Wed, April 17 introduction to modernism

Due Thursday: vocabulary 11

Gassed, 1919, by John Singer Sargent. One of the leading society portrait painters of his day, Sargent was commissioned to contribute the central painting for the Hall of Remembrance. Gassed is based on the scene at a dressing station as it took in casualties from a mustard gas attack on the Western Front in August 1918


Setting the stage for World War I and the literary movement known as modernism:  http://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/history/euro-hist/world-war-I-tutorial/v/empires-before-world-war-i

In the trenches:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAuqjEEDlXQ

One way to understand the violence and slaughter that occurred in the Great War is to examine the number of casualties aand deaths. Exact figures are still in dispute, because of different definitions used each category, the questionable accuracy of the recording system used and the loss or destruction of a number of official documents. The data in the tables below reflect numbers from several sources and are consistant with most experts' current estimates.
Country	Total Mobilized Forces	Killed	Wounded	Prisoners and Missing	Total Casualties	Casualties as % of Forces
ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS
Russia	12,000,000	1,700,000	4,950,000	2,500,000	9,150,000	76.3
British Empire	8,904,467	908,371	2,090,212	191,652	3,190,235	35.8
France	8,410,000	1,357,800	4,266,000	537,000	6,160,800	73.3
Italy	5,615,000	650,000	947,000	600,000	2,197,000	39.1
United States	4,355,000	116,516	204,002	4,500	323,018	7.1
Japan	800,000	300	907	3	1,210	0.2
Romania	750,000	335,706	120,000	80,000	535,706	71.4
Serbia	707,343	45,000	133,148	152,958	331,106	46.8
Belgium	267,000	13,716	44,686	34,659	93,061	34.9
Greece	230,000	5,000	21,000	1,000	27,000	11.7
Portugal	100,000	7,222	13,751	12,318	33,291	33.3
Montenegro	50,000	3,000	10,000	7,000	20,000	40.0
TOTAL	42,188,810	5,142,631	12,800,706	4,121,090	22,062,427	52.3
ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS
Germany	11,000,000	1,773,700	4,216,058	1,152,800	7,142,558	64.9
Austria-Hungary	7,800,000	1,200,000	3,620,000	2,200,000	7,020,000	90.0
Turkey	2,850,000	325,000	400,000	250,000	975,000	34.2
Bulgaria	1,200,000	87,500	152,390	27,029	266,919	22.2
TOTAL	22,850,000	3,386,200	8,388,448	3,629,829	15,404,477	67.4
GRAND TOTAL	65,038,810	8,528,831	21,189,154	7,750,919	37,466,904	57.5

War	Number Serving	Battle Deaths	Disease & Accidents	Wounded	Total Casualties
Revolutionary War	NA	4,435	NA	6,188	NA
War of 1812	286,730	2,260	NA	4,505	NA
Mexican War	78,718	1,733	11,550	4,152	17,435
Civil War	2,213,363	140,414	224,097	281,881	646,392
Spanish-American War	306,760	385	2,061	1,662	4,108
World War I	4,743,826	53,513	63,195	204,002	320,710*
World War II	16,353,659	292,131	115,185	670,846	1,078,162
Korean War	5,764,143	33,651	NA	103,284	NA
Vietnam War	8,744,000	47,369	10,799	153,303	211,147
Persian Gulf War	467,539	148	145	467	760
NA = Not available * Does not include the number of soldiers missing in action Source: U.S. Department of Justice

A look at some World War I poets.
Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
"Anthem for a Doomed Youth"

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
--Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
 Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries for them from prayers or bells,
 Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,-
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
 And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?
 Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
 The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of silent minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
"Dulce et Decorum Est "

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! -- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under I green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, --
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

14. Does it Matter?
Does it matter?—losing your legs?...
For people will always be kind,
And you need not show that you mind
When the others come in after hunting
To gobble their muffins and eggs.
Does it matter?—losing your sight?
There's such splendid work for the blind;
And people will always be kind,
As you sit on the terrace remembering
And turning your face to the light.
Do they matter?—those dreams from the pit?
You can drink and forget and be glad,
And people won't say that you're mad;
For they'll know you've fought for your country
And no one will worry a bit.

DOES it matter?—losing your legs?...
For people will always be kind,
And you need not show that you mind
When the others come in after hunting
To gobble their muffins and eggs.	5
Does it matter?—losing your sight?...
There’s such splendid work for the blind;
And people will always be kind,
As you sit on the terrace remembering
And turning your face to the light.	10
Do they matter?—those dreams from the pit?...
You can drink and forget and be glad,
And people won’t say that you’re mad;
For they’ll know you’ve fought for your country
And no one will worry a bit.	15