After watching the BBC's The Great War Diaries, Part One, we discussed some main themes that were central to the film. What I would like you to do is
pick three main themes from the film and discuss how it shows them using specific examples from the film. I've included the film below in case you forgot.
This blog should be at least 250 words and is part of your final exam. It is due Wednesday, June 10, before class begins.
Friday, June 5, 2015
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I think that three of the main themes in this movie are fear, hope, and dedication. Fear is shown many times throughout the movie. A specific example in the movie is when Marina Yurlova’s father goes to war. She is so scared for his life and of the change that he will no longer be around that she goes looking for him by following the tracks until a train came and picked her up. Also, hope is shown throughout the film. When one of the men, Peter Kollwitz, talks about war, he says that after it is done, everything will be better. He is very optimistic that his country will not only win this war, but that the win will bring good change to the country. He also says to his mom before he leaves that he will see her in a couple weeks. He is hopeful that he will survive this war and that it will be over very quickly. Lastly, there is dedication in the movie. Two examples are shown through the actions of Sarah Macnaughtan and Gabrielle West. Sarah was told that she would not be able to work as a nurse before she got off the train to start her work, but that didn’t faze her. She stayed and helped in anyway she could, even if it was just bringing the soldiers tea and water. Also, there were many injured soldiers that were under her watch at one point when bombs were dropped very close to her area where the soldiers were. Instead of abandoning ship, she and the other nurses moved each and every soldier down to the cellar. She never thought of quitting but was instead dedicated to the soldiers around her, her job, and fighting through this war. Gabrielle showed dedication when her friend had an attack and fell to the floor while everyone was trying to take cover since bombs were being dropped very close to their area. Instead of staying in a safer area, she went out to the woman and helped her into the safer area. She showed dedication to the safety of this person whom she barely knew. In fact, they didn’t like each other very much and she was still dedicated to her safety regardless.
Annabelle H.
Truman Levitt
In the BBC Documentary Great War Diaries episode 1, one of the main themes was separation. It happened all the time during World War 1 at the start of the video it shows a young girl running through a field in as the alarm bells ring trying to find her father, her father is being sent to war and therefore is being separated from her father. Also all the soldiers who were drafted into the war were separated from their family and friends. Another theme in the video is sexism. Females during World War 1 were looked down upon quite often such as when the general first saw the group of woman in the video he assigned them to cooking and cleaning instead of medical jobs. This was because they were woman and he thought that woman could not do as good a job as a man even though one of the women had already been a nurse in a war in South Africa. He judged them on their gender rather than their performance and experience. Finally, the third and final theme is Nationalism. An example of this is when the child named Peter found out about the war he wanted to fight so badly for his country because he believed his country was the best and he wanted to serve them. Another example of it is when the very young boy found out about the war he was so sure they would win and they would crush the other armies. He was just a young child and didn’t know a lot but it is still nationalism.
Three main themes were tragedy, abandonment, and patriotism. Marina Yulova had her father leave. She decided she wanted to go with her father in to war. She even stopped the train from moving. She didn’t want to be abandoned but she is a patriot. She doesn’t to leave her father’s side. Yves Congar believed that they will win. He kept telling his family that they have great bombs so they could be able to win but when he saw that his neighbor’s dog got shot or whoever it was he knew something bad will happen. He had so much hope. He was a Patriot but too much that he believed that they will win. There was a lot of tragedy. Gabrielle West worked in a factory. She didn’t really like the working conditions because there were a lot of chemicals she breathed in. One of her work mates had a bad tantrum because she needed sugar in her tea and Gabrielle didn’t give her any. Kathe Kollwitz had her son go into war. Her tragedy was after the war they found her son’s body. He was shot dead. She told him not to go into the war but he didn’t listen. She was upset. Charles Edward Montague left to go into the war but he was too old to go in there. He saw how risky it was but he didn’t care. The leaders eventually found out that he was an old man. These are the three themes that were shown In the video: Great War Diaries.
Michelle Lis
In the film "The Great War Diaries" there are many themes. In my opinion there are three big themes, nationalism, fear, and disillusion. In the film it’s clear to see nationalism. One of the older boys wants to go fight for his country. All the other men and boys are going to fight and the boy has to stay home. Soon he can’t take it anymore and tells his parents he's going to fight in the war no matter what they say. Another example of nationalism is when the German girl wanted to follow her father and go fight. She started walking on the railroad after her dad and after a while another train came coming towards her. She stayed in the middle of the rail and the train came to a stop. She asked the men on the train if she could come along and fight. They said yes and she went to fight just like her dad. Another theme in the film is fear. A good example of fear is when the mom allows her teenage boy to go to war. She is worried that he may not come back but she lets him go anyways. Everyday she doesn't know if he is alive which means she doesn't get a lot of sleep because she keeps thinking about her son. When news comes along that her son has died she is so sad and she doesn't know what to do anymore. Another good example of fear shown is when the Central Powers were bombing the Allies. A young French boy was scared when the Central Powers started bombing near his house. He didn't know what to do or what was going on. He believed he was going to be all right with his parents. Soon his parents started to worry, which only made the young, French boy to worry more. The last theme in the film is disillusion. A good example of disillusion is when the men and boys go to war and think it's going to be a great victory. Once the soldier get into the war and starts killing other humans they find out it's not glorious. It's far from it. So many men are killed, more are wounded, and others not even found. The soldier’s find out war is something that shouldn't be talked about as fun or glorious it is an awful place to be. They would want to be with their families back home instead of risking their lives and the only way to survive is to kill. "The Great War Diaries" is a great informational film to show how people survived and how people dealt with the losses in war.
-Callie Barnas-
Nationalism was a theme present in The Great War Diaries, even if it was out of bling pride for the country. The little boy Yves showed this especially, while playing with his army figurines. He was positive that Russia was going to win the war, and went on about how strong their military was. Even when near bombs were shaking his house, Yves was sure that his country would pull through. Nationalism was also shown when Elfriede was in school during the war. The teacher was going through a list of words borrowed from the French and other countries and replacing them with the German word. If one of the students misspoke they had to put a certain amount of money in a can that would be donated to German soldiers. They were considered “war sayings”. Even the common words originated from the French language were banned, like adieu and ¬mama was replaced with mutter. Desire to fight was a theme present in the documentary as well, and was an effect of nationalism along with the togetherness of the people. When Käthe’s son wanted so desperately to join the French military because he didn’t want to get left behind. Every man was joining the fight for his country, despite the obvious dangers of war. Charles wanted to join the rest of the young men in the war as well, despite the fact that he was above the maximum age limit. He didn’t want to be left out of the action, so he died his hair in order to appear younger. Along with all the brothers, sons, and husbands leaving to fight comes the fear for loved ones. They had no idea if they would return. Käthe was worried about her son in the fight even before he left, and her husband didn’t want to let him go at all. He suspected his son would be injured, or even worse, killed. It was for good reason too; Käthe later got a letter informing them on the death of their son. Marina also displayed the theme of fear for her father when he left for war. Instead of staying at home in worry, she decided to follow the track on which his train left and eventually Marina hopped on one heading towards the front to get closer to her father.
I believe the three main themes of the BBC's The Great War Diaries, Part One are much sorrow, nationalism, and women’s contributions. The first theme is sorrow and the video portrayed many scenes of sorrow. One scene of sorrow was when the mother of Peter had to let her on go with the rest of the men to war which broke her heart. There was also sorrow when the Russian girl had her father leave her to go to war this gave the girl a great amount of sorrow. These are some points were the theme of sorrow becomes prominent in the video. The second theme of the video is nationalism and the video has many points where people show nationalism. One point is when the little boy is playing with the toy solider and says many encouraging things about his countries armies and spirit. The act of the boy talking about how his country is so great is nationalism. Another point when nationalism was present was when the mother of Peter hung a French flag out of her window because her son was okay. The flag that she put out is a huge act of nationalism. These are some points in the video were nationalism is shown. The third theme of this video is the contribution of women. One point in the video where women contributed is one lady starts to work in a factory because the men are at war. The act of working in a factory is a great amount of contribution toward the war because factories of the time were making weapons and ammunition. Another point in this video were women contribute was the women who was on the front lines taking care of injured men. Taking care of the many injured men was a large contribution toward the war. These are some ways women contributed toward the war.
Luuk Schmit
Blog #35-Zak Abdulwasi 2nd
In the video “The Great War Diaries” there were many different themes show. Of those several themes I chose three that really stood out amongst the rest. The first of those themes being nationalism, the second being militarism,and the last theme, propaganda
I chose nationalism mainly because of the Scottish nurse Sarah Macnaughtan. She explained to the younger nurses how they have to have courage and honor for their country.This was first shown to us in the scene on the train. She more or less of the fact said that they always had to have a patriotic smile on their face when in contact with the men. When the younger nurse asked why, she said that it was so that the men would not lose hope no matter the situation.
Another example of nationalism in the film was more like blind nationalism. The young girl, 14 year old Marina Yurlova was a female nationalist who wanted to tag along with her father for the war. She said that as the train passed her by the only word that was ringing in her head was “war”.
The next theme in the movie was militarism. The film had many different examples of militarism throughout the entire movie. All of the countries that were fighting in the war wanted to display that they had a strong country, but also their need for a military. The innovations that were introduced during the Great War were extreme. The militarism is shown by the fact that countries would point their focus away from the government and towards the army. An example of this can also be considered as nationalism, the young boy Peter shown militarism also. By wanting to go and fight with his people he displayed the importance of the fight and how the military could change everything.
All the countries had to show to their people that they were the “good guys” and that other were “bad guys”. Countries had to depict the enemies as terrible people. This played a huge part in the war. The government had to instill nationalism into the people, even if it was blind nationalism. Countries created propaganda so that the “average Joe and Jane” would want to go and fight to support their country.
After watching the BBC's The Great War Diaries, Part One, three themes I noticed that show up very evidently are nationalism, a sense of strength for women, and hope. In the film the theme of nationalism showed up many times with men and women wanting to fight for their country and do the most they could to make sure they win the war. This happened when the man who was too old to join the military pretended he was younger just so he could help out his country, when the girl had so much pride in her family name that she got on a train with her father to join the war efforts, and when Peter, then younger boy enlisted with his friends. The theme of women felling powerful was also shown in the film. Women all over the world were enlisting to support their countries either on the front lines as medics and caregivers, or from home working in dangerous factories. This was shown when the older women from the red cross went to the front lines of the battle and gave care to the wounded soldiers, and when the younger lady went to work in the factory. Another theme that was evident in the film was the them of hope. The parents and families of men and women who were sent to the front lines of battlefields hoped that their family members would make it home safely and alive. This was shown when Peter enlisted for the military and his family was almost certain nothing bad would happen to him. Even though he was killed, they knew he died for a good cause and they would miss him so much.
Three themes present in the War Dairies movie we watched in class were, Sexism, Nationalism/Militarism, and Fear. Sexism was shown through the experienced British Nurse, she had volunteered to aid injured soldiers towards the beginning of the war and though she had plenty of experience volunteering during previous wars a male Doctor told her she would simply be passing out food, and that her help was not required.
The themes of Nationalism and Militarism are shown in several ways:
• Women, like Gabrielle West from the video, taking over the jobs that Men had left behind and facing dangerous conditions to help support their country.
• Young men, like Peter, eager to join the military because their friends and role models were joining and because of the glorification of the military.
• Older Men, like Charles Edward (who was so desperate to fight he dyed his hair and mustache and lied about his age when signing up), who are also victim to the glorification of fighting and feel it’s their job to protect their families
• Nurses, like Sarah Macnaughten, staying behind, even after the town their hospital was located in was taken and all other doctors had left, to care for the wounded men. They also continued to serve their country even after being treated unfairly by their Male colleagues.
• Children, like Yves a ten year old French child, who whole heartedly believed their country was going to win and blindly listened to what the newspapers told them. This kind of nationalism was blind but not necessarily bad.
Another theme present in the movie is Fear, often times it was families whose towns had been overrun by enemy soldiers, or families whose members had joined the military who experienced this. For example, Yves family’s town was taken over by German soldiers; during this his parents were obviously very frightened. Peter’s family is another example, Peter’s father did not want him to join the military because he feared Peter might not survive, Peter ended up joining and while he was serving his parents feared they might receive news that he had been killed or captured.
Frances Van Wordragen
Rebecca Levitt
Throughout the film The Great War Diaries, many themes were shown. Unfortunately many of the themes were negative rather than positive themes. The three main themes that I saw being showcased were children having to grow up early, nationalism, and stoic behavior. The first theme is children having to grow up early and act more like adults than themselves. On August 30th 1914 Elfriede Kuhn was in her kitchen checking their inventory just in case they had to leave their home due to the war environments. During this time her Grandmother comes into the kitchen and get frightened by the bombs and attack surrounding them. Though her Grandmother is freaking out Elfriede keeps a cool, calm expression and comforts her saying “Don’t worry Grandmother. The Kaiser will take care of us.” While the Grandmother might look immature and vulnerable Elfriede is the one acting older and telling kind words to her. Also Peter wanted to go to war with everyone else and he was only 18 years old. Another theme shown in this film was nationalism. Germany shows nationalism. The schools were replacing German words with more German. If one of the students slipped up and
mis-say something they would have to pay five pennies and the saving’s went towards buying wool for the soldiers fighting in the war. The last theme shown in The Great War Diaries is stoic expressions. A fourteen-year old girl said, “I am not exaggerating when I say I felt no fear or remorse.” This girl was so heartbroken that her father had to leave her that she decided that she would also like to fight beside her father and jumped on a train to go to war. She felt like this was her duty and that she would get to be with her father.
In the Great War Diaries video many themes were presented by different people’s points of view. Themes like nationalism, responsibility, and militarism are just a few. Nationalism is represented in the story of Charles Edward Montague. He was an older man with the desire to serve his country. Even though he was a few years over the age limit to participate in the war, he did the best he could by disguising himself to look younger. He was inspired by his love for his country, England. The theme of responsibly is represented by the story of the many women in the Great War. After men were sent to war, women were left with the responsibility of the men’s jobs, their families and to keep to the spirts high. Women had a lot on their plate to deal with when the male family members were not present. In the video Sarah Macnaughtan was a volunteer nurse, she believed that a ‘patent patriotic smile’ would keep the men that they were treating spirts’ high. Gabrielle West is another example that represent the theme of responsibility when the women had to take over. Since she couldn’t serve in the military she wanted to do her part by helping work in the factories where they made ammunition and bombs. Kathe Kollwitz’ son shows the theme of militarism when he chose to go to war not only to represent his country but he thought it was his duty to serve his country by helping make a stronger military.
-Caroline C
I feel that one of the main themes that is shown in the film is how women were doing everything in their own power to help in the war effort. The film shows this in a few different ways, one of which is the story of Sarah Macnaughtan (the nurse). Her story shows how women could be just as strong as men morally and just as helpful as them also. For instance the job that she does shoes just how amazing her morality and importance to the war effort is. The tasks that her job required bandaging up the wounded, dealing with constant screeching of the critically, saving lives, taking care of them, feeding them and that’s not even to mention the amount of blood that she had to deal with(Which I completely would not be able to handle). If you ask me, I believe that she has just as hard if not harder job as the soldiers do. And I think that a lot of people took notice to this and that is the theme that I think the film is trying to show, that women were doing their part in the war effort.
I believe that another huge theme that is shown in the war effort is militarism. This is shown in pretty much every sing excerpt form of each person’s diaries. One of the largest feats of militarism shown in the film I think is Charles Montague (Older guy/ soldier). His feat of militarism is when he dyed his hair and beard a darker color in order to make him look more than just a few years younger considering he’s 48 and trying to get within the age limit for entering the war. Another very big feat of militarism is Marina Yurlova. At only the age of 14 and also not to mention a girl, she chases after a train carrying soldiers off to war trying to get on. Although she was not able to get onto that one she was picked up later by another. I do not know if they did let her fight or found another way for her to help the war effort but either way I think that this is a huge act of militarism.
A third theme that I saw was the news cover ups of the failing army against the Germans. Evidence supporting this a theme lies in Yves Congar’s diary. His entries show how the reports that France would bring to its people for the most part were totally false. Yves talks a lot about how France was winning and how the Germans didn’t have as good planes as the, or how the French would make them retreat even talking about the bombings of German bridges. Yves believed it because he didn’t know better but really none of what he read or heard about the war was true.
Brock Anderson
2nd hour
In BBC's The Great War Diaries, Part One, several themes were displayed. One of those themes is that nationalism can lead to both greatness and destruction. Throughout the movie, we encounter several people, and some of them are war hungry while others want to help out behind the scenes. For some, like Peter who enlisted in the army at a young age, they would find nothing but death at the end of the road, along which nationalism had carried them. But for others, like the British volunteer Gabrielle, their nationalism gave them something to do during the war. These situations show that even though nationalism is something perceived as good, it can lead down a dangerous path. The second theme presented is that women had more to them than their stereotype let on. The war diaries of the Scottish Sarah, Russian Marina, and the other women, show us that even in a time of strong patriarchy and harsh sexism, women were able to prove themselves, whether it be working or volunteering in factories and as nurses. Some, like Marina, even went into battle. This was a defining moment for women, because when the war was over and the men returned home, the working women wouldn’t slide back home so easily. The third theme is that the children living in the war were blind nationalists. They blindly followed whatever their country wanted them to believe. France could be almost defeated on their borders, but if the newspapers said that France was unconquerable, than the French children would wholeheartedly believe the newspapers. This is shown through the young French boy, Yves, who would read the newspapers and believe every word he read. Because of this blind belief, a lot of propaganda was directed to children, knowing that they would buy into it. With all of these themes, the ultimate theme that BBC was trying to show, I think, is that war is a multi-faceted gem with varying sides and stories to it.
Rebecca Gonska
History B
Blog #35
The film ‘The Great War Diaries’ is a BBC documentary about World War I. Rather than a war film about soldiers this film talked about ordinary people. There was the French boy who thought his country was winning, the German girl who could not speak any French words, a Scottish nurse who felt it was her duty to help, the journalist who was too old to fight so lied about his age and the German mother who let her son go to war even though she felt he would die. The common feeling they all shared was that the war would go fast, and their side would win.
Patriotism for their country was a common theme. The journalist went to an extreme of lying about his age to get into the army and then volunteered for the trenches. The German mother, after losing her son, flew the flag of her country and still supported the war. They all thought their side was the honorable side.
The people writing in their diaries all seemed to be waiting for the war to give them an adventure. The German boy (whose mother let him go) wanted to fight with his friends and go off honorably to war. It was an adventure. The young Cossack girl thought the war would be another adventure with her father. They had gone on many adventures before and her joining him in the war would be another one.
As we meet each of the characters in the film the person writing the diary does not at first say that the war is wrong or even a bad idea. The Scottish nurse talked about the ‘pressure’ being relieved when the war started as if everyone was relieved war had started, rather than scared. The French boy talked about how ashamed the French were that they had lost a previous war and how this new war would avenge that loss. Only the Cossack girl did not want the war to start, not because the war was wrong but because it took her father away from her.
Three key themes presented during this video include that of strong nationalism, stoicism, and responsibility. Nationalism, a major theme regarding all wars throughout world history, is extremely prominent in this documentary. Nationalism was displayed in the very beginning, when the young girl demanded to become part of the army after her father was drafted. As a child AND a female, her persistence and will to be a part of the force that defends her country shows upmost loyalty and nationalism. Another example is when the older gentleman lies about his age, pretending to be much younger, so he would be able to be a soldier in his country's military. In doing so, not only did he risk himself because of the dangerous aspects war brings, but he risked himself even further because of his age and the lie along with it. When this man commits to such a dangerous job at an older age, he displays the nationalism and love he has for his country, as well as his will to do anything in order to help his country stay strong. A second very evident theme within the video was stoicism. Stoicism is the ability for one to cover their weak feelings, showing only strength and courage. This is depicted when the two army nurses return for the wounded soldiers, acting as though everything was going to work out, when in reality they didn't know, because they had been left behind. Finally, the theme of responsibility is shown through the documentary. During the video, when the young girl becomes the head of her house while living with hr grandmother, is a prime example of responsibility. Not only does she have to remain stoic for her grandmother, but she has to take care of herself along with her grandmother, provided food and shelter, warmth and hope. As a young girl, pushed into a war with no experience, her ability to carry out responsibility is crucial to her survival. This shows how responsibility as a theme was present because if she didn't have the responsibility needed, it was learned and applied to survive.
WALLIE HECHLER!
Rohna Battle- Woodger
After watching the BBC's The Great War Diaries, Part One, three of the themes I noticed were nationalism, conscription, and militarism.
I noticed nationalism with the young men going into war for their countries fighting with pride and them being determined to defeat their countries. In the video, Kathe Kollwitz’s young adult son left home to join to fight in the war for country along with other young men that were drafted or forced to fight in war, or civilian labor for war through conscription.
In Russia, Marina Yurlova’s father was called to work for war by military and she was so close to her father she eventually found a train with all the soldiers and stopped it to join them along their way to war.
Women like Sarah Macnaughtan also portrayed nationalism by taking care of the wounded, injured, and dying soldiers. They gave them water, tea, food, and whiskey once to relieve them from pain for a while.
A fourty-seven year old man by the name of Charles Edward Montegue portrayed not only nationalism, but conscprition, by lying about volunteering himself as a “twenty year old” soldier to fight in the war. He goal was to stop the chaos. He shaved and dyed his hair to make himself appear the twenty year old young soldier he claimed to be. He was only noticed by one of the head people analyzing the soldiers going into war, but was still allowed to fight.
Later on, Gabrielle West, an English woman worked in a factory with all women workers, filled with toxic chemicals and gases creating weapons portrayed nationalism and militarism. She was judge by women and men at first when she applied for her job as supplying the working women with tea when they needed it during their hours or working. Gabrielle West saw how a woman those once judged her for her physical appearance and saying that she wouldn’t last at her job struggled with being affected by the toxic substances of the dangerous conditions of producing weapons. Gabrielle did last and ended up saving the woman when the surrounding area was getting destroyed by bombs and hiding with rest of the women.
The BBC's The Great War Diaries video was a great component of improving my knowledge on how World War I was and how it was to different people of the different countries battling against each other. I enjoyed learning about the peoples’ feelings, opinions, and how their environments were affected.
Nationalism, sexism and abandonment are all examples of three of the many themes that are shown in the BBC video Great War diaries. Nationalism is having a patriotic feeling toward your country. In the video there is an older gentle man named Charles Edward and who is a couple years over the age to get into the army so he dyes his beard and hair darker to make him look younger. This is nationalism because he is doing what he can to make himself eligible for the army to fight for his country. Another example is Sarah Macnaughton she has money but she chooses to do what’s best and volunteer at the red cross as a nurse saving wounded and sick soldiers,when she didn’t need to, she risks her life near the battlefield saving others lives for her country. An example of Sexism in this video is when Sarah goes to the hospital area where they take the wounded men and the general told the women that they were only there to assure they have something to drink, like they are incompetent to do anything else there. The last theme is abandonment, there are many examples of abandonment in the video, for instant marina’s father decided to go to war and leave her alone, he had just left her afterward all alone. The last example is when peter goes off to war and leaves his family even though they don’t want him to go off to war, but he decides to go because all of his friends are
going. -Alena
The themes that were in the movie are women’s rights, women working for their country, and patriotism. Patriotism is showed when that one guy personalized his mustache to be the colors of his country and some girls wanting to fight for the Germans or that French boy who thought the whole time that the French were winning and he was just playing with his toy army men, then his house got invaded by the Germans then he knew they were not wining. Women’s rights were showed by women not being able to vote or be in the army or out in the thick of it. If they wanted that they had to be a nurse. Nurses were near the war they could have gotten killed just like the men that were hurt that were with them almost got killed. Women working for their country were women working in factories that made ammunition and bombs that some of them started having fits like seizures if they had any epilepsy in their body and it mixed with the powder and chemicals they were using to make ammunition it would be bad for the women. In those same factories there were bad working conditions. That is a reason that they would get sick or die. ~ Daniel Yates
#35 Blog
One of the main themes of the film was the perspectives of all of the citizens during the war in the film. The innocence of the little boy and the loyal bravery of the nurse were just two examples of life during the war. The casualties of war were in the millions and showing the experiences of those who lived is interesting to see the lives of those who are not fighting but are struggling to keep their inner family safe.
The second of the three main themes is life as a soldier inside the war. The soldiers were fighting for what they believe is right or were drafted to become a part of the fighting. There were many of dead and even more injured throughout the years of WW1. The soldiers had to deal with poison gas, artillery shells, tanks, submarines, planes, and mines. They had to keep an open mind on all of the possible deadly weapons while finishing the fight.
The final theme of world war one is the political side of things with Germany trying to force its government upon the rest of Europe and the world and the allies trying to stop it. Communism was Germany’s policy it wanted to spread and the allies did not agree with its violent path it was taking. Also Franz Ferdinand’s assassination was a cause of the war following. The effects of the war led some of the countries to a lack of money, homes, and people.
Milan Mikho
Throughout the movie that we watched in class, there were many instances of nationalism, sexism, and propaganda.
Propaganda- This was the first total war that had whole nations locked into combat with each other. Many of the countries used propaganda to either make their enemy look bad, show hatred against them, to recruit their own people to join in the war effort, or to even persuade them to buy war bonds.
Sexism- Throughout the war, women were the central backbone of the war, but they never got the credit they deserved. The women worked in factories taking 12 hour shifts only to receive a really low paycheck. The work they did was extremely hazardous, there were explosions and some hands and faces turned yellow because of the TNT. In the whole war, there was only one women who was listed in the army. She was 20 years old and passed herself off as a man. Governments involved in the war did their best to keep women from enlisting and participating in the combat in the patriarchal war. An example is when the girl is chasing after the train that her dad is on but it won't stop for her. But later, she is able to hop on a different train to take her to the front line.
Nationalism- Many Europeans nurtured a belief in the economic and military dominance of their nation. This overconfidence and arrogance was fueled with propaganda in the press. The nationalism demonized their rival nations, making them seem like they are deceitful, aggressive or uncivilized. These thoughts convinced many Europeans that their nation was threatened by the attempted expansions of their rivals. The nationalism in their country practically insured that they were going to win the war. It also created a delusion that European war was necessary and that they could win. In the film, many of the people only fought in the war because their friends were going or because they thought they were going to win it all and it would bring them back glory.
-Nicholas Ringler
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