Introduction to Thinking Through Sources 20: Experiencing World War I

The history of the First World War is often told in terms of diplomatic maneuvering, international alliances, altered borders, negotiated treaties, military strategies, battles, and new technologies of war. Here, however, we set aside these important matters to focus on the experience of the Great War as reflected in the accounts of particular individuals, most of them quite ordinary and unknown beyond the circle of their families and friends. Of course, the experience of the war varied greatly. Men and women; Europeans, Asians, and Africans; officers and enlisted men; refugees and prisoners of war; pacifists and militarists — all of these and many others as well encountered the war in quite different ways. Furthermore, the enthusiasm for the war that characterized many at its beginning soon turned to horror and despair as it became apparent that the conflict would drag bloodily on for years. From this immense variety, the following sources provide just a glimpse of the powerful impact of World War I on a number of individuals.