The Western Front

What were the conditions on The Western Front?

Soldiers fought in a range of harsh conditions, with a variety of illnesses and weather threatening their lives According to articles, “In 1914, the winter weather was particularly bad with enormous amounts of rain” (bbc.co.uk). When soldiers found themselves standing in muddy water for days on end this led to a condition known as Trench Foot, with small cuts and blisters becoming infected. Extreme cases of this were feet being amputated and soldiers losing their toes Amputation can affect a person’s everyday life for long periods of time, including home and work, it can also have psychological effects such as post-traumatic stress disorder

Other common problems include lice, due to poor hygiene and overcrowding, many soldiers found themselves infested with lice whilst they were serving in the trenches. An infection was spread by lice, known as ‘trench fever’, due to the bacteria passed through humans from the contact with lice

The short-term effects of war:

. Short-term effects of World War One include the collapse of four empires, the large human losses from modern warfare, and the large material losses from modern warfare World War I was the leading cause of the collapse of Romanov Russia, Hapsburg Austria, Ottoman Turkey, and the German Empire, who were all defeated in war causing the ruling dynasties of these four nations to collapse.

What were the long-term effects of war?

A long-term effect of the war was when soldiers returned from serving in World War I and disembarked at docks over Australia, the experiences, and effects of war troubled troops Due to new technology that was used in warfare, the soldiers suffered horrific injuries and many of those suffered from the physical and mental effects Many soldiers found it difficult to return to civilian life, more than 330000 men had seen overseas service, “For some men the hardest adjustments were those of the mind” (ergo slv vic gov au)