Trenches In World War I

During World War I, the majority of the fighting on the western front was done from trenches. These trenches were built differently by each country, but they all served the same goal, to provide soldiers cover and concealment, as any movement outside of trenches could be extremely costly. The life of a typical soldier fighting in World War I trenches is characterized by zero sleep, rat infestations, amputations, and a constant fear of death. The fighting in these trenches was violent and often seemed futile, with the small land gains being paid for with huge losses of life. Trenches in World War I were built with only protection in mind. While they were being built, they began as a series of holes. All the soldiers would hide in these as

Living conditions were horrendous and soldiers rarely got any time to sleep. Soldiers were not allowed to sleep at night, in fact, sleeping was considered a serious felony punishable by death or imprisonment. The only time that soldiers were permitted to sleep was after they had completed all their morning duties. Some of the morning duties executed by soldiers were spying on the enemy with periscopes. In an article by BBC news they state, “Standing upright with mirrors at each end, periscopes allowed men to observe the battlefield from the safety of the trench below.” Periscopes were a useful piece of technology as soldiers didn’t have to put their lives in danger to observe the enemy. Unfortunately Soldiers dealt with a multitude of problems. Living and working in unsanitary conditions for several weeks often would cause a disease known as trench foot. During wintertime trenches would often flood after heavy rainfall, due to this heavy rainfall soldiers would often have to walk in polluted and muddy water. This would cause trench foot, which would eventually lead to soldiers having to get their feet amputated. Another problem soldiers would have to deal with was rat infestations. According to some soldiers these rats grew to the size of a normal house cat. However, dogs were commonplace in most trenches and served as rat catchers, and helped clean out trenches. Not only did they help kill rats they served

Although life for the average soldiers was absolutely terrible, for the officers it was much easier. Officers were sheltered in underground bunkers, and even had the piano played for them. Germans undoubtedly had some of the best bunkers, they served as a place to relax and play with service dogs of the