Chapter 1: World war one
The great war (1914-1918)
When the German armies invaded Belgium and France, war was officially declared and Britain
felt it had a noble cause to fight. Recruiting campaigns appealed to the old sentiments of honour
and patriotism → many young men enlisted and were cheered on as heroes and filled with ideas
of glory.
The front consisted of a kilometre long labyrinth of trenches. The conditions in the trenches
were very bad and they still believed that massive attacks on the enemy would secure the
victory. Those who survived found themselves unable to live normal lives again. Some suffered
from shell shock and they could not forget what they had seen. In an attempt to find words for
their emotions some turned to poetry. A number of them had already been writing poems before
the war started and others were led to verse by the war itself.
Chapter 3: Recruitment and optimism
Propaganda
During World War I, propaganda was used by all major powers to shape public opinion and
maintain support for the war. Governments used posters, newspapers, films, and speeches to
encourage enlistment, boost morale, and demonize the enemy. It portrayed soldiers as heroes,
the enemy as brutal and inhuman, and the war as a noble cause.
Rupert Brooke (1887-1915)
At the outbreak Rupert Brooke was 27 and he had already shown promise as a poet, but it was
his volume of verse 1914 and Other Poems that made him famous. He entered the war the day
after his birthday. His (pre-) war sonnets coincided with his almost (pre-war) death. In the
spring of 1915 he embarked a troopship to Turkey and died of blood poisoning on April 23.
He has often been criticized for not writing about the dark sides of the war. His poetry reflects
the optimism felt in England at its outbreak. The Soldier is the best-known of Brooke’s war
sonnets.
Chapter 4: Realism
Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
Wilfred Own: most talented of the ‘trench poets’. During the war Owen became increasingly
aware of the magnitude of the war and returned to England in September 1915 and enlisted the
Artists’ Rifles a month later. He received his commission to the Manchester Regiment in June
1916, and spent the rest of the year training in England.
In May he was caught in a shell-explosion and he was diagnosed with shell shock. He was
evacuated to England and arrived at the Craiglockhart War Hospital. There he met Siegfried
Sassoon who was also a patient. Sassoon already had a reputation as a poet and agreed to look at
The great war (1914-1918)
When the German armies invaded Belgium and France, war was officially declared and Britain
felt it had a noble cause to fight. Recruiting campaigns appealed to the old sentiments of honour
and patriotism → many young men enlisted and were cheered on as heroes and filled with ideas
of glory.
The front consisted of a kilometre long labyrinth of trenches. The conditions in the trenches
were very bad and they still believed that massive attacks on the enemy would secure the
victory. Those who survived found themselves unable to live normal lives again. Some suffered
from shell shock and they could not forget what they had seen. In an attempt to find words for
their emotions some turned to poetry. A number of them had already been writing poems before
the war started and others were led to verse by the war itself.
Chapter 3: Recruitment and optimism
Propaganda
During World War I, propaganda was used by all major powers to shape public opinion and
maintain support for the war. Governments used posters, newspapers, films, and speeches to
encourage enlistment, boost morale, and demonize the enemy. It portrayed soldiers as heroes,
the enemy as brutal and inhuman, and the war as a noble cause.
Rupert Brooke (1887-1915)
At the outbreak Rupert Brooke was 27 and he had already shown promise as a poet, but it was
his volume of verse 1914 and Other Poems that made him famous. He entered the war the day
after his birthday. His (pre-) war sonnets coincided with his almost (pre-war) death. In the
spring of 1915 he embarked a troopship to Turkey and died of blood poisoning on April 23.
He has often been criticized for not writing about the dark sides of the war. His poetry reflects
the optimism felt in England at its outbreak. The Soldier is the best-known of Brooke’s war
sonnets.
Chapter 4: Realism
Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
Wilfred Own: most talented of the ‘trench poets’. During the war Owen became increasingly
aware of the magnitude of the war and returned to England in September 1915 and enlisted the
Artists’ Rifles a month later. He received his commission to the Manchester Regiment in June
1916, and spent the rest of the year training in England.
In May he was caught in a shell-explosion and he was diagnosed with shell shock. He was
evacuated to England and arrived at the Craiglockhart War Hospital. There he met Siegfried
Sassoon who was also a patient. Sassoon already had a reputation as a poet and agreed to look at
