Transcript War Poets - Parentucelli

War Poets: Artists of the
First World War
Introduction
World War I is infamous for the use of trench along the Western Front, within a
system of opposing manned trenches and fortifications (separated by a "No
man's land") running from the North Sea to the border of Switzerland. Hostilities
were also prosecuted, however, by more dynamic invasion and battle, by
fighting at sea and - for the first time - in and out from the air. More than 9 million
soldiers died on the various battlefields, and nearly that many more in the
participating countries' home fronts on account of food shortages and
genocide committed under the cover of various civil wars and internal conflicts.
Causes:
On June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and heir to the AustroHungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo by pan-Serbian nationalists. The
Archduke was there to assert imperial authority over a disputed province.
Though this assassination is usually considered the immediate trigger for the war,
its origins can be traced back to the complex web of alliances and
counterbalances that developed between the various European powers after
1871.
But historians and political scientists have argued for nearly a century without
reaching a consensus on what were the most important causes. But there is not
consensus on how the war could have been prevented. Some, though not all, of
the more prominent explanations are outlined below:
Arms race as cause:
A cause of the war was the escalating arms race. The major participants in the
race were Britain and Germany due to new imperialism. Overall, nations in the
Triple Entente became fearful of the Triple Alliance and vice versa.
Nationalism as cause:
The civilian leaders of the European powers found themselves facing a wave of
nationalist zeal that had been building across Europe for years. This left
governments with even fewer options and little room to maneuver as the last
weeks of July 1914 slipped away. Frantic diplomatic efforts to mediate the
Austrian-Serbian quarrel simply became irrelevant, as public opinion in key
countries demanded war to uphold national honor.
Militarism as cause:
The military high command, reporting directly to the king, and not elected
civilian governments, controlled Germany, Austria, Russia, and Turkey. Their goal
was military power and glory, the theory says, regardless of the needs and wishes
of the people. The implication was that true peace required the abdication of
those rulers, the end of the aristocratic system, and the end of militarism.
Economic imperialism as cause:
In that period of time there was a strong conflict in the economical system. The
causes of a so strong kind of conflict was the strategic importance of the
colonies for the economy.
War poets
The term war poet came into currency during and after World War I. A number
of poets writing in English had been soldiers, and had written about that
experience. Quite a number had died, most famously Rupert Brooke, Wilfred
Owen, and Charles Sorley. Others such as Siegfried Sassoon had survived, but
made a reputation based on scathing poetry written from the disabused point
of view of the trench soldier who had lost faith in his military superiors.
The long and hard period of the first world war deprived modern literature of a
lot of young artist.
Here there are some different “stories” of the life of three of the well known poet
of that period, useful to demonstrate how much the modern world, and
literature, have lost with that war.
The large number of soldier sent to the trench comprehend young people from
all the social classes. Isaac Rosenberg (1890-1918), for instance, was the least
privileged of the British poets we are reading; he was born into a working-class
Jewish family. Although his working-class origins and economic circumstances
prevented him from attending Oxford or Cambridge, he was a talented artist
and enrolled in evening classes in the Art School of Birkbeck College, London
University. He hoped to make his living as a portrait artist and had moved to
South Africa to pursue his career when the war broke out. He returned to
England in 1915, enlisted in 1916 and was killed at the front on April 3, 1918.
Both T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound knew Rosenberg's poetry and admired it. Some
critics suggest that, had he survived the war, he might have been an
outstanding poet, equalling both Pound and Eliot in reputation. The century was
deprived of one of its most promising poets when he died in the Great War.
An example of patriotism was Wilfred Edward Salter Owen who was born on
March 18, 1893. He was on the Continent teaching until he visited a hospital for
the wounded and then decided, in September, 1915, to return to England and
enlist. "I came out in order to help these boys-- directly by leading them as well
as an officer can; indirectly, by watching their sufferings that I may speak of
them as well as a pleader can. I have done the first" (October, 1918). Owen was
Injured in March 1917 and sent home; he was fit for duty in August, 1918, and
returned to the front. November 4, just seven days before the Armistice, he was
caught in a German machine gun attack and killed. He was twenty-five when
he died.
Military Casualties in World War I (1914-1918)
Belgium
45,550
British Empire
942,135
France
1,368,000
Greece
23,098
Italy
680,000
Japan
1,344
Montenegro
3,000
Portugal
8,145
Romania
Russia
300,000
1,700,000
Serbia
45,000
United States
116,516
Austria-Hungary
1,200,000
Bulgaria
Germany
87,495
1,935,000