Life in the trenches

The first core line of trenches was obtained from the holes made by shells, connected by passages and defended with barbed wire. Even after the battle of the Marne, on the western front a complex system of moats and fortifications was  for a long time the scene of terrible suffering for soldiers in war. The two opposing lines were separated by  the so-called "no man's land", a real pile of dead bodies, wounded soldiers and craters, which even the rescue teams could not access. The rear of the trenches housed the military headquarters and medical centers, while in trenches troops lived in very poor conditions in housing inside dungeons.

When the whistle of an officer launched an attack on the enemy line, the soldiers went to the white assault with fixed bayonets or rifles: many were wiped out by the enemy machine-gun fire, others remained injured or maimed, without any hope to be rescued. Often all the efforts made to gain some line of enemy trenches turned out to be unnecessary because of the counter-offensive of the enemy. Going ahead meant going to one's own death, but also those who came back were summarily executed in cowardice or mutiny. It was a real massacre: thousands of men were killed to gain a few meters, then regularly often lost.

The situation was aggravated by the fact that the soldiers in the trenches were always in danger of death during the long hours of inertia between an attack and the next one: the sniper fire, grenades, machine guns and assault enemies were always on the agenda, exhausting the nerves of the troops already worn out by the poor living conditions due to dirt and, in winter, the cold, the rain and mud. To withstand the strain and superhuman mental fatigue which they were subject to, soldiers had as their only consolation alcohol and occasional licenses.