Trench Warfare: 1914-1918, The Live and Let Live System
Type
Book
Authors
Category
World War I
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Publication Year
1980
Tags
Description
A classic of military history about the smaller, personal battles of the First World War.
The story of the great battles of the First World War has been told by historians, journalists and others. The shock and slaughter of the Somme, Verdun and Passchendaele are a major theme of most books.
Large scale battles, however, comprised the smaller part of soldiers' total time in combat. For 90% of that time soldiers fought small scale battles. These small conflicts were violent, continual and involved complex weaponry and specialised tactics. Yet, during small battles, soldiers could and often did, make choices not possible during large ones. From these choices, there evolved between enemies a curious culture of live and let live which constrained the war culture of kill or be killed in fundamental ways.
The story of the great battles of the First World War has been told by historians, journalists and others. The shock and slaughter of the Somme, Verdun and Passchendaele are a major theme of most books.
Large scale battles, however, comprised the smaller part of soldiers' total time in combat. For 90% of that time soldiers fought small scale battles. These small conflicts were violent, continual and involved complex weaponry and specialised tactics. Yet, during small battles, soldiers could and often did, make choices not possible during large ones. From these choices, there evolved between enemies a curious culture of live and let live which constrained the war culture of kill or be killed in fundamental ways.
Number of Copies
1
