"It is such moments that the human spirit triumphs over the mightiest demonstrations of material force. The fragile body, steeled by the will, stands up to the most terrific punishment."
~ Ernst Junger, Storm of Steel
World War I affected all aspects of life during the fighting and after it all occurred. The world, from average citizens, to soldiers and governments, was never quite the same after this travesty. All across the globe, "There was nothing but one terrific tornado of noise." (Kishlansky, Storm of Steel.)
With the breakout of the war, civilian life was touched all over the world. Since the rise of the "isms," after the fall of Napoleon, most of the world was already been used to having to fight wars, from civil wars to outright conflicts with neighboring countries. No country was prepared for a conflict such as the introduced in the "Great War," though.
Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Munich, Germa...
Mussolini (left) and Hitler sent their armies to N...
In the firing trench at Gallipoli during World War...Civilians now had to become soldiers for their given country on an extremely grand scale. From farmers to merchants, all were now holding arms in the military and fighting against other countries whose civilians were abandoning their common lives to do the same. Even if these civilians were not directly involved in the war effort, in a military aspect, they were being forced to become war goods manufacturers in their given fields. On a fantastic extent factories built up during the industrial revolution were now producing long range shells, vehicles, machine guns and other wartime products. Farmers also now had to sacrifice most of their crops to go to the front lines of the war and to be consumed by the many troops. During the war effort, the majority of everything produced in each country went directly to the war. Because of this and other factors, after the war was...