One of the major themes portrayed in literature following World War I was the realization that a difference existed between ideas and reality. The public had preconceived ideas about the superiority of their country and that battle would bring honor to oneself. The communication systems in place at the time could be prone to error or intervention from outside influences. In addition, staff officers lacked sufficient battle experience or enemy intelligence to plan battles that their troops were capable of meeting the promised outcome. These situations are the foundation for the perception that the public held about the concept of war that differed from what the young men on the front actually faced. Prior to World War I, the Napoleonic Wars took place almost 100 years prior from 1792 to 1815. Only stories existed about the horrors of battle with those who fought long dead. Without an oral history of what the troops experienced on the battled field the public perceived service and death in combat as the ultimate sacrifice to support ones county. This also dovetailed into the perception that society was only going to get better with the improvement in science and technology (Meyers). In Rupert Brooke’s “Peace” he wrote “And caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping” and “Leave the sick hearts that honour could not move” (Brooke). These phrases in his poem established that young men at home were ignorant of what was going on around them and ignoring their duty to country if they did not serve. Once overseas the young faced the realities of war. Robert Graves, an Englishman that served in the trenches of World War I, provides details of what he experienced in the trenches in his autobiography Good-Bye To All That. After his arrival at the front, he describes one of his first trips through the trenches. During his stroll to wake up the other officers he came across what he thought was a sleeping soldier that oddly had one bare foot and was not rousing even after being ordered. Only to find out he used his bare foot to pull the trigger of his rifle to commit suicide (103). The stress these men faced was so great that for some it was easier to kill themselves instead of waiting for an eminent honorable death fighting in the trenches. The technological advances of the day brought machineguns, bombs and gas to the trenches. New technology such as gas also created the need for new tools such as gas masks. Unlike the perception of a well-prepared soldier, the troops were faced with frequent instruction and gas mask changes that added to their anxiety any time gas was used (105). In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel All Quiet On The Western Front, his description of the heavy shelling and gas attack on that the Germans faced on the front provides detail that wasn’t found in the hometown papers of the day. As his characters moved through a dark cemetery, they face an artillery barrage that is so intense that “The wood vanishes, it is pounded, crushed, torn to pieces” (Remarque 66). The attack forces the men to take cover among the grave mounds, digging and clawing their way through shell holes into and if possible under the remains. It is when they think the shelling can’t get any worse that they discover gas shells have also been dropped around them and have to quickly don their masks are risk a “Day long suffocation coughing up their burnt lungs in clots”(68). The horror of combat was a shock to those that had heard the wives tales in school, but upon arriving at the front they knew what combat was about. The government controlled the media during the war and both side used this to their advantage. One such case that has been covered in a number of sources is the fall of Antwerp. Grave following the war put newspaper clippings into chronological order to show that in Germany the papers wrote that when Antwerp was taken the clergy was compelled to ring the church bells. This was followed by a report via Paris that said that the clergy was sentenced to hard labor for refusing to ring the church bells. Finally, when it reached Cologne via London the story changed to the clergy was punished for their heroic refusal to ring the bells by being hung upside down and used as bell clappers (Graves 65). Graves suggested he ignored 20 percent of what he read as “Wartime exaggeration” (65). In another case of error, Graves provides details of his near fatal wounds at High Wood. His Colonel saw him lying in the corner of the aid station and assumed he was dead. Colonel Crawshay wrote a letter of condolence to Graves’ mother informing her of his passing and added him to the list of dead (219). Graves found humor in his request for correction and the publication of an announcement that announced that “Captain Robert Graves, Royal Welch Fusiliers, officially reported died of his wounds, wishes to inform his friend that he is recovering from his wounds at Queen Alexandria’s Hospital” (227). The government had to maintain a consistent message to the public so that the young men would continue to enlist. Most of these men thought the war was going to be over soon (Meyers). Without television and radio, they relied on literature and the press to provide details of world events. Another aspect of failed idea versus reality was the overambitious plans set by staff officers. In the Gallipoli campaign, the British command greatly underestimated the Turkish defenses. First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, who thought they would be able to use reserve troops to take over the Dardanelles and establish resupply routes to Russia allowing the armies to take Berlin, planned the campaign (Meyers). They failed to anticipate the advantage the Turks had the high ground and the navy was unable to establish dominance. Following the naval failure, the generals thought they could take the peninsula in three days with a land campaign. After a 259-day campaign, the allied had 300,000 casualties of the 500,000 they landed (Meyers). Graves wrote of The Battle of Loos in September of 1915 where he wrote about the ambitions objectives given his men without any additional support. Most of the success of his troop’s endeavor was being based on the effectiveness of the gas they were using. Unfortunately, the wind shifted during combat and failed to clear the 1000-yard path that was anticipated and their endeavor failed (145). After 11 days of action, the attack was called off with the British suffering around 60,000 casualties (Meyers). As you can see, the early stages of war were wrought with the decisions of inexperienced officers that placed to much confidence in the effectiveness of their new toys without a tactical advantage. The early opinions of the war were formed by the patriotic writing of writers such a Rupert Brooke who glorified the war as a moral and honorable service to god and county. Following the war writers like Eric Marai Remarque, Robert Graves and Wilfred Owen wrote about the trenches, gas and machine guns that were face in on the front. The government control of media at the time allowed them to maintain the appearance of a advantage over the Germans by overstating their abilities and understating casualties. The public was not easily able to figure out how bad things were going with the government in control of all the information. As Owen suggested in “Dulce et Decorum Est” and wrote “My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To Children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est” (Owen). The Latin phrase “Dulce et Decorum” means “It is sweet and right”. It is from this poem that we can see the true change from the idea to the reality of war.
Works Cited
Brooke, Rupert. "Peace." Class handout. History/Humanities 253. Olympic College. Winter 2010.

Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce et Decorum est.” Class handout. History/Humanities 253. Olympic College. Winter 2010.

Graves, Robert. Goodbye to All That. New York: Random House, 1998.

Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet On The Western Front. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982.

Meyers, Judith. Class lecture. History/Humanities 253. Olympic College, Bremerton, WA. Winter 2010.