FREE ESSAY ON LOW MORALE, NO VICTORY

LOW MORALE, NO VICTORY

Low Morale, No Victory
The First World War will be a war that shall always be remembered with tragic thoughts.
This was to be the first war in which a man could rarely see his enemy. One would just
shoot his gun and hope for the best. Trenches played a major role in this war. In fact
the whole war revolved around trench warfare. This is not the only war to use trench
warfare, but it was a much bigger conflict than any of the others. Soldiers lived, ate,
slept, fought, and died in the trenches. This drove some men crazy. The British troops
were forced to stay in a big muddy ditch and listen to millions of shells explode and
just hope that the Germans are dying. The Germans were just trying to outlast the
bombardment, and they were awaiting the attack of the British infantry. This must have
affected their morale a great deal. But the question is, what were effects of the
conditions in the trenches on the morale of the soldiers? It is believed that living in
the trenches would have greatly hurt the morale of the soldiers because it was such
horrible place to be.
With the advancement of artillery technology for indirect fire (lobbing bombs onto an
enemy rather than shooting directly at him) and the unlimited mass of firepower brought
onto the battlefield, soldiers of the First World War quickly found themselves living
underground in huge trench/bunker systems for their own survival. Since soldiers were
just lobbing bombs towards the enemy's' trenches, it was necessary to bury oneself as
much as possible. So the Germans made massive trenches, some over one hundred and fifty
feet deep, to bear the heavy artillery firing of the British. It takes the humanity out
of the soldiers' lives. They become like little mice just hiding for protection. Their
minds tend to stop thinking intellectual thoughts and start becoming all consumed with
survival. In a sense they become animals, because that is what separates humans from the
rest of the animal kingdom. Being able to carry on intellectual conversations and have
intellectual thoughts is an important part of humanity. Would this have an effect on the
morale of the soldiers? Lacking the ability to have these intellectual thoughts, would
the soldiers' even notice that they are losing their humanity? That is a tough question
and it may have no true answer, but it is an important concept to take into consideration
when dealing with trench warfare.
The conditions of the trenches varied depending on which army you were fighting with. It
seems that the Germans were much better prepared for this type of combat, for they had
been planning far in advance. The German trench system was much more evolved, and they
were prepared to stay there as long as necessary. The British on the other hand thought
that the trenches would be temporary. They had planned on advancing soon after arriving.
They were unaware that the Germans had anticipated such a move, and they were also
unaware that the Germans trenches could with stand such bombardment. Since the British
were not prepared to live in their trenches, this left many problems for their soldiers
to deal with. When the bombing ceased and the British attacked, the Germans were supposed
to already be dead, but to no avail. The Germans had strategically placed their machine
guns around so that all the shells that had been coming towards them for the last week
did not hit them. This enabled the gunners to slaughter the attacking British soldiers.
That was when morale should have hit rock bottom. The troops were being forced out of
their temporary homes just to be mowed down by some machine gun they couldn't even see.
There is not much humanity in that. That would wear down at one's self esteem and make it
hard to want to follow orders. As a result morale would be low.
In Paul Fussel's book The Great War and Modern Memory, he quotes a soldier named Graves
as saying, "This paradox made most of the English soldiers serving in the purgatorial
trenches lose all respect for organized Pauline religion, though still feeling a
sympathetic reverence for Jesus as our fellow-sufferer. Cross-road Calvaries emphasized
this relationship (qtd on 119)." It is this comparison to Jesus Christ that would imply
that living in the trenches is unbearable. Jesus led a life full of discrimination and
persecution. Although Jesus was able to stay focused and passionate, it is doubtful that
the soldiers of First World War could do the same. One definition of the word purgatory
is a place or condition of suffering, expiation, or remorse (Dictionary). That definitely
wouldn't be a place of high morale. That is describing living in agony, pain, and
basically horrible place to be. Those sorts of conditions would warrant an incredibly low
morale. 
Morale is defined as the state of the spirits of a person or a group as exhibited by
confidence, cheerfulness, discipline, and willingness to perform the task at hand
(Dictionary). Morale is an important part of warfare for many reasons. Morale is what
provides the will to fight and the drive to win. Without morale an army is in essence up
a creek without a paddle. If an army has a low morale it is very difficult for that army
to be successful in combat. Since morale is the willingness to perform the task at hand,
it is an extremely necessary attribute to have in combat. Morale is needed to keep
soldiers from neglecting the importance of listening to their commanders; otherwise all
hell will break loose on the battlefield. There is no time in war for laziness or
disgruntlement. That is what causes armies to lose battle. Sure there is strategy to war,
but being assertive and willing is definitely a key to success, both on the battlefield
and anywhere else in life. The conditions of the trenches did not in anyway encourage
morale or even the health of the soldiers. They were a dangerous place to be not only
because of the fighting, but also due to the biological disasters that were filling the
trenches. One could catch trench foot just from standing in the cold water so long. Not
to mention the numerous diseases spreading like wildfire throughout the muck of dead
bodies and mud. These things deteriorated at the morale of the men, and made them feel
less eager to continue. These types of thoughts can costs many lives.
Fussell describes the trenches very thoroughly and explains the faults and brilliance of
the trenches of both armies. He really gives the reader an idea of the situation when he
writes, "The British trenches were wet, cold, smelly, and thoroughly squalid. Compared
with the precise and thorough German works, they were decidedly amateur, reflecting a
complacency about the British genius for improvisation (Fussell 43)." This tells the
reader why the British soldiers would have such a hard time wanting to go on and continue
the fight. The conditions were so bad in the trenches that men would lose sight of the
goal, but rather focus on the horrible situation in which they have been placed. This
enables the enemy to overpower them more easily. 
It is important in battle for one to keep a cool and steady head. Also, as Fussell
teaches, the conditions need to be bearable as well. It is nearly impossible to keep a
cool and steady head when one is overcome with repulsion of ones current location. That
is definitely one of the reasons trench warfare did not survive over the past few
decades. Morale continues to be one of the top priorities of any army. The importance of
morale is becoming a global concept excepted by armies across the globe.
Bibliography
Fussell, Paul. The Great War and Modern Memory. London: Oxford University Press, 1975.
http://www.dictionary.com/