbiased version of the failed military plans and lessons of WWI. He also explained the effect of transportation, mechanical weapons, and disease prevention on the war. I learned that even though the war was shorter than previous wars in Europe, it was much more devastating. Another major factor in this devastation is ignorance. Not only was Europe not ready for such a long war of day-to-day fighting, but also every nation lacked correct information and prediction of the events of the opposing nation. The French plan mentioned above failed miserably when Germany went into battle with so many men, just as German defeat approached as Britain took a strong hold in the war and the United States entered with fresh men and supplies quickly defeating the Germans. One major lesson from the war that can be used in contemporary times is to never enter a war unless the resources (both human and physical) are adequate to fight. Also inflated predictions should be used so military numbers are not surprising. Recognized as complicated, World War I began a new era in fighting based in daily combat, advanced weaponry, and better, more strategic war plans.
“The Faces of War” article talks about the human sacrifice needed to aid those who have literally gone through human sacrifice. These men that have been put through brutal wartime horrors all for pride in their nation are now being given a second chance to look like they did before the war. This was especially useful for those soldiers who sustained major facial damage. The perfect solution being facial reconstruction and there were people out there, such as Sir Harold Gillies and Kathleen Scott, who braved the odds to aid wartime heroes in reconstructing their face. An idea in this article that was new to me was the actual making of faces for the men. I never knew that there was so much complexity in reconstructing a soldier’s face. Oddly enough, this article did make me think about a bigger picture and about how reconstruction of a wounded soldier is being dealt with today. I remember seeing a picture of a man that couldn’t have been much older than forty, but you couldn’t tell that from his face. This soldier apparently opted not to have facial reconstruction and instead went through his life with only half his face. It was a little frightening at first, but then you think about the way that persons family or friends would feel after seeing their loved one after war. Would they greet their soldier with open arms or withdraw from them? This bigger picture I’m getting really has to do with the emotional stress behind a damaged face from war. In the article there was even a quote that described how I imagine a soldier would feel when arriving home with an incomplete face. “Thanks to you, I will have a home…The woman I love no longer finds me repulsive, as she had a right to do.” As far as a lesson that could be applied today, I would say that people who have worked so hard for our country deserve nothing less that to come out of war looking the same as when they came in.
Military Lessons of the Great War
This article had an interesting approach to explaining how the Great War was so different from any other conflict that had taken place in the past. The author presented a new line of thought in that he expressed the importance of social and industrial innovations as the reasons for this new type of warfare rather than the ability or strategies of those commanding the armies. This, he states, is the most efficient way of determining the outcome of a war rather than taking into consideration other aspects which have no real relevance. Those who do this were considered to be “experts who have been rash enough to utter prophecies have with very rare exceptions been proven wrong.” As to the Great War, the development of mechanized transportation like the extensive railways and the motor vehicle are taken to be the keys to maintaining vast armies. With quick supplies being brought to depots by rail cars and then to the front lines with motor vehicles, large quantities of troops were able to be sustained. Thus, the problem of expanding a force was no longer how to supply the food/equipment but was simply a matter of how many men were available for conscription. The author also notes medical advances as being the key to keeping healthy armies whereas before the Great War most of the casualties resulted from disease rather than enemy fire.
From this article, I have taken a new perspective on how wars can be fought on won in a world of technological advancement. It is with the unintentional inventions made by the private citizen that allows for a military application of new weapons in the future. No one ever expects that a new and faster means of transportation or a cure for a disease will become a weapon in warfare, but these become a means to sustain a situation or make any single engagement more decisive. Thus, one can draw the conclusion that the nature of any given conflict will undoubtedly become a function of the current industrial and social status of a nation. The author states that for every new weapon there is an antidote and for that antidote there is always an immune new weapon. This then points out the fact that any new conflict cannot be fought or treated the same as a previous one because it will always be outdated. The key to determining the nature of a given war is dependent on the current standards of living.
The lessons that the author points out that are given from the events of the Great War will always be a part of any new future conflict that arises anywhere in the world. The message of the author is one of adaptation and it must be heeded by those who engage in any new conflict today. Though the situation is slightly different, one may loosely cite the current situation in Iraq as being very similar to that of Vietnam. Here, there have been mistakes that mirror those of Vietnam that have caused somewhat of a similar outcome and stagnation. Those in command of the forces engaged in a given area must learn to adapt quickly to what the new situation will be like or victory becomes very difficult. Such lack of adaptation was cited by the author when referring to Germany’s invasion of Belgium. The French greatly underestimated the advantages of newer transportation and, coupled with a lack of misinformation, were bogged down by an unexpectedly large German force.
“Face of War”
After reading “Face of War,” many ideas popped into my head that were presented in the article. One was about facial reconstruction. Though looking at today’s world, the majority of plastic surgery is for small improvements in one’s body or self esteem, such as a straightened nose or a face-lift, the world of WWI saw a different type of plastic surgery. One that allowed mutilated men who were at the war front a chance to look half-way decent again and possibly regain a life they once new. Ladd and Wood both were very courageous in their fields of work and were two very important people who also had big hearts, and strong stomachs. Another idea was how the war affected everybody. How Ladd and Wood both had jobs as artists but saw the war and found a way to help out. They put their artistic talent into making masks for those whose faces were beyond repair. Also obviously the war affected the soldiers’ families who were left with out a father or husband, but having them come home with a fake face must not have been any easier. As the article stated, “the children of one mask-wearing veteran fled in terror at the sight of their father's expressionless face.”
The article did not change my view on history. Though it gave me more incite on what had happened behind the scenes of WWI, my view on the war or bigger picture of it has not changed. Though I do see a greater cause for plastic surgery, and how the profession it is known as today was born.
There are many parallels can be seen between WWI and present day. Including the weapons used. Though now machine guns are normal in warfare the nuclear bombs cause a great threat like machine guns use to. Also it also parallels the willingness of people willing to help the cause. Many soldiers are dying each day and in some small way everyone is helping and contributing.
Faces of War
Prior to this article, I was not aware of the physical damages that could be inflicted upon the face. These were never prevalent issues that were worth mentioning in any history class dealing with any war. After reading this article, I feel for the soldiers who had disfigured faces as a result of trench warfare and machine guns. What they experienced was traumatic and psychologically harmful to their self-esteem and self-reliance. The whole idea of one’s face receiving special attention and surgery in the 1920’s is new to me, and came as a shock. I would never have imagined that so many soldiers cared so much about their physical appearance when they should have just been grateful to be alive. Another aspect of World War I that I had overlooked was the medical advancements that took place during the 1920’s in the fields of surgeons, nurses, and medicine. Reading about how the facemask operations took place lead me to think about what made them possible. Had it not been for well-trained surgeons, sculptors, and the development of anesthetics, none of the scarred patients would have been cured of their world war one faces.
This article did not lead me to look at the bigger picture of history or to think of World War 1 any differently, except that people were unappreciative of what they had. I know this is a terrible thing to say, but I personally think that these mask-wearers are vain. They care so much about their looks that they want to receive surgery on their face. For one, they should be appreciative that they are still alive, compared to the majority that lost their loves while defending their country. Also, they are taking up the nurses and surgeons valuable time by having them operate on their faces and creating masks when there are other people who are in need of dire help, people who were hanging by a thread and in desperate need for medical treatment.
I think that the ridiculousness of plastic surgery has been exploited to a great amount in today’s setting. The few percentage of Americans who are wealthy are just casually paying thousands of dollars to have their face redone, an eyebrow lifted, a nose replaced, etc. Similar to the First World War, this in itself is vain and selfish. The surgeons and nurses have so much more and better operations to perform than a simple nose job that is of no significance, a nose job that one eventually ends up denying because its so embarrassing. Also, one should be ashamed of the amount of money they pour into having plastic and artificial work done when there are more pressing matters that demand money and time. On the bright side, had there not been for vain and ungrateful soldiers, plastic surgery would not be where it is at today. Today, any face can be manipulated to reverse the aging process, to make you look like someone else, and even to transform you into the opposite sex. The lesson here is that change is always taking place and making room for further advances, especially in the medical field. Another similar occurrence that I might’ve touched based on earlier is that people still care about how they look today as they did more than 80 years ago. People won’t change their human flaws, which include vanity, selfishness, and an unnecessary demand for excess, whether it is an excessive amount of unnecessary surgery or excessive extremes performed to ones face.
The advancement in medical technology as well as warfare was impeccable during World War One. For those caught in battle with a lost identity due to an injury, what better gift could these men receive. They are stuck having not even their face with out these masks. So much of Europe was destroyed during the war, the fact that skin was ripped to shreds on alive men, is what I’m not ok with. Thank heavens for these 2 people who were willing to not only make a mask, but make a mask of them. This article gave me a better understanding of what was going on at home. It demonstrates that the war effort did not end on the battle field but extended to the homes of all those who had some relation to the battles as well. It shocks me still how willing to help these people were. This can be compared to contemporary times as we are currently in a war where many people are getting injured. Neither of the wounded had a great place to stay and they are left traveling for distances for medical care. People today still regularly receive reconstructive surgery. The situation is common in both cases.
When presented with the topic of World War I, the idea of facial mutilation and its affects on the soldiers is perhaps one of the farthest things that comes to mind. But sadly, after reading this article, it happens to be the most prevalent thing on my mind. When seen as one of the results of World War I, gun wounds and disfigurements to the face don’t seem to be particularly unusual when comparing the battleground to the chance of a soldier being hit in the trenches, but the concept of this is shocking all the same. There’s a heavy, sinking feeling in my chest when I think of the crude methods used to cover up a disfigured face, and to also realize the reality of a soldier’s life each time he wears that mask.
Meghan had said that she developed a deeper understanding of a citizen’s “call to duty” when seen in perspective of Ladd and Wood. While I respect her thoughts, I can’t help but think otherwise and thin that the people that we do not give enough respect to are the soldiers themselves. True, Ladd and Wood are probably genuine good people for giving up their time and using their talent to create masks, but I believe that the real heroes are the soldiers themselves that have to suffer. It is the soldiers that either give up their entire life as a casualty in service to their country, or they happen to be one of the survivors that have a permanent disfigurement as a result of the war. While not literally taking away their life completely, these people had spent part of their life fighting, and are left to spend the rest in isolation or self-loathing due to their physical appearance. Personally, I happen to think that this is the greatest “call to duty” that anyone with this end result could have ever done for their country, or the ones they loved.
Truthfully, this article only aided in my beliefs of thinking that war stems from the darkest reaches of human nature and there is never a war that has a justification for everything. My perspective of the bigger picture of history hasn’t changed as far as I’m considered when looking at the patterns in history, but I happen to agree with Bobby in the sense that history depicted to us thus far is very impersonal. Having just browsed the website of reconstructive faces as well, I can’t help but think of myself as far too ignorant to fully comprehend the reasons for any war in history. Perhaps it may be because I’m a girl as people would say, but I happen to like being ignorant because history otherwise seems too cold and uncaring.
Briefly, the article made me dislike man kind and all that we have done very much since with every advancement in technology, the death toll climbs by the thousands. Reading about this and the words of “Thanks to you… I will have a home… The woman I love… will be my wife” brings a deep sense of sadness to me that I can’t explain, and don’t wish to delve further into without disliking every aspect of human kind for what we are capable of, and also do because we could without remorse. So I answer this again and say that the article may change my view of history by thinking all the advancements of men are for naught, but then I choose to be ignorant and not condemn anyone because that’s the only way I could look at history. History is a book to be read and looked at for patterns, not to be looked at as the toll on human lives.
Obviously, the idea of wearing a face mask to cover up one’s war scars or deformities would be considered very common today as a result of multiple wars in the past century, but technology has changed in a way to aid those in need. Instead of facial reconstruction or face masks that were proposed in the article, today’s technology allows us with the benefits of a full facial replantation. Knowing that these battle wounds were the result of World War I reminds me of what soldiers must be going through in Iraq right now. I honestly do not follow the war that closely, so I doubt that Iraq is trench warfare, but I’m sure that the very same injuries occur today as well.
Perhaps it may be cynical of me to think so, but I find it ironic that the personal image of a person could affect him or her so much. I understand that the matters are completely different, but the idea of needing to have a mask made to cover up someone’s deformities reminds me of today’s prevalent issue of the personal image, especially dominant in girls. It greatly perplexes me how people could care so much about their self-image although I know that by saying so I’m being a hypocrite for caring so much. Like I said, they’re two completely time periods and for two entirely different reasons when comparing the past with the future, but I’m curious that soldiers had such an issue with their self-image to feel so lost and detached from the real world as some people do now. The entire idea of self-image seems to have been a trend that has continued through history.
The article I read was “Faces of War”, written by Caroline Alexander. This article was able to show me a very different aspect of the horrific consequences of the Great War. The article focused on the facial deformities that resulted from the brutality of the Great War and the methods that were used to help correct these disfigurations. Before reading this article, I never knew that World War I brought about the beginnings of cosmetic surgery. This article showed that because of the advances in military technology, particularly weaponry, medical practices were bound to advance because of the large number of soldiers that were injured. I also had never really thought about the incredible amount of facial deformities that occurred during this war. These deformities clearly had a large psychological impact on the soldiers in addition to a physical impact. The masks that were produced to fix these deformities were a good solution considering the medical practices that existed during this time.
Before reading this article, I had only read about World War I from a textbook. Textbooks provide us with great insight to the events occurring during the war, but often lack detail when it comes to how people were truly impacted, and the roles that some people played in the war. By reading this article, I was able to see the history of World War I from another perspective. I was able to see a much more personal account of the war. This article was able to show me how the little details had a huge impact on the big picture of history.
I feel that this article can be applied in a contemporary setting. This article helps to show that technology is always advancing. Advancements in one field of technology lead to advancements in another field. As the technology of weaponry continues to advance, our medical practices also continue to advance. This article gave me a great new perspective of World War I.
Response to: “Faces of War”
I quote: “‘Always look a man straight in the face,’ one resolute nun told her nurses. ‘Remember he's watching your face to see how you're going to react.’” I’d always known that plastic surgery was a sort of vanity thing—not vanity in the sense that one was about to show off in a flamboyant manner to the world, although that is also quite prevalent—but in the sense that surgery would boost one’s own self-confidence by promoted a physical sort of beauty to back up an emotional mood. However, plastic surgery in this day and age has a negative ring to it—the process itself is a frivolous pastime that is anything but humanitarian (after all, can plastic surgeon’s be considered doctors, when they’re constantly portrayed as money-making machines?). Who would have thought that the modern advances in medicine today would be catalyzed by primitive ‘fix-up’ routines by people like Gillies or Derwent Wood? Their art was medicine, both a physical and psychological balm to the multitudes of men who suffered deformities and mental scars from World War One, and later WWII.
Firstly, I never would have expected the theme of war to be linked with beauty or facial-touch ups. This article didn’t go into depth about the causes of war, or the going-ons of political battles and victories or defeats. There were machine guns; there were other arms; they were all exploding in your face—inevitably, soldiers came out of the war injured. And then there were the civilians who helped people with their art of mask making and such. These amusing tid-bits of information, like the development of facial surgery of other things associated more closely with the 21st century, are rarely mentioned in history books. This article mentioned the aftereffects of WWI in a very civilian-oriented manner. While I know that people rationed for their soldiers, and that people made wartime supplies, I had never thought that a sort of post-war time industry could be born out of defeats during the war. For example, food rationing is to give up more foodstuffs for soldiers’ use, for them to be able to win the war. Surgery, with tin noses and metal masks, is the consumer item made by the people for soldiers after they’ve individually ‘lost’ in the war. History is therefore represented at a different angle. I’ve never before read an article about the historical soldiers back from war with disfigurement and their road to ‘beautify’ themselves once again. This sort of things makes me wonder just what else we’re skipping over in our analysis of war, and the after-effects of war, and the after-effects of the after-effects of war.
Perhaps, in effect, this article is teaching us to look at problems of epic proportions and solve them with creative solutions. A soldier back from a colossal war seems untouchable, defending or hiding both the political tension and national pride of his country and race within his veteran, war-wracked limbs and face. Most people would suggest counseling or psychoanalysis, or simply isolation, to cope with such veteran ordeals. However, the idea to make masks—to artificially reconstruct what war had taken away—seems like such a simple, common-sense thing to do that it makes me wonder why I’d never put plastic surgery and war disfigurement in the same boat before. If surgery can fix Barbara Streisand’s nose (not that she should have it ‘fixed’), then can’t it also fix the looming problem of a veteran’s emotional scars? Within the article, men sent letters to their benefactors, such as Anna Ladde, thanking them for the chance to be with their families and girlfriends again. Therefore, we should also start looking for simple, creative solutions to our modern day problems—if there’s no clean water, create portable, user-friendly water purifiers like the ‘LifeStraw’; if we’re promoting the ecosystem and ranting on about the doom of global warming, it’s common sense to start carrying around biodegradable canvas totes instead of plastic bags and try walking instead of driving places. Before WWI, the art of doll-making or metalworking must have been prevalent. In essence, the people during the early 1900’s were being resourceful in their talents by creating doll-like masks for victims of war. War led to the facial restructuring of the 1900’s which led to the plastic surgery of today. We may not have anticipated it, but this form of constant evolution must be appreciated today, in fashion magazines and in history textbooks.
Another Welcome Letter: Soldiers’ Letters From the Great War
By Anne Powell
In this article, the author dealt with how various soldiers portrayed the war in their letters home to their family, friends, or to no one in particular. Either the soldiers protected whom ever they were writing to and avoided the gruesome details or they told their opinions and expressed their disgust with what was occuring. These opinions and viewpoints were nothing new to me. Throughout past history classes when learning about how soldiers portrayed the war, the viewpoints of their letters to their loved ones were expressed. It was expected that there would be some soldiers who wished to keep the horrific actions on the battlefield and others who wanted to speak out and let the world know what was happening.
This being said, the viewpoints of the soliders were nothing new but presenting the soldiers and their letters as poems was a new concept for me. As the article progresses, the author tells of soliders who found writing letters home as an outlet for their intellect and opinions. The author tells of Lieutenant Bernard Pitt who watched the spring around him and then compared it to the death that was so evident in the surrounding landscape as well. Each soldier seems to present his way of dealing with what was going on around him in his letters. How the soldier wrote and portrayed the war can be taken as how he was dealing psychologically. Interpreting the words and events described in soldier’s letters was a new outlook on this topic for me.
When analyzing history as a larger picture, this article did not lead me to view it in any different way than I already do. This was because I have learned how psychologically damaging war can be to soldiers and that each soldier deals differently. The article presented a new way of analyzing the psychological differences but it did not alter how I viewed history.
By analyzing the various ways soldiers dealt with the horrific events of war, much can be learned. The teachings provided through these letters from WWI soldiers should be applied to wars occuring of this time period and those to come. In particular, the Iraq war should have taken a lesson from these letters. I believe that politicians, before declaring war or deciding to attack any area of the world should be exposed to these findings. It would be greatly beneificial for them to read these letters and any others that may exist from WWI. Before entering a war, it seems as if politicians do not take a moment to think how this will affect the men involved. WWI experienced trench warfare which brought on an extensive stalemate. Much of the time spent by these soldiers in the trenches was wasted time that created even more damage to them psychologically. This can be compared to present day Iraq and many soldiers returning home with post-pardum depression. With the risk of sounding biased, these men coming home from Iraq did not need to be out there fighting just as the men during WWI who remained fighting during the stalemate. We should have learned from these letters from WWI soldiers and prevented damaging psychological effects from happening again. It is a little too late for the Iraq war soldiers but the vauleable information from these letters could and should be applied before any future wars begin.
The article spoke in a dry and analytical voice about casualty numbers and medical methods. But beneath the historian talk of masks and men, there is an underlying theme, astounding in its painfulness. Some things can never be fixed. Some wounds can never be healed. Back then, as now, there are problems that we, as human beings, cannot solve. And this idea is shocking to us. It is not entirely unknown, but still is immensly difficult to grasp. There are pictures of men--brothers, sons and fathers--going off laughing into war, and they come back missing pieces of their face. In a desperate, primitive attempt at restoration, these monsters were offered the chance to hide themselves behind copper-cast, that soon grew old and worn. They looked in the mirror, and could not recognize themselves. And no one could change that. Wood and Ladd were restricted by the sheer numbers and the ignorance of their time, but most of all by the limitations of human ability. And this is a new and frightening idea, even now. That, no matter what, there are so many, and such vital problems, that we are unable to solve.
This article, while introducing, or rather, bringing to the foreground of my consciousness, a new and terrifying idea, did not lead me to look at history much differently. It seems as though I have always known history to be mainly a matter of what we can and can't do, a matter of our human shortcomings. History is not written by the victors. History is written by humanity's desperate attempt to heal the wounds it creates. History is a tale of war following war, alliance colliding with alliance, leader shouting over with leader, all swearing that they are the ones with the solution, they are the ones who will fix all problems, when, in reality, nothing can fix all of man's problems. History is a matter of the constant denial of this truth, the constant blind attempt to somehow, make things better. This article merely confirmed, on a smaller scale, what already seemed obvious on the larger.
I believe, not only in this article, but also in the entire Great War, there was a vital lesson, which we today should not overlook. It is simple--war is wrong. It solves nothing, it keeps no promises. It is not only a meaningless sacrifice of lives, but also a never-ending one. Even the soldiers that survive contemporary wars, they still live the rest of their lives behind masks, the socially accepted mask of "fine, just fine" in order to hide the disfigured faces of their souls, because who wants to see that? We saw the destruction that modern warfare could cause, we saw men mowed down by the thousands in World War I, and then, not more than a few decades later, we plunged into World War II, and were shocked and horrified by the casualities. In war, there will always be casualities. There will always be mothers crying and lists of names in the newspapers. If we are to believe that every human is worth something, that no individual life should be so blatantly ignored, then we must stop extolling the so-called righteousness or practicality of war. There is no glory. There is no right. There is only a man sitting on a park bench painted blue, who may never again face the world.
In the article “Faces of War” I learned that although it might have been gruesome for some people to look at a disfigured friend or relative, I never understood how mentally disturbing the experience would have been for the soldier. To go through the remainder of you life, knowing that people will be staring and whispering about how ugly and deformed you are is a heave burden to bear. Knowing that you look bad is one thing, but actually seeing your own reflection, an event that happens multiple times a day, can dishearten even the most optimistic person. I never really thought about the type of cosmetic surgery that was available at that time period, and I was also unaware that people made masks to cover their faces. This seems both therapeutic and detrimental at the same time, as in the article it stated that a father’s child screamed at his expressionless face. The type of surgery that exists to day had to start somewhere, and in World War 1 the evolutionary ingenuity of Sir. Harold Gillies helped to advance the way surgeons approached facial reconstruction.
This article helped me to see the world at that time from a soldier’s point of view. Although they were heroes, this did not change the fact that people found them repulsing. One man wrote to the doctor begging for help because his wife wouldn’t go near him and was terrified to even look at his face. In parks there were specially designated benches that passer-bys knew that if someone was sitting on them it would be difficult to look at their deformities. By talking about the way that the survivors had to live out the remainder of their lives, that author not only painted a vivid picture, but also made the reader connect with the people of that time and made them seem like actual people instead of just names and dates like history usually does. This showed me a broader spectrum of history because I was able to analyze the situation based on peoples reactions instead of just facts written in a text book.
Although World War 1 was nothing short of a tragedy, there are still lessons that can be learned. For example, even though the technology is much more advanced in today’s world, during World War 1 countries united for a common goal and patriots volunteered to fight for their country. That same since of unity and loyalty should still be practiced today, but unfortunately, it often takes a shared tragedy to unite opposite people. Also, after the war was over, the deformed veterans were often not treated with the respect that they deserved. With the high toll that the war took on them, they should have been honored, but instead they were feared. Some caring and hardworking individuals put in a lot of time and effort into making the soldiers lives better with the use is surgery and masks. The response from the people who were helped was enormous, some people even wore their masks long after their paint was chipped, so the moral that everyone able to help someone else should, is a lesson from this war that could be applied to contemporary settings due to the fact that there are so many volunteers dedicating their lives to helping others.
By reading the article “Faces of War” there were a few themes that were new to me. I assumed before that soldiers suffered deformities, but I never realized that so many men suffered from face deformation in World War I. The article talks about how trench warfare was the main way of fighting in this war, which definitely equates to face deformities. Dr. Fred Albee states that; “The soldiers failed to understand the menace of the machine gun. They seemed to think they could pop their heads up over a trench and move quickly enough to dodge the hail of bullets.” This statement shows that the soldiers left themselves extremely vulnerable to injuries to the face. I also learned how hard it was for soldiers to return home with face injuries. The men faced many difficulties, and in many cases were not accepted back into society. In the article an example of this is that a wife wouldn’t go near her husband and she refused to even look at his face. Before reading this I never realized how difficult it was for these men to return home and how traumatized they really were. I also never realized before that masks were made for the men who had damaged faces. Although masks may have seemed helpful to some, Sir Harold Gillies, thankfully for the soldiers reformed the “art” of plastic surgery. These techniques that were created during the early 1900’s are very important to the process of plastic surgery as we know it today.
“Faces of War” didn’t exactly change my views on history but it allowed me to understand the importance of everyone who helps others during war. Even though these people were not directly involved in war, they contributed a lot of time and effort to help those in need. People such as Wood did whatever they could to support and help the men that had deformities. By reading this article I learned how important it is to help others in need, and how much of an impact you can have on a person's life by helping.
The lessons from the tragedy of World War I can definitely be applied into a setting of today. The fact that artists devoted themselves to making masks for injured men shows us that we should all try to help others when they need it. The production of masks should also teach us that sometimes the solution to our problems can be very simple. Today we are having environmental issues, and we can all help by simply buying reusable grocery bags instead of using plastic or riding a bike instead of driving as many European countries already do. Although World War I was a very awful event, it has led to many things that are still present in our world today.
“Faces of War”
This article described one of the many changes that occurred as a result of World War I: the use of masks by soldiers who had become facially disfigured. The strength of the weaponry used in the war, such as machine guns, drastically outpaced the effectiveness of medical technology. The trench style of war that occurred in World War I was also highly conducive to facial wounds. Soldiers, as described by Dr. Fred Albee, would think they could pop their heads out of the trenches and dodge the bullets. These transformations that occurred as a result of the war, and their ramifications, were the major theme of the article.
The changes made it necessary for revisions to be made to the art of facial reconstruction. The surgeons of the day were flooded with patients, and many did not have the experience necessary to deal with the trauma suffered by soldiers. For instance, one clinic received over 2,000 patients following the Battle of the Somme.
Three pioneers in the field of facial reconstruction were portrayed in the article. The first, Sir Harold Gilles, refined and mass produced critical techniques in plastic surgery. Many of these are still important in modern plastic surgery. Francis Derwent Wood was the founder of the Masks for Facial Disfigurement Department. He created new, metallic masks that were lighter in weight and more permanent. His work caught the attention of Anna Coleman Watts, an American sculptor. She opened the Studio for Portrait Masks in Paris, which created the most detailed and artistic masks.
This article gave me somewhat of a new perspective on the history of medicine. I was unaware of the importance of World War I in advances made in medicine. Most branches of medicine were greatly advanced during the war; these advances also played a role in treating the catastrophic casualties of the Second World War.
A few of the major ideas in this article can be applied to the world today. For instance, in the article, it was described how the disfigured soldiers react upon seeing their grotesque faces. Many soldiers were known to collapse in shock upon seeing their images in a mirror. One nun told her nurses to “Always look a man straight in the face. Remember, he’s watching your face to see how you react.” This can be applied to today because we can learn how to treat veterans returning from the war in Iraq, especially those who have been injured in some way. We should view these soldiers with respect, and not dwell on their physical appearances.
In reading the article “Faces of War” there were many new ideas and themes presented to me. The major idea that was new was that the doctors were able to reconstruct faces during that time. I had no clue that they were able to do plastic surgery in the early 1900’s. I thought that plastic surgery started to occur in the mid to late 1900’s. I also learned how many people got face deformities during World War I. There were approximately 20,000 face casualties after this war which surprised me. The soldiers were ignorant of the machine guns thinking that they could outrun them, which led to many of their faces getting blown off. Also, I learned about the masks that the soldiers got if they had really bad facial deformities. If a soldier lost their face a mask would be created to try and help them get back to normal. Francis Derwent Wood and Anna Coleman Watts made these masks that really helped the soldiers feel good about them. Another main idea that I learned about that surprised me was that this plastic surgery that happened in the early 1900’s had a great effect on plastic surgery today. The article mentioned that the treatment led to many medical advances that helped in World War II which is something that I did not know.
This article did not really lead me to look at the bigger picture of history differently. The only idea that I do look at differently now is the medicine and plastic surgery side of history. I now know more about where some of those ideas originated which I had never known before. It also led me to look differently at how much those medical advances from World War I greatly helped World War II.
There are some lessons that could be applied today. The idea of the soldiers having to adjust back to their normal life after facial reconstruction is common with soldiers today whose physical appearance has been affected in some way. They lose so much self esteem when that happens that by giving them something to try and make them feel better, like a mask or prosthetic leg, is a very good thing. It can build up their self esteem and make them feel normal again.
In the article "Faces of War," there were many ideas and themes that were obscure to me prior to reading the passage. I knew of the psychological effects of the war and that soldiers were distorted physically; but I did not know that some men's faces were distorted to the extent that they literally needed a new face. Also I never heard of people such as Anna Coleman Ladd and Francis Derwent Wood, who dedicated a large part of their lives in restoring the face of a soldier. It amazes me that Ladd and Wood would commit their time to the meticulous process of making a soldier's face look as close as possible to what it had looked like before the war.
I also learned that to every event in history there is an aftermath that manifests the effect that an event had on a particular place during a specific time in history. In the case of World War I, the aftermath consisted of the millions dead and those alive yet wounded physically and psychologically. The events that take place in history should not only be viewed and studied, but also the aftermath of those events as well.
One lesson from the first World War that could be applied today is that instead of being devastated about a catastrophic event one should learn from it. Although the war was indeed devastating, such devastation must not obstruct our ability to mitigate or prevent possible devastation in the future. In the article, the author also talks about how the casualties during World War I led to advances in many branches of medicine, which would later aid in treating the casualties in the Second World War.
One question to ask families today is would they let a physical deformity overshadow the character of a loved one. I can imagine the wife and children of a soldier of the war cower in fear as they saw the deformed face of their loved one. The question still applies today in a contemporary setting - would we allow a change in physical appearance to jeopardize the relationship of someone we know despite the fact that their character has not changed? If not then that is the true meaning of loving a friend or family member unconditionally.
As I read the article, “Faces of War”, I was immediately reminded of another article from several years ago. I had been sifting and flipping through the magazines on the living room coffee table, waiting for a picture to catch my eye. Political figures, models, movies, and everything else with a seemingly normal air were not enough to pause the flipping. At this point in the Iraq war, pictures of soldiers had also become common, but I came upon a picture of a soldier that made me pause. Why? Because he had a mechanical leg. And although I had seen mechanical limbs in pictures and in person before, this soldier’s leg was different. The technology was far more advanced from those I had seen and I was amazed that these advancements were happening so quickly.
If I hadn’t connected these two articles together from the beginning, “Faces of War” wouldn’t have had the same effect. The article would have been dryer, due mostly the mini biographies of influential people in the field, such as Gillies, Wood, and Ladd. However, the whole concept of making masks for soldiers was new to me. Although the article on Iraq made me aware of current resolutions for limb loss and the process of rehabilitation, I had never considered the devastation of facial injuries. A person’s face is their identity, more so than any name or security number. A face is also a person’s connection to other people- thoughts can be understood through expressions and eye contact tells more than any words. These connections through the face are even more vital within families and it is to their family to which these soldiers most wanted to return. I would not have considered it possible to repair such distortion with the technology available in the days of World War I. Therefore, it is clearly amazing that people were able to recreate these faces from such limited resources.However, “Faces of War” also spoke of how few soldiers had the opportunity to recreate their face. There were 185 masks created, yet there were around 2,000 patients. This shows the incredible number of those who had to carry on without this vital part of their identity. And for the lucky 185, the masks only lasted so long. As the masks deteriorated, so did the confidence of their bearers, but the masks were all the confidence they had left; and so these soldiers clung to the masks for the sake of their sanity. And who could tell them to do otherwise?
This article demonstrated how post war events are as influential and important as those events during the war. Although post war events are of another nature, they bring about changes in society based on the experience of war. The facial casualties from trench warfare in WWI were one of the aspects of war that caused society to be changed. Medical capabilities to restore facial distortion owe much to the post WWI discoveries. And it was not only the medical discovery that changed society, but also the effort. Without this renewed effort and purpose, technology could not have advanced to the point it is at today. And today perhaps, it can continue to push forward so that every soldier has the confidence and comfort of their own identity, so that they won’t fear coming home.
The idea that seemed to stick out to me the most when completing the reading was that of the story of how and why great strides were made in facial surgery and reconstruction. I never gave much thought to the fact that even the soldiers fortunate enough to survive the war were still subject to horribly disfiguring injuries that would make them wish that they had been dead. While reading the article I learned the reasons behind while facial injuries were so common. Without reading this I would have never have made the connection between the trenches and the disfigurement. I was happy when I was reading about the process that the masks went through to be made and how dedicated those who created it were to helping those who had given so much for their countries.
This article definitely caused me to look at the big picture of history much differently. I was able to see how a small thing such as fighting trench warfare could bond people of unlike professions in hope that they can assuage the problems of humanity. This story was amazing and I know that if this happened and I did not learn about it that there must be thousands of more examples and I am eager to read some of them.
The main lesson that can be gained from this war and all wars is that human life is much to precious to waste on things so trivial as land or power. I hope we can see the results of the war in the horrible tribulations endured by those disfigured, and can learn from them so they did not suffer in vain.
In reading “Faces of War” there were many themes and ideas that were new for me. For one thing I did not know the extent to which surgeons were able to do on their patients. I was not aware that plastic surgery could be done in the early 1900’s, even to the low quality that it was achieved. More shocking then this to me though was how poorly treated the soldiers were once they arrived home from war. Rather then being thanked and honored, people fled in terror from their disfigured faces. I was horrified to learn that separate benches were even built for these people. They were painted blue so that people passing by would know that those sitting on them would be disfigured. The article even mentioned children running in fear from their father’s face. The plastic surgery did help the soldiers a little however. While many of them could never look in a mirror again without breaking down, many others were able to go back to leaving close to normal lives. One soldier had said “The woman I love no longer finds me repulsive, as she had a right to.” When I had learned about the war in the past, I never heard anything about these depressing stories of soldiers and the miracles surgery did for them.
This article led me to look at the bigger picture of history much differently. This article focused more on the individuals of the war than anything else. In that sense I was in fact able to appreciate the importance of the individual during the war. It helped me to see the reality of history in the way that it is not just something in a history book. These people that fought suffered extreme pain from their injuries and perhaps even more extreme psychological pain and suffering in their lives after the fact. It was from this event that some of modern surgery stems from. This also led me to see how much history connects and builds.
Many of the lessons of the World War I period can be applied in a contemporary setting. One of these is how the veterans were treated after the war. They were looked down upon and not respected in the least. In the modern world today we can learn from this mistake. Our soldiers fight for us and for our country. When they return it is important to be grateful for what they have done. They put their lives on the line for the good of the country. If their appearance after the war is deformed it should remind us of how much they endured to protect out country, not scare us into running away. These soldiers deserve our respect and sympathy, not fear and disgust.
"Military Lessons of the Great War"
By Major-General Sir Frederick Maurice
As the title suggests this article was about the lessons that was supposed to be learned from the Great War. This article explained the facts of the war, how people perceived to be and how the war changed due to technology and change in tactics. One main theme that the Major General kept stressing was that technology during peacetime influenced the outcome of the war. For example, he said that the development of vaccines against a variety of diseases was originally designed for civilian uses. However when the war came those same vaccines for citizens were redistributed at the fronts to prevent unnecessary deaths. Another great example was the development of the railway system. As Sir Frederick Maurice said, the railway systems were important but not drastic because the trains could not bring the soldiers directly to the front lines. Instead, they dropped them off at depot a safe distance from the fighting and from there the soldiers still had to march and use animals to carry equipment. Yet, animals and soldiers can only carry so much equipment thus effectively limiting how many soldiers a country can deploy to the field at a time. However, all that changed when motor vehicles were invented and used at the front, the amount of equipment and troops drastically increased. Overall, this article made me further realize that inventions that were originally designed for peace were now being used for war and visa versa. Today one such example is the development and use of robots; robots are now used in surgery and the front lines of war.
Reading: Another Welcome Letter: Soldiers’ Letters from the Great War
Author: Anne Powell
This reading presented some information I already knew about men and what they wrote back to their families. I learned some of this is my U.S. History class, but what I got out of this assignment was something I never learned before. This writing took me inside a couple of men’s lives and talked about what each man wrote about and what they wanted their loved ones to know. For example, the reading took me into the life of Edward Thomas. He didn’t have many friends during the war since he was so much older than everyone else, so he decided to focus on nature. He wrote to his wife describing the sky and the animals and he found beauty beyond the war in a distant place. I never learned about the people who talked about something beyond the war while they were there.
This article led me to understand how the war affected different soldiers. Patrick Shaw-Stewart was saying how his generation is suffering too early. Obviously he was angry about being a soldier in the war and he, as well as every other soldier, had to deal with seeing million being shot in front of their faces. Many wrote poems about the affects the war had on their minds and bodies. Wilfred Owen talks about a gloomy cloud in one of his poems. This represents the depressed aspect of the war and how the fighting made Owen feel. This cloud is the angst and sadness each soldier had to live with every day and what they will carry with them forever.
The reading tells about the hardships that each man felt. Not one letter had a very happy thing written down (except when Edward was talking about nature.) This goes to show that a majority of the soldiers were depressed from the outcome of the war. If this were known today in accordance with the Iraq war, maybe things would be different. Maybe if the government studied these letters and knew what goes on personally for each soldier and what could happen after, the war wouldn’t be this bad or gone on this long.
In the article ANOTHER WELCOME LETTER: SOLDIERS' LETTERS FROM THE GREAT WAR, there was one thing that blatantly stood out to me, something I had never heard of anyone doing before: the censorship of soldiers letters. Not only the fact that they did this, but in the article they talk about it as if it was no big deal. "Charles Sorley, censoring letters written by soldiers in his platoon between stretches or trench duty at Ploegsteert Wood" and "Robert Vernede vividly described the conditions in and out of the trenches in letters home; he too, censored his men's letters" It seems as though this is not even worth questioning by the author of the paper.
This article makes me realize that history is extremely subjective. It is just common sense that history is written by the victors, because they would obviously never let the story out of the people that they beat. However, in reading this, you can see that history is really written by the elite of the victors, not by all of them. If the officers censor the words of those below them, then you can assume that the same thing happens at every level. Officers get censored by their supperiors, and so on and so on. Soon there is the one person at the top, who gets to decide what everyone says.
The main thing that can be applied by the reading of this article is that freedom of speech is the most important right man has. Without it, we are no more than puppets being played by the powerful people in the world.
Faces of War were definitely a mind opening literature piece. It allowed me to consider so many things that were related to the topics of plastic surgery as well as the effect of wars. It is reasonable for one to understand that Wars hurt people, mentally and in ways physically. It was “outside of the Box” or logic, for me to think that these soldiers may actually get New faces. Plastic Surgery and restoration from such wounds were startling to me, especially the creation of masks. Now days, plastic surgery associates with becoming more beautiful and gaining status in physical appearance, however, patients back in World War I was far different from that. Soldiers whom had fought years of this horrific war, were being socially rejected do to wounds on their faces, as well as any other physical handicaps brought to them by the war. Doctors like Lad and Wodd put in so much effort into creating masks that would allow these soldiers to look as close as they can to their faces before the war.
What got me really thinking is actually the absence of concern that historians seem to have on those who are injured in war. Its always the dead that receive much of the attention, but in reality those who were wounded in the war, must go through extra hardship to live, even though they had just risked their lives to defend their nation. Such unfortunate consequence for the soldiers are truly saddening.
This article allows us, today, to be more considerate in the way we think of these veterans and perhaps pay more respects to those who are the Victims of War, who seem to be missing in the spotlight. Additionally these advancements in the medical fields contributed a big part in improving and at least mitigating the pain and social pressures that would affect war veterans.
Reading the article, "Faces of War" was a real eye opening experience. I had no idea that faces became so destroyed in the war. When I think about men going through that intense pain, it seems unbearable for them to even be alive. The article also made me look at plastic surgery in a new light. Today plastic surgery is made to seem like such an evil thing because people take advantage of it. I never knew it was really created during the war to help soldiers. It gave these soldiers the chance to actually look at themselves in the mirror again. If it wasn't for the work of Sir Harold Gillies, Francis Derwent Scott, and Anna Ladd these men would have never been able to show their faces in public.
This article definitely made me look at the big picture of history differently. Usually we just learn about numbers of soldiers. This article made the soldiers we read about seem like real people. Soldiers were afraid to have their families look at their disfigured faces so they were willing to wear masks. This article shows all the different aspects of war injuries. It is not just as simple as being shot, some people are literally being blown to pieces.
The events of WWI need to be applied to today. Today it is considered wrong to talk about war injuries. Injuries and deaths in Iraq are constantly being covered up so people don't see how bad war really is. The truth is, soldiers in Iraq are still having their faces destroyed just like WWI soldiers. This article shows how ugly war can really be. It shows that sometimes it may be easier to just die and not have to live with the pain of being disfigured. The time from WWI to now has also allowed for the world of plastic surgery to greatly expand. During WWI masks had to be created to fix faces. Today surgery can be done to completely rebuild faces. There is a lesson from WWI to learn about plastic surgery. People really should not take advantage of it. Today in Hollywood it is just used to make people better looking than others. It was originally made to save lives, and it should go back to that.
Response to “Faces of War”
While reading this piece I noticed that there were many ideas and themes that were new to me prior to reading it. Most of the mental and physical effects of war were nothing surprising; however, I was not aware at all that wounded soldiers of that era actually had the opportunity for plastic surgery and to receive “new faces.” With the progression of overall war came more brutal and destructive weaponry. This undoubtedly led to more severe injuries and a new generation of wounds. This was basically the theme of the article. As a result of all of these new facial injuries, mostly due to the new idea of trench warfare, came necessary changes in the art of plastic surgery (which I didn’t even know existed at the time). The article definitely did help me to look at the bigger picture of history differently. I never knew the significance of World War I medicine. Many important medicinal advances of the modern era have come as a result of those made during World War I. For instance, many of Sir Harold Gilles ideas on plastic surgery are still prevalent and influential today. The experiences and advancements made by WWI caregivers were crucial in the helping of wounded people in future wars, specifically World War II.
A lot of the lessons and events of the WWI period can be applied to contemporary setting. We can learn how people with disfigurements, especially in their face, should be treated, as if there is nothing wrong at all. The quote about the nun who instructed all of her fellow nurses to look wounded men in the face shows this idea. The war has helped me sympathize more with wounded people and I definitely understand the struggles they go through based on their appearances.
The reading that I decided to look at was "Faces of War". I found this very interesting because you would think from the title that it would be about soldiers from separate countries participating in different aspects of the war. For example, one section would be about a ground soldier, another a medic, another a fighter pilot. But actual the story was about the soldiers and what really happened to their faces because of the war. It really showed me how soldiers can be damaged not only mentally but also phsyically from fighting. They might not dieing but have to live with a scar that will haunt them the rest of their life.
In the reading it showed me that skin grafting, and plastic surgery, and reconstructive surgerys were used frequently in the Great War because more advanced weapons were being used and the soldiers weren't used to them yet and they were getting destroyed. It states in the reading that the militarty technology was really out running the medicine. Doctors would do the best they could to try and help the soldiers who encountered major facial injuries so that they would be able to move on. Soldiers' faces would get ripped apart from the machine gun fire that they faced and the doctors really had to find new techniques and ways to rebuild the faces.
Even though wars are very harmful and destructive. Many new developements can come from and that will help in the future. I had no idea that the facial surgeries that doctors did during the Great War really helped to push the limits of reconstructive surgery. More and more surgeries were being done because of the fighting and in affect medicine advanced and the doctors were able to help out more. Soldiers could go one living more normal lives because they could get help to fix their scars.
War is a horrible thing and no one wishes harm on anyone but from fighting can come great advancements. The field of medicine experienced a great push from this war and many soldiers were greatly affected because of this. You can tell a lot by a man face, where he has been, and also what he has done, and that can help all of us learn for the future.
Faces of War
Never actually studying any sort of plastic surgery history in class, made this whole article new to me. Of course I knew of the wounded soldiers and those soldiers who died during World War I, however I had never really thought about those of facial disfiguration. Dr Albee commented on what it was really like for a man with a facial wound. “The psychological effect on a man who must go through life, an object of horror to himself as well as to others, is beyond description," I don’t think that I could ever comprehend what it would be like to experience or even see something to that degree. I mean my dad is a Doctor and I hear stories that would make a person, without a medical personal in their family, cringe, but these stories of men who risked their lives for their country and not being able to look at their own faces, really brought history to a more personal level to me.
I think that the article definitely made me look at the bigger picture of history, because in the text books you just read the numbers but you don’t actually read the stories. Although the masks were recorded to help 185 people in one of the reconstructive sculptor’s studio, there were over 20,000 men who suffered from facial deformities. The author did not just tell us the statistic, she backed it up from quotes from some of the men like one who wrote a thank you note for having a home. Not for giving money for the home like some would think, but because “The woman that I love no longer finds me repulsive, as she had the right to do.” These men actually thought that people had a right to be repulsed by their disfigured faces. They cooperated and sat on designated blue painted benches, as to warn townspeople that the men who sat there could be frightful to look at.
As I finished reading this article, I began to wonder why people actually start any sort of warfare after seeing the effects of World War I. I know that there are some wars that are indeed justified; World War II was to help free men, women and children that were being killed just because they didn’t fit in with a plan of a Dictator. However with the current Iraq war, I think that we should have learned not to jump so hastily into declaring a war. This article brings forward one of the many examples of why a contemporary setting should not jump so hastily into war and consider all the risks, like how men won’t be able to look at themselves if their faces are so badly wounded from warfare.
Prior to reading the article, I was not aware that masks and other facial prosthetics were made in such large numbers for injured World War I veterans. The analysis of the subject of these masks acts as microcosm for the analysis of the effects of the war. One thing that strikes the reader very quickly is the sheer damage caused by this war. The men who need these masks are not simply beat up a little bit. They are not merely scarred and cut. Large parts of their faces are missing. The article states that mirrors were not allowed in most wards due to the fact that any men who actually saw their would faces would be horrified at what they saw. Similarly, the destruction of World War I thoroughly destroyed many landscapes and, for some countries, killed almost entire generations of men. The second thing that one notices is a sort of desperation and almost futility in the attempt to cover the effects of the war. The prosthetics that were constructed were based on a single prewar photo. The result was a lifeless facsimile of the patient's face. While it might cover the disfigurement of the wounds, it could not restore the functions or emotions of an actual human face. One patient's child was horrified to see his father's emotionless face. Additionally, the masks did not have a very long longevity. Many masks were no longer usable after a couple years. This mirrors how the attempts to rebuild in Europe after the war could not undo what had happened. However, one cannot deny the earnestness of the work of the surgeons and sculptors who tried so hard to help those who had lost so much for their country.
The most important lesson that can be garnered from World War I is a lesson that all profess to know, yet no generation seems to be capable of enforcing; war is not glamorous. War creates at least as many problems as it creates, and war serves mostly to beget more war and suffering. What happens in war cannot be undone. The samrtest thing to do is simply prevent war at all costs.
"Another Welcome Letter: Soldiers' Letters from the Great War" by Anne Powell showed the emotions experienced by soldiers in the trenches and what they chose to send home to loved ones regarding their experiences. Each soldier would choose to send different views of the war home to their families. Some would explain exactly how it was in the trenches, but some would leave out certain details that would make the reader anxious about their return home. Some became depressed and made a bond with nature and some would put up a strong front and send an optimistic view home.
This reading did present a bigger picture of history. It showed the views of people living through the history. It was their present, but what they went through effected the history of the whole world. When people read about history, usually it is from a viewpoint that did not experience it firsthand. In this situation, actual letters from soldiers who lived through the Great War are being analyzed.
The lessons learned in this reading could be appllied to a contemporary setting in the wars that the world is still experiencing. The letters the soldiers sent home during the Great War expressed that they did not feel that the war was worth the lives that were lost. Soldiers on the front line wanted to make peace in order to keep more of their friends and comrades alive. If the leaders of the war listened to the views of the soldier at the time, the war would have ended much quicker and peace would have been made. Instead, the leaders remembered the past and the reasons they went to war. If people listen to the ideas of people in the present, peace will be made quicker and last longer.
I read “Faces of War” by Caroline Alexander. “Faces of War” is a great article to read because it is more personal than most historical accounts that I have read. This article changed the way I viewed World War. First of All, the article presented a theme, stressing the horrors of the machine gun. I realized that the machine gun is an enemy of mankind. I naively used to think that the invention of the machine was a positive step forward, because it makes war easier. What I didn’t realize was the tragedy that it brought to countless soldiers. Those that survived the machine gun’s ruthless wrath would become strangers to themselves. The psychological effect of having your face partially torn off is tremendous. From reading this article, I learned how devastating it is to be mutilated. Some people were too embarrassed to go home when they saw their own face. Nobody in the world deserves this. Another thing that surprised me in “Faces of War” was the large attempt to “fix” these soldiers faces creating masks. Plastic surgery was used to restore function and form to the soldiers faces. It is astounding that people can create a new face for victims of the machinegun. It was a major advancement in healthcare to be able to give someone a new face. This not only gave the victims their face back, but it also restored their pride and self-confidence. It made them feel normal as opposed to feeling like a stranger.
This article also helped me to realize the correlation between the advancement in military technology, and the resulting advancement in healthcare. The techniques for plastic surgery were development because of the dire situation that innumerable soldiers were in. If the Great War did not occur, then plastic surgery might not be as advanced today. It seems that advances in medicine often come during wars because healthcare is so crucial.
“Faces of War”, by Caroline Alexander changed the way I viewed war because it helped me understand what mutilated surviving soldiers of the war had to go through. Although plastic surgery will make their faces look a bit better, the soldiers still look and feel much different than they had before the war. I didn’t realize that soldiers were psychologically affected by their deformities. They often loose self-respect, and feel as though they are a stranger to the world. Even with a mask, it must be very hard for deformed soldiers to feel proud when they see themselves in the mirror. With a greater understanding of the tragedies of war, I will view war in a more negative manner from now on.
Although many things change as time goes on, others stay the same. For example, the practice of “fixing” disfigured soldiers has been around for a long time and is still important today. Although plastic surgery is much more advanced now than during World War One, we still feel that making soldiers feel and look normal is a major part of treating them. Also, the correlation between advances in medicine, and advances in weaponry, is the same today. Today, soldiers carry an assortment of medical supplies that can help wounded soldiers. These advancements resulted from the ongoing war in Iraq. This correlation will most likely continue as long as there are wars on our planet.
The reading that I decided to look at was “The Faces of War”. Faces of War were definitely a mind opening literature piece. One of the most important things I learned was that doctors were doing plastic surgery in the 1900’s. I wouldn’t have thought that this was possible back then. This allowed me to think about more things that were related to the topics of plastic surgery, as well as the effects that the war had on people. But the thing that was most surprising to me was how the veterans were treated when they returned home from the war. They should have been thanked, honored, and celebrated for their sacrifice, but people often were disgusted by them and would avoid them. Soldiers having had fought years of this horrific war, were being socially rejected due to the wounds on their faces. People often discriminated against any other physical handicaps brought to them by the war as well. In the book there was one soldier who had said “The woman I love no longer finds me repulsive, as she had a right to.” It reminded of how Vietnam veterans were also looked down on, even though it was in a different way. The doctors of the time had done their best to help these men, but the technology wasn’t as advanced at the time. Doctors put in a great amount effort into creating masks that would allow these soldiers to look as close as they can to their faces before the war.
We can still take lessons from the World War I period, and they can still be used in a modern day setting. One of these is how the veterans were treated after the war. They were looked down upon and not respected at all by the people they had fought to save. When they return it is important that people be thankful for their sacrifice and what they had to give up. This lesson was often forgotten after the Vietnam War. People would treat them badly forgetting their sacrifices. If their appearance after the war is deformed, then they should be even more celebrated, not looked down on for it. Additionally these advancements in the medical fields contributed a big part in improving and at least mitigating the pain and social pressures that would affect war veterans.
There are various ways in which the article “Faces of War” impacted my knowledge regarding plastic surgery and its effects upon soldiers faced with facial disfigurement due to the horrors they faced within the trenches during the Great War. The article gave me the opportunity to consider the various things that occur as a result of plastic surgery. Furthermore such an article provided me with an opportunity to gain the knowledge regarding the impact of warfare. I was surprised to learn that soldiers impacted as a result of the Great War were given the option of plastic surgery within the early decades of twentieth century. I was shocked to hear the impact of plastic surgery dating back as early as the early decades of the twentieth century. The use of masks to restore wounds was indeed an eye opener. Doctor Wodd made a major contribution to plastic surgery through assisting soldiers with deformed faces in order to help create an easier transition for veterans back into society.
Today’s society seems to give more attention and respect towards those who died as a result of conflicts throughout the world., unfortunately however today’s society tends to forget those who served there nation and survived.
I believe that articles like “Faces of War” indeed help us understand and be more considerate towards the veterans of today. The soldiers who died as a result of battle should be honored however they died and have been placed to rest for eternity however veterans are still alive today and are moving on from the ugly images encountered throughout the war.
The article “Faces of War” by Caroline Alexander opened my eyes to one of the many changes that were brought about by the events of World War I. The introduction of plastic surgery and facial masks were a direct attempt to keep pace with the advanced weaponry that was being used in the war. The trench style warfare that evolved during World War I led to more facial injuries as people were careless when using the highly destructive weapons, such as machine guns, during combat. I was unaware however, that surgeons could create entirely new faces for soldiers who were heavily injured during the war, or even that the idea of plastic surgery had been developed yet. This theme of adaptation to technological advancements was common throughout much of World War I and the early twentieth century. In turn much of the progression made in the field of medicine occurred during The Great War, and thus still is an important part of our society today. This article did force me to look at the bigger picture of history as we can see how our wealth of knowledge has grown over the years and the effect it has had on future generations. The ideas presented in this article can be applied to a contemporary setting, as we still deal with human disfigurement in today’s world. The practices applied during World War I, set a base, from which we could build upon our treatment of those inflicted with defections. The development of plastic surgery created a situation in which people with facial deformities could live a normal life again, without being shunned from the outside world. From the words of a disfigured soldier "Thanks to you, I will have a home," one soldier had written her. ". . . The woman I love no longer finds me repulsive, as she had a right to do." Overall, I feel that this article contained a main theme of progression in technology and the effect that it had on society. World War I was one of the first events to really propel society into its modern state.
I chose to read "Another welcome letter: Soldiers' letters from the great war" which was about soldiers and the letters they sent home to family and loved ones. While reading I came across things that were new and old to me. For one i had no idea that so many men would write home to their mothers. I would think maybe girlfriends or wifes, but not mothers. Something I found very interesting was the different types of letters each soldier would send home. Some would write in vivid detail what was going going on, while others left the gory details out. I also had no idea so many men wrote home so often. Reading some of the mens letters to home made me realize how hard it must be to be away from your loved ones for so long, especially when you are in the situation these men were in. It was very touching to read some of the mens heart felt responses and their different ways of showing how much they care for their familes; like in poems.
This article did make me see the bigger picture of history becuase I understand how grueling the conditions were and how hard it was for these men to be away for so long. Through all the pain and suffering men enflicted while at war, many knew they had people at home who loved them and were awaiting their return, which was many of the mens motivation. The war was very hard on people and caused depression umongst them. After reading ths article I realized that these letters written to home were the mens only way of keeping their morals and courage up.
In a contemporary setting, we can relate the WWI period to todays war. So many men are fighting overseas in Iraq and Iran, and many familes at home miss them a lot. Although today it is possible to communicate by internet, many people still write letters back and forth between loved ones. From WWI we can learn about the hardships men had to endure then, and relate them to the hardships men and women are enduring now.
In the passage, “Faces of War,” the whole entire subject was new to me. I really didn’t know that plastic surgery was even a relevant procedure to the time period, until reading this article and watching the video in class. I find it extremely depressing that these men, mutilated by the new forms of combat like trench warfare, and the use of machine guns, had to undergo such medical procedures just to have some of their face returned to somewhat of its original state. In addition, the extent of the damage caused by these new forms of warfare helped in the understanding of the new advancements during the period. The second paragraph of the article talks about the destruction of the newly established form of trench warfare. “The very nature of trench warfare, moreover, proved diabolically conducive to facial injuries,” said Dr. Fred Albee, a surgeon who was working in France during the war. He continued by talking about how machine guns also proved to be a menace, as men thought that they could “move quickly enough to dodge the hail of bullets.” Even though it was sad, it was also interesting to read about how the faces were created. The article said that it took about a month to construct one “mask.” These artists and doctors spent a lot of time trying to make the face bear as much likeness to the wearer as possible. The process was very slow, since they had to get a plaster cast of the soldier’s face, then make it out of copper, then paint it.
This article made me realize the extent of the mental and physical pain for soldiers in war. People think that when soldiers return home from war, they are the lucky ones. This article revealed how some of the men who return home are not only extremely damaged physically, but how it takes a toll on them mentally. “‘The psychological effect on a man who must go through life, an object of horror to himself as well as to other, is beyond description,” said Dr. Albee. It’s so sad to think about some of these men must have felt, as they woke up for the first time, and saw their reflections. I can’t even imagine the emotional effect this would have on someone. The article went on to say that mirrors were banned in many of the wards, to prevent the men from seeing their disfigurements. I found this article to be truly eye-opening. It is really comforting, though, to read about all of these men and women who tried to help the soldiers regain part of what they lost, and to help them get some of their confidence back. It was heartbreaking to read the paragraph where the author discussed how the soldiers thanked Anna Ladd after getting the masks to wear, especially the man who wrote saying that “Thanks to you, I will have a home… The woman I love no longer finds me repulsive, as she had a right to do.” It was a pretty sad read, but it was really interesting and eye-opening.
In the article, "Another Welcome Letter," a myriad of ideas were presented regarding the viewpoints of soldiers fighting in the war. The soldiers seemed to talk about different aspects of the war. Some talked about how they were lonely and how they disagreed with the war, while others mentioned that the war was something that was needed to be done. One common theme that seems to be evident in most of these letters, which were for the most part written to the parents of the soldiers, was the effect that nature had on them. Many soldiers who seemed to be lonely talked about nature in a very positive way by describing the wildlife around them to their parents. Others, however, focused on a less pleasing aspect of nature: rats. Soldiers described them as "fat and gray and bold" and seemed to be everywhere they went.
This article allowed me to look at the war past the politics and really understand the emotions of those who were fighting in it. History books that talk about wars such as WW1 do not seem to focus on how the soldiers feel about it but rather they try to teach you why it happened and how it happened. I feel that learning about the lives of soldiers is perhaps one of the most important things to learn because they are the eyewitnesses to the action and their lives are centered around the war everyday. This article does a great job of demonstrating the different types of letters that soldiers wrote home, and through this article I learned a little bit better how it would be like to be in the war.
The lessons that World War 1 has to teach are very important to the modern day world because it sets the standard of the effects of global conflicts on each country of the world. Above all, the lesson that it has to teach is that war should at all costs be avoided because, although most people are not directly affected, there is a 100% chance that, somewhere out there, a living breathing person with emotions just like the rest of us is out there fighting to protect himself and his companions. He is out there gambling with his life everyday, and all too often, he loses it.
Response to:"Faces of War”
By William Si
Reading “Faces of War” like many others in this course, I was presented with a different view on the aftermath of World War 1. Unlike a basic overview of what was going on at the time after the great war, this article presented itself with a in depth view on the lives of many who were fighting and received damages to their body. Uncommonly similar to today’s wars, soldiers are coming home with both physical and psychological damage. However, what I found surprising was not the attempt with surgery to restore the face but the demand of masks for those who were beyond repair.
Having becoming disfigured enough to be afraid to look in the mirror, their strive to make the soldiers feel better in public shown right through while talking about the causes such as the advancement of military technology beyond medical practices. From the war, it was a rough way towards a better future as they passed through waiting, to surgery, to a mask making stage. The different makers of the masks all have a unique place in history from making the idea to creating the most artistic ones.
Knowing this information, it caused me to have a different look on the picture of history. Books often only talk about the damages and death of the people, the country and how the society recovered. Unlike the main history books, this article gives me the viewpoint of knowing what the soldiers are going through and how they try to lead out the rest of their lives. Looking at the bigger picture, I noticed the advancement of medicine compared to warfare. With the understanding of the welfare and treatment of the wounded, I can see a different view on the events in history.
Now as history moves on, we can also take what we learned back then and apply it to today. From the treatment of the injured to the type of care and need, these major ideas are still needed today as a war is still being fought. Even though we have advancements such as the knowledge of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the principles of plastic surgery is still adapted for today as making them feel normal again is a big part of treatment. Even down to the smallest of details as looking at someone in the face is important lesson that can be applied now for the treatment of veterans.
Overall, reading this article, it presented a different view on how World War I changed Europe forever. From the different ideas it presented within its words to the ideas which last throughout history, “Faces of War” is a interesting article to read about the corps of artists who brought hope to soldiers who come from the trenches.
After reading the article "Faces of War," I was surprised to learn that plastic surgery came about during WWI. Today it is still a field that is being explored and advancing continually.
During WWI the machine gun was used during battles and was especially advantageous in taking out the enemy. This new weapon allowed for new warfare tactics and ways of attack, which greatly improved methods we use in stragetizing for war. However, I have never really thought much about the other side of the gun. Yes, I was obviously aware that being shot by a gun was physically wounding and detrimental to a person, but I didn't really like thinking about it in much detail. This article showed me that machine guns warped normal looking faces into gruesome ones that were unrecognizable. While this is not only physically damaging to oneself, but it is extremely damaging to a person's emotional well-being. Upon realizing the physical and psychological wounds, doctors decided to create new faces for severely damaged people. Plastic surgery not only became a field of medicine, but a type of art. It took a true artist to devise a mask using thin tin and much creativity.
This era was truly a time of change, whether it be technologically, medically, or artistically, and it established a transtion into today's era. I now look at history differently and know that soldiers not only sacrificed their lives and bodies, but also their minds. War has a way of destroying people's mind and psychology. Because of outcomes I believe that war is even worse and evil than I originally did. Also, to my surprise, my view of plastic surgery has changed. The original intentions of plastic surgery were to renovate faces by creating masks; it was a way to help other people. Usually plastic surgery is portrayed in a negative light, especially in today's society. Hollywood is using plastic surgery as a way to renovate their image, but they are not doing it out of healing, they are doing it out of vanity. I believe it would be best to remind our contemporaries of the real purpose of this medical field.
After reading “Faces of War by Caroline Alexander my eyes were opened to the true nature of war. Many people, including myself, never seem to think of the soldiers that were injured, or those who suffered shell shock and were not able to cope with life. These men with disfiguring facial wounds would never be the same. Some might think, “At least they are alive,” but I would assume that their lives are a living hell. Who could truly cope with the trauma of not having a face? How could you understand what goes on in a person’s mind, that sees the world looking on upon you with disgust and loathing at your presence? How is it possible to live without the main use of your face as we know it without thinking about how ugly and repulsive you are? That is something new that this article triggered in me.
This article leads me to think beyond WWI to the history of war in general. “Faces of War” is true evidence that war is horrible and needs to be halted. How could one group wish the death and worse on another human being? That is what the article does to your mind. It truly makes you wonder about why war has to happen. I still believe that in this war, fighting was truly necessary to save the deaths of those who cannot protect themselves.
From this article we can learn to respect our veterans who have fought for us. The men who needed surgery were disgusting freaks. We cannot treat men that have made such a sacrifice for our country in such a repulsed way. Instead, we must respect them and give them the love that they need. By their injuries the men lost not only a large part of their physical being, but also a large part of their mental being. Your face cannot get torn apart by a machine gun without you suffering extremely traumatic mental instability. The ridicule these men receive is worse then the physical. it is our job as citizens to treat everyone with respect especially our veterans.
Response to: Another Welcome Letter: Soldiers’ Letters From the Great War
The main idea of this article was how through the use of letters, soldiers were able to communicate their experiences of the war. The article addressed many different views of the war soldiers had, and how they expressed those views. A view that was new to me and stuck out in my mind was that many of the soldiers turned to nature and poetry to express and escape the horrors of war. For example, one soldier- Lieutenant Pitt, described, “a mile away is a village, shattered and wasted, and beyond that a sight more shocking…a ghastly wood where the broken trunks and splintered branches take on weird and diabolical forms…I felt a disgust, even to sickness, of the appalling wickedness of war.” This sentence stuck out at me because it showed a new and more sensitive side to the soldiers fighting this war, and how deeply affected they were because of it. It seemed like a coping mechanism to these soldiers. Another idea that was new to me was the idea of the relationship between “victor and vanquished”. For me, I never realized that all these soldiers were united in the fact that they were all soldiers, many fighting for a war they didn’t believe in. It showed how all agreed that war was disgusting. It is the idea that, “Pain, fear and death bred sympathy and tolerance towards comrades and enemies.” The article especially addressed how the soldiers were fighting through terrible conditions in the trenches while the government leaders and officers were fighting this war in relative comfort.
The article allowed me to get a bigger picture of the effect of war on the individual soldier. While instead of just learning facts about battles, through this article you could get perspective on what the individual thought, and how he was coping with fighting this war. It also showed that throughout history and war, not all agree with what they’re fighting about. But it showed that throughout history, if people don’t stand up and disagree, the war will continue with more death and destruction. I can also look at the history in a more specific sense and not in broader terms, gaining more perspective on individual thoughts and emotions.
There are many lessons of WWI that can be applied today. Namely the issue of the small soldier fighting a government’s battle. The article discussed how the soldier was suffering in the trenches while the government officials drove up in their staff cars, took at tour and then left. We should apply this idea and pay more attention to the people actually fighting the war, since they would have the experience to make the necessary changes. The raw emotion that went into this letters clearly show what the soldier is thinking, and should influence us to stand up and take a position to fight against war because as the article said, “no peace can be worse than this bloody stupidity.”
Faces of War
I found this article very intriguing, because I have never heard of cosmetic surgery on soldiers. Mostly you hear about limb replacements, but I have never heard of cosmetic surgery for soldiers. This article explained the idea of the new technology that emerged during the World War 1. I knew there were tear gases, machine guns, airplanes and other new mechanical units. This is the first time I heard of the surgeons actually being able to recreate someone’s face.
This article showed me the brutality and the horrors of the war. Usually in the text books media only show the fighting. Never have you seen the soldiers with faces deformed like the pictures that were shown in the Article. This shows how brutal and horrific the war is actually is. “‘The psychological effect on a man who must go through life, an object of horror to himself as well as to other, is beyond description,” said Dr. Albee. It must be horrifying to wake up every day and see something that constantly reminds you of the killing, murder, and the horrific battles in the war.
World War 1 has taught us about the hardships of war. Today the USA is engaged in the War on Terror in Iraq. Every day soldiers are being wounded and getting killed. We still see soldiers with limbs missing. Today we have more advance technology like bionic arms and hip joints. Plastic surgery has advanced drastically that faces can be remade. This has a limitation though that the most serious and devastating can not be cured. War is a unnecessary force that causes million upon millions of causalities.
Reading “Faces of War” emphasized some things I knew already regarding injuries from the Great War, but the reading also introduced new ideas too. I had realized that the Great War had implemented new fighting techniques and military technology. The reading shows though that this new approach to fighting greatly affected the face of the soldiers. Many of the soldiers were not aware of how extreme and dangerous some of the military machinery were, which resulted in more injuries, especially to the face. The article also made me realized how before Wood and Ladd produced masks, these wounded soldiers were ostracized by the public, including their families. Before Wood and Ladd, soldiers with facial injuries were scary to look at, and the masks were not realistic. Wood and Ladd were able to make masks that showed realistic facial features. This article made me realize that the world was not ready for the after-math of the Great War. Never before in history had injuries been this severe, and Wood and Ladd through their artistic skill attempted to deal with the gruesome reality.
The article made me look at history somewhat differently. As I’ve said before, I think countries were advancing militarily leading up to and during the Great War, but medical rehabilitation procedures were not. Dealing with facial injuries was difficult before the Great War, and little progress had been made during and after, despite Wood and Ladd’s attempts. This example just shows that certain areas within society can progress (such as military technology), and hopefully due to these advancements, other areas within society (medical rehabilitation) can also begin to make progress.
Some lessons learned from WWI is that we should be prepared to deal with the consequences of using such advanced military techniques and technology. We should focus on using the best machinery to fight, but we should also be working on how to heal the wounds from the machinery before we start using them. We should also focus on thoroughly following up with a soldier’s recovery, and making sure there is continuous funding for programs that aid in soldier’s rehabilitation. This can ensure that programs such as Wood and Ladd’s do not die out like theirs did, and that soldier’s are being given the most up to date physical therapy.
Overall, this article made me realize how real and raw war is. It is hard to predict and prepare for the after-affects of a war, but through honorable and experimental actions from citizens such as Wood and Ladd, the harshness of reality can be less painful and hopefully tolerable.
The Faces of War made me aware of not only the devastating physical effects of war but also the psychological ones that are accompanied with them. A lot of people think “Oh that soldier lost a leg or an arm, but hey at least he’s got another one.” In reality if you are that soldier that is not how you are going to think no matter how optimistic you may be. It’s not that these soldiers have lost just an arm or an eye or part of their face, but they have now lost a piece of themselves. In addition to that they lost the ability to live a normal life and experience all of the opportunities of a normal person. People look at these disfigured men (and women) with disgust, forgetting that it is because of them in the first place that they look that way.
This article also completely persuaded me to feel that war is not a good idea in most circumstances. No one person has the right to sentence another to death or put them in harm’s way because they are unable to solve their own conflicts. I now feel after reading this that unless one group or nation physically attacks a large portion of another group or nation, war should not occur. I now have a much deeper respect for soldiers and war veterans. These are men who, if they did not die or were injured, still have to suffer the psychological consequences of protecting millions of people that they don’t even know. How then knowing this, could we not respect and honor them and do everything possible to make their transition from the battlefront to the home front as smooth as possible.
The article that I chose was "Faces of War" by Caroline Alexander. Some ideas and themes that were present in this article were that soldiers with disfigured faces were shocked by their new looks. They also relied on the plastic masks to be able to go into public. These masks helped the soldeiers come to peace with their disfigured faces. These soldiers thought that they would be able to dodge the bullets from the machine guns during trench warfare. Unfortunately, most soldiers were not able to avoid the bullets. I didn't realize that trench warfare during World War One resulted in so many face injuries.
This article showed that many soldiers face problems within themselves after they experience a face altering accident. Having the option of these plastic masks to sheild their faces seemed like the only option for these soldiers to lead a normal life. People will always feel self conscious of what they look like. One soldier recalls that his children were very scared of him when they saw his expressionless face from the plastic mask.
Some lessons of World War One that can be applied to contemporary settings is that even though the soldiers enjoy having the option of replacing their disfigured faces with a plastic mask, the masks don't last for a very long time. After a few years, the paint begins to wear off and look dull. While there have been many advancements in the plastic surgery feild since world war one, replacing one's face will never be as withstanding as the real face.
“Art from the Front, Death Imagined and the Neglected Majority,” by Elizabeth Louise Kahn, was a very interesting article about a topic that has not been studied extensively, that is, the art created by soldiers at the war front. This article was fascinating because it was a novel way of looking at the war, a new lens through which to reconsider the war. I had never before though about the artists at the front and how they depicted the war, and Kahn makes some very insightful arguments about how the artists-turned-soldiers was affected by the war.
Kahn argues that the new nature of war had a significant impact on artists. She says that at first, the soldiers felt that they needed to contribute to the propaganda and depict images of idealism and heroism, in order to show the integrity of the war. However, after several months, they view the war differently and lose confidence in the war effort, as a result of their experiences of the monotony of trench life and the futile slaughter at the front. This, in turn, affected their drawings and paintings. “For most of them to make art out of war was a matter of individual survival — aesthetic and otherwise. It became a means of acting on or acting out an ideal of individuality in the face of a mass depersonalized experience of modern warfare” (Kahn, 195). This analysis of the artists reveals the nature of the first “modern war,” that it lacked individuality, creativity, and emotion and had become detached; all soldiers were viewed as the same, in one homogenous group.
In response to this, those at the warfront aimed to express themselves in order to maintain individuality and creativity. Artists painted portraits of soldiers, to depict them as unique, not generic, human beings. It was an effort to resist “the vast ‘machine of slaughter’ and a means of transcending a self-image as a meaningless cog in the military bureaucracy” (196). This is a very interesting and insightful interpretation of why there was such a focus on portraiture. It shows the nature of the new “modern” ways of war and how people were affected by it. Also, in the greater scheme of things, it led me to consider how significantly war had changed over time – again, that now, individuality and human life were not always significant and valued.
Thus, in addition to individualism, artists aimed to present an image of the real nature of – the horrors of – the modern war. Civilians at home did not really know what the war was like because of censorship and the idealistic depictions of the war, which the soldiers rejected. They felt that “the suffering, the fear, the experience of attack and battle demanded representation” (200). Some even resorted to a new style of painting, cubism, instead of traditional literal depictions, to show the chaos of war. This, again, shows how revolting war had become, that the government and military felt the need to censor it.
This is also true for contemporary wars, such as the Iraq War. What Kahn describes is similar to what is happening today, how we at home do not know what truly is going on in Iraq. We only know what the media presents – what we see on the news and read in the papers – and there are soldiers who want the public to see a more realistic depiction of the war, just like how there were those in World War I who tried to portray the realities of the modern age of warfare. Those of us at home who have never experienced it can only imagine the real horrors of war.
“Faces of War” by Caroline Alexander was a fascinating and informative article about reconstructions for the facially disfigured in World War I. First of all, it was eye-opening to realize the number of facial casualties there were (20,000) and that the warfare of WWI was often damaging to the face in particular. One is used to the idea, or at least exposed to the thought, that soldiers often lose limbs in war. Prior to this article, I admit that I had rarely if ever contemplated the idea of facial disfigurement as a result of war. Obviously, and as supported by the article, the trauma and lifelong hardship of losing your very face is a hellish psychological tragedy. The melding of art and medicine in the creation of the masks was also a concept I had previously not come across.
In a broader scope, this article led me to think about the forced evolution of medicine to deal with the devastation caused by wars. Clearly, facial reconstruction was not a prominent issue in the medical world before the advent of the machine gun and its use in World War I. It leads one to think about the surgical and medical advancements that have to come about in order to deal with the carnage and severe wounds of increasingly destructive warfare. It is interesting see how technologies or institutions advance out of the necessities caused by warfare, and in this case how specialized branches of medicine are formed.
The topics of this article certainly have relevance in the modern world. Soldiers continue to return from war with lost limbs or disfigurement. Prosthetics is a field that is constantly evolving to develop the best possible artificial body parts. Soldiers also continue to have to deal with the psychological trauma of never being/looking the same again. Today though, plastic surgery is often used and looked upon as cosmetic self-improvement. It is sobering to learn of plastic surgery’s roots in the machine gun and shrapnel disfigurement of World War I.
The article (like so many before me) I read was the faces of war. This article was about re constructive surgery on soldiers faces as well as the creation of masks for soldiers faces that were too disfigured for surgical repair It illustrated that even soldiers who were fortunate enough to survive the Great War still had many obstacles to overcome, disfigurement being one of the main obstacles. This idea of people creating masks for the disfigured faces was absolutely new to me. I never heard of such a thing before reading this article about it. It was shocking that they made so many masks for people with disfigurement. In contrast, the amount of masks made were not nearly enough in comparison with the amount of face injuries which exceeded about 20,000 soldiers.
It is extremely important to analyze such destruction a war causes, not only to the countries ,but to the soldiers themselves. These men fought for their respective countries and had some severe injuries and disfigurement that will last throughout their whole life. The men with disfigured faces led to some seriously psychological effects. The articles says, "The psychological effect on a man who must go through life, an object of horror to himself as well as to others, is beyond description" This is an inconceivable fact that these men who had these disfigurements would have an extremely difficult time assimilating back into everyday life. Again, the psychological effects of wars such as this, are rarely mentioned in reflection of the war. They should be included in order to really comprehend the nature of the effects of war.
Many effects of this WWI article can be applied today's social society. The doctors mentioned in the article set the ground work for plastic surgery that has been such a growing industry (for the wrong reasons) today. Techniques that were invented back then such as skin grafting are still in use today. More importantly, we ourselves right now are in a war. Soldiers in Iraq are suffering disfigurement and paralysis just as soldiers back then. It is important to realize the damaging psychological effects these injuries can cause. Although medicine has evolved tremendously throughout the years, the advancements still cannot fix everything. A man who finds out he will never be able to walk again, will add to some serious psychological effects. Also, with an election coming up, one of the issues is about how to manage soldiers returning home from the war. As I was watching one of Obama's rallies, he insisted that all of our troops returning home from Iraq should be screened for post dramatic stress disorder. This is an area that will hopefully help soldiers who are struggling with the after effects of the war.
Well the article that i chose was the "Military Lessons" article. And it seems im the only person who chose it besides two people from last year. Oh well, at least it wont be repitive. Well i actually learned a lot from this article. We all know of the weapons that were used like the machine gun and the poison gas etc. But as Devon stated from last year, the transportation/ mobilization advancements were incredible. Frederick states that many new railroads were bulit which helped get forces from one place to another much quicker than ever before. Although the railroads couldnt get troops and supplies from the start place to the battlefront and so therefore the supplies were stored in depots behind the battle front, the transportation time greatly quickened. Another improvment was the medicine aspect. Before the great war disease was a major factor when faced with war. Men in large numbers couldnt go a couple days without getting infected with various diseases, which was because of the lack of santization in those areas. Just like in the south african war, more british soldiers were lost due to the enteric fever than bullets from the boers. So during the great war, many sanitary conditions were improved. As frederick says "it was no longer necessary to calculate how many men could be fed and kept healthy at any given time and place; the question became how many men capable of bearing arms were available."
From reading this article it did lead me to look at the overall picture of history differently. To some people when they take a history course, they think of wars. Well although in history there have been a lot of wars, there have also been a lot of improvements as a result of wars, such as better sanitary conditions, transportation improvements etc. So from reading this article, i realize that there is a lot more to history than wars and conflicts.
Towards the end of this article Frederick goes to give some predictions of a future wars, there would be just as many surprises as there were in the first great war. So i guess this could be applied to future wars because there will always be surprises in store that countries never expected to encounter. An example of this would be the war that we are in now, the US never expected this war to turn out the way it did, last this long, and cost as much as it does. Surprises never seem to go away.
Letters from the Great War:One of the main themes of letters from the Great War is the idea of how letters were used to communicate between soldiers and their families. Some hid the war while others expressed detail. Soldiers used their letters almost like an out reach to their families and loved ones at home. I thought the most interesting one was a soldier who wrote home to his family telling them to use his letter to burn in their to keep warm. The letters give a very chilling account of what went on on the front lines, mostly things people would not want to hear. Others censored it for their famlies so they could feel a sense of comfort knowing their loved ones were safe.. I think hearing anything from a first hand account causes you to feel differently about a topic. It's one thing to read about "so and so got shot" or "they walked up the muddy hill" and understand what's going on. It's a different thing to hear it from someone who was actually there and was able to describe it graphyically to others. It makes you feel more connected and puts a picture in your mind of what happened.I do think that some of the lessons learned in World War i can be applied now. No matter what when or where it happens, war is war. Men women and children all have to live through it. It's something horrible that no one should have to live through either. I think before going to war leaders should hear stories like the ones told in first hand account letters and rethink other options before sending their people to die.
I choose to read the Another welcome letter: Soldiers' letters from the great war. This article has presented a couple new ideas to me. The idea that some of the soldiers in The Great War were drafted was a concept a never really grasped. The letters in this document showed me that a lot of the soldiers hearts were not in the war. They didn’t want to me there. Some would write poems home that expressed the horrers that they delt with on a fdaily basics. Others would write to parents every day and some worte letters that said they hate war and don’t believe in the cause at all. This opened my eyes to the fact that the allied force contained soldiers that didn’t have heart, that didn’t believe in the cause. This weakens a military greatly.
Another new concept was how poor the living conditions were. One letter that was quoted talked about the rats in the trenches. They went in to great detail about them. The food and shelter were terrible as well. The invention to new chemical weapons and the introduction of the machine gun shocked soldiers in my opinion. I don’t think they had any idea how bad war was going to be and to see the letters the soldiers wrote home explaining the poor circumstances was sad.
The article made me look at a bigger picture. It didn’t matter which country the solider was from they had similar opinions. All soldiers wanted to be home with their loved ones. They all wanted to have a nice hot meal. They didn’t want to sleep with the rats any more. The letters showed me that war is not a great experience and it takes a great mental toll on a person being involved in war.
A lesson that can be applied to today world is the idea that every one is affected by war. I think that these letters show that the families are put through a great deal of stress when told about there loved ones war stories. People should be more caring and kind to people who have loved ones fighting today.
I couldn't help but notice how many people have used “Faces of War” for their response, or incorporate ideas from it. At first I was unsure why it was such a popular read among the other students from European History, but a few minutes into the reading it became perfectly obvious: this article is astounding. For a long time, I've thought that creating prosthetics and remodeling faces through the use of plastic surgery was a modern concept. This article, however, shows that World War One was the first time that this idea was really put into practice. It is because of the naive nature of the soldiers that the concept was put to use on a large scale. As a man mentioned in the article, known only as an American doctor, said, “They seemed to think they could pop their heads up over a trench and move quickly enough to dodge the hail of bullets.” The doctors at the time didn't know of the power of the machine gun, either, and were put on the spot to fix these wounded soldiers. This was a shock for me to learn. When I first read of the war, I didn't even stop to think about how the men would live with all of their dis-figurations. The article showed me the origins of many principles that make up the foundation of modern plastic surgery, such as lightweight facial parts instead of flimsy, heavy plastics. This writing made me think about the hardships faced by mangled soldiers and the caring doctors who helped them to recover a part of what was lost to the Great War.
Though I understand that war is truly a terrible event, I was interested to read about the psychological aspect of facial disfigurements. In the article “Faces of War”, it talked about the work of two specific artists, Anna Ladd and Francis Wood, who helped the war effort in a very unique manner. They created masks for soldiers who had extreme cases of facial disfiguration that could not be treated by traditional surgeons. Another theme that was introduced was the variety of ways for one to serve their nation in times of war. Both artists were not enlisted into the war effort as soldiers; however they still found a way to contribute for their nations. It is interesting the diverse amount of ways for people to represent their nation. What is sad though in regard to these specific people is that even though they worked hard in their duty, they probably only helped less than 5% of the soldiers that they could have helped. It is not their fault; it is a reality of war, and a depressing one at that. Now back to the psychological aspect of the wounded soldiers. "The psychological effect on a man who must go through life, an object of horror to himself as well as to others, is beyond description," wrote Dr. Albee. ". . . It is a fairly common experience for the maladjusted person to feel like a stranger to his world. It must be unmitigated hell to feel like a stranger to yourself." That quote defines the true psychological and emotional damage and may even be more painful than the actual physical pain. Though the masks would have helped them, they were very crude and very basic with no expressions. Reading this article allows me to understand the bigger picture of human emotions. Though this job as face re-creator may not seem as important as being a soldier, overall it really is extremely important because it deals with the morale of people’s lives. We in the modern day have moved beyond a life of necessity into a life of leisure and wants. During that time, it was still a life of necessity. These people who fought for their nation returned home with their lives in tatters. However, there were people who tried to help the less fortunate. Some people say that society can be judged on how they treat their least-fortunate citizens, and this article helped me realize that there is still some good to be found in the worst of times. Another important lesson that can be applied to a contemporary setting is adaptation. Face re-creators was not a job, it grew from adapting to the situation at hand. It happens in the modern time too. In Iraq, certain measures are created and taken because it is not a common situation and improvisation is always necessary. I believe that it is important that humans always have an adaptive characteristic to them, or it will be hard for them to survive in the future.
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