The Horrors of War

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Unending exchange of bullets coming from rifles of the soldiers, a mother lamenting for the death of her young boy who goes to war, and great toll of loss life both of the soldiers and civilians- all these are not enough to describe the horrors brought by the war, but, these are enough to illustrate the price, expensive price, paid in war.
The First World War that broke out in Europe on August, 1914 definitely created a lasting effect in the world. It was not just a war between two nations but a war of the world divided into two- the Central Powers and the Allies. Alliances, development of new weapons such as rapid fire machine guns, long range guns of explosive shells, tanks and aerial battles, and extreme nationalism added more flame in this fume. However, many thought that this will just be a short war, little did they know that an enormous shadow was casting all over Europe the moment it involved itself in the war.
Sir Edward Grey, Foreign Secretary of Britain, remarked on the 3rd of August, 1914, the night before Britain officially declared war against Germany that “The lamps are going out all over Europe; and we shall not see them lit again”. This statement coming from him, pictures how he foresees the devastating state of the world because of this war and indeed, he was right.
Unlike what most of the people were expecting, the war had horrible devastations. At least 10 million soldiers died in war while 21 million were wounded. Civilians faced dangers and hardships since the world experienced food shortages. Economies were neglected because every effort was directed towards the support for the war. Hunger, influenza pandemic and other diseases caused civilians to die not only in warring countries but even in neutral c...

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...ocent civilians are involved- true horrors of the war. At the same time we have to realize that the price we pay in war is so high that no powerful countries can ever afford it- lives of the people. Thus, if that was the result of war years ago, what more in this period when Weapons of Mass Destruction or Nuclear could be used? Can we afford the price? Are we prepared to face the true horrors of the war? No, definitely not.

Works Cited

Perry, M., Davis, D., Harris, J., Laue, T. V., & Warren, D. J. (1985). A history of the world (Revised Edition ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Effects of World War I. (n.d.). Effects of World War I. Retrieved December 8, 2013, from http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-war-i/effects.html

The human face of war. (n.d.). BBC News. Retrieved December 9, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/humanfaceofwar_gallery.shtml

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