What would it of been like in WWI for a soldier in one of the battles?
World War I was the first war in which truly modern weapons were used by both sides. Advances in personal weapons like rifles, machine guns, grenades and artillery hugely out weighed advances in medical science. It was also the first war that was so large in scope that the entire continent of Europe and parts of Africa and Asia were embroiled. As a previous answerer said, this was trench warfare. While trenches had been used as troop positions since the Romans introduced the limes, this was the first extended war in which soldiers lived in the trenches for months at a time. Most of the action was in Europe. In spring, fall and winter, Europe is wet and often cold. The trenches would fill with water, sometimes above the soldier’s knees. There was constant harassment on both sides. Not only artillery fire, but snipers were a steady threat to the infantry. Disease flourished under these conditions. Most of these, like trench foot were the direct result of where the troops lived. Others re
