Enjoyment
Food and Shelter
Food during World War I was an improvement compared to previous wars that Americans have fought in. With organizations such as the United States Food Administration and the YMCA, food grown in American backyards, also known as "Victory Gardens" were sent to the soldiers in war. This managed to relieve much of the nation's food distribution and prices. Like most other wars at that time, soldiers mostly lived in trenches with horrible living conditions. In order to cope the nasty environments, volunteers from different countries set up communal baths and offered the soldiers steam cleaning for their lice infested clothes.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_in_World_War_I#Homefront
http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/ymca.htm
https://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/the-daily-life-of-soldiers
This is a very interesting post. In major battles, we often go over the tactical and political aspects of the war, but not always the social aspects. I like how you used pictures to give us a look at what life was like, and how it harsh it was- especially the trench warfare. One of the best stories of World War 1 is the one where soldiers from both sides played soccer together, although that tradition quickly ended throughout the course of the war. I've done a little research and found another interesting website which details other aspects of the soldier's life.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.firstworldwar.com/features/trenchlife.htm
Interesting facts about WW1 soldiers. Adding on to Alex's idea about the soldiers' social lives during the war, I think that the army's plans as rotating the soldier groups might have been a key factor in helping America to eventually win the war. For instance, providing the army with Victory Garden food increased people's efforts back home to provide soldiers more food. People hoped that their efforts would pay off in helping the soldiers, who already were living under tough conditions, thrive, and this led to increased drive for the soldiers and the country for winning the war, which they did in the end.
ReplyDeletesource: http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/americas-patriotic-victory-gardens
Great post. I found it interesting that soldiers actually created music from debris on the battlefield. I know that trench warfare was a stalemate waiting game but did the soldiers do these things out of boredom or did they dance and play music to distract them from the war itself? Even further, the conditions within these trenches were terrible, it is unbelievable that anyone could have kept their moral.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to know more about the difficulties that the soldiers had in trenches click here: http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/history/life-at-the-front/trench-conditions/rats-lice-and-exhaustion/