
A Soldier Explains What It Was Like in the World War I Trenches (1916) - diodorus
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119933/interview-wounded-world-war-i-soldier-bulgaria
======
tormeh
If anyone wants some haunting footage:

Berlin, Pre-War:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-m9A8mY-U0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-m9A8mY-U0)
It's bizarre that Berlin once looked like this. It's OT, but here's how Berlin
turned into what it is today:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=592ZXOuG7yE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=592ZXOuG7yE)

German side of the war:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CErUTpuDbd8&src_vid=B-m9A8mY...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CErUTpuDbd8&src_vid=B-m9A8mY-U0)

More German:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPb_hJcno3g&src_vid=CErUTpuD...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPb_hJcno3g&src_vid=CErUTpuDbd)

German, with poison gas:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8EJc7RAXDk&src_vid=CErUTpuD...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8EJc7RAXDk&src_vid=CErUTpuDbd)

Multiside:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP_0DkpFOKs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP_0DkpFOKs)

~~~
_nedR
Another similar tragedy has been unfolding in Syria as we speak :
[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/26/syria-
heritage-...](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/26/syria-heritage-in-
ruins-before-and-after-pictures)

The 11th century Umayyad mosque is mostly destroyed. The state of the Crusader
castle Krak des Chevaliers (one of the finest examples in the world) is
currently unknown : [http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-
east-26696113](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26696113)

People forget the rich heritage of Syria from various ages going back through
the Crusades, the Islamic Golden age, all the way to Mesopotamia and the
cradle of civilization. The destructiveness of modern technology is erasing it
all in one fell swoop.

~~~
omegaworks
>The destructiveness of modern technology is erasing it all in one fell swoop.

The destructiveness of global political, territorial and resource disputes
endemic to the area is erasing it all again.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh41Wxez9PE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh41Wxez9PE)

~~~
_nedR
Sorry. I should have been clearer. What I meant was that the effectiveness of
modern weaponry, was destroying these monuments which have survived countless
wars in the past.

------
mr_spothawk
If you're into this sort of historical record, check out this free podcast:
[http://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-
history-50-bluepri...](http://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-
history-50-blueprint-for-armageddon-i/)

~~~
aeturnum
My first thought on seeing the subject of WW1 trench warfare was to drop a
link to the Hardcore History WW1 podcasts. They are excellent at getting
across the sheer horror and enormity of WW1, something that was lost on me
growing up in the US (we tend to focus on WW2). I suspect European listeners
will be surprised by less, but for any American who doesn't know what I'm
talking about if I mention Verdun or the Somme, I _highly_ recommend the
podcasts. They are ~12 hours (so far) and riveting.

~~~
maroonblazer
Exactly right about how U.S. education seems to put more emphasis on WWII than
WWI. And then even within WWII you don't get the whole story. Carlin's "Ghosts
of the Ostfront" series gave me an entirely new perspective on the side of the
war the U.S. didn't fight. In many ways - certainly in terms of lives lost -
it's an even more tragic story.

~~~
kiiski
It's not just the USA. Here in Finland I was pretty much only taught how the
war started and how it affected Finland (which gained independence from Russia
in 1917, and then fought a civil war in 1918 with some involvement from Russia
and Germany). My teacher openly told us that we don't need to know any details
about ww1, since ww2 is much more important (although the teaching about that
one also emphasized the Finnish wars (winter war, continuation war and Lapland
war) more than the ww2 itself).

~~~
simonh
Every country focuses on teaching history relevant to itself. Before I married
my wife, who is Chinese, I knew next to nothing about the wars of Japanese
expansionism in east asia that lead up to WW2.

------
omegant
I highly recommend "Storm of steel" by Ernst Jünger.

He has incredible descriptions of the terror felt at the trenches.

[http://www.amazon.com/Storm-Steel-Penguin-
Classics-J%C3%BCng...](http://www.amazon.com/Storm-Steel-Penguin-
Classics-J%C3%BCnger/dp/0142437905)

~~~
brudgers
I recently read _Poetry of the First World War: an Anthology_. There's a
reason people make a big deal about the British poets.

[http://www.amazon.com/Poetry-First-World-War-
Anthology/dp/01...](http://www.amazon.com/Poetry-First-World-War-
Anthology/dp/0198703201/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414018033&sr=1-7&keywords=War+Poets)

------
oska
> He added, with comical appreciation of the irony of his position, “We were
> glad to get out of the Dardanelles and be shipped to Saloniki.”

For some explanatory background on the two fronts this soldier fought on:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaign](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaign)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonian_Front](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonian_Front)

------
nerfhammer
This was a POW, in case that wasn't clear to anyone else

------
zafka
Another good reference is "Johny Got his Gun" by Dalton Trumbo. I read it when
I was about 16. It gave me a new perspective on war.

------
farmdve
Did not expect my country to be mentioned in there.

~~~
greendesk
I did not expect Bulgaria to be mentioned in there as well. When reading the
article's name one does not associate 'trenches' with battles in the Balkans.

The story shows how one soul ended up 3000 km away from his birthplace.
Nowadays, after a hundred years after those events, one can travel on a flight
between Dublin and Sofia in a few hours.

The point that I found interesting is that about mismanagement. The claim that
the colonel did not prepare his troops, permitted them to stay without
guidance in the tranches, without food or proper clothes. How the other side -
in this case, Bulgarians - were more acutely aware of how to operate their
guns. It rings true the disillusionment and disappointment when organisation
or institution fails to organise its efforts.

------
afarrell
For those interested in why there was fighting in the Dardanelles, read Guns
of August by Barbera Tuchman. It covers the timeline from Serajevo to The
Marne.

[http://www.audible.com/pd/History/The-Guns-of-August-
Audiobo...](http://www.audible.com/pd/History/The-Guns-of-August-
Audiobook/B002V5CUFK)

------
Travis-FD
Fantastic Read

------
barking
It's an unsatisfying read, not enough background.

I can't imagine that your average American was so knowledgeable of Gallipoli
that none was required.

The writer makes the soldier out to be simple and quaint but for me he's the
more eccentric.

~~~
barking
Actually, I take it back, Ferdinand Reyher, the author, has quite an
interesting life story
[http://digital.lib.umd.edu/archivesum/actions.DisplayEADDoc....](http://digital.lib.umd.edu/archivesum/actions.DisplayEADDoc.do;jsessionid=70DE4C4AA9DEA7BCEE01DC7C2C8645ED?source=MdU.ead.litms.0037.xml&style=ead)

