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A post on Intel Republic caused a pause for thought, this reflection comparing the misery suffered by the Ukrainians in the trenches today with the same scenario seen in France a little over a century ago. This article will examine the likenesses between the two conflicts and investigate what advances, if any, have been made over the last hundred years.
THE COLD HARD REALITY OF LIVING IN THE HELL THAT TRENCHES INVARIABLY ARE
THE TRENCHES
A CENTURY AGO AND A WORLD AWAY, YET CONDITIONS SUCH AS THESE ARE BECOMING FAMILIAR TO AN INCREASING NUMBER OF UKRAINIANS
Whilst the use of terrain developed over the eons, using trenches as a form of defense was nothing new, and in the First World War, they came not only to be a strategic part of military planning, but the lynchpin around which huge operations hinged. Stretching for hundreds of miles if linked together, these excavations became the epitome for many of the First World War, those fortunate enough to return never forgetting the time they had spent in them. It was from here that the bloodiest conflict to date was waged, and a century later, the pain has not been forgotten.
ROTTEN LEADERSHIP AND TACTICS
THE CONDITIONS IN THE TRENCHES WERE AS BAD AS THE TACTICS EMPLOYED BY MANY OF THE OFFICERS WHO NEVER EVEN WENT NEAR THE TRENCHES
Whilst the average infantryman lived a miserable existence surrounded by earthen walls, the same could not be said of the officers of the era. These had been trained whilst colonial empires were still in their heyday, and an élite of well-connected individuals had never prior to the war considered fighting a peer opponent. Not only did they have little idea how to plan operations in a conflict such as this, they were aloof to the men and were typically stationed at a safe distance from the frontline. In practice, this meant that tens of thousands were sent to their deaths by leaders who had no intention of putting themselves in any danger,
POOR BLOODY INFANTRY
IT’S ALWAYS THE GUYS ON THE FRONTLINES THAT SUFFER THE WORST
This was the moniker given to the average infantryman sat in a trench during the Great War of 1914-18, pictures of the era showing smiling faces (as was the custom at the time), yet the misery of the situation is palpable to this day. A hundred years ago however, the soldiers were very ill-informed of the battle plan, believing more in king and country rather than the realities which surrounded them. That was then. This is now.
THE UKRAINIANS TODAY
A CENTURY AFTER THE SOMME, YET IT’S NO DIFFERENT TO THE MISERY OF A HUNDRED YEARS AGO
The times have changed immeasurably since the Great War, yet many videos coming from the war in the Ukraine today show us the same miserable story. In the wet and cold of Northern Europe, trenches became home to millions of unwilling soldiers; cold, mud and disease were constant companions for nearly four years, and in spite of the century that has passed, we see the same picture again today.
THIS IS NO PLACE FOR A SOLDIER TO BE WHEN HE SHOULD BE RECOVERING