Current Events > Was WW1 the worst war to be a soldier in?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I mean, any one is pretty objectively awful but everything I see about WW1 seems tailor made for misery, on top of being an even more pointless war than normal.

Jewish soldier in WW2 would be my guess
Or a Chinese soldier because of Unit 713

catfan2008 posted...

Jewish soldier in WW2 would be my guess
Or a Chinese soldier because of Unit 713

I mean, at least in WW2 as a Jewish soldier you were fighting for something worth fighting for, rather than WW1 where you were fighting for a spat between royalty.

But yeah Unit 713....

WW1 worst war to be a soldier in
WW2 worst war to be a civilian in

They all bad.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Also true. And they were still learning how to fight against new equipment, so you died in stupid ways like a cannonball going through a line if troops

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D Day tho

Russian soldiers in WW2 had it pretty bad. Or being in Napoleon's army during their retreat from Russia.

Vietnam was pretty bad too in terms of never being able to relax because you could get ambushed pretty much at any time while away from base from an enemy looking to fuck you psychologically as much as physically. At least in the world wars you had some semblance of where and when the enemy would come.

theAteam posted...

Russian soldiers in WW2 had it pretty bad.

Vietnam was pretty bad too in terms of never being able to relax because you could get ambushed pretty much at any time while away from base from an enemy looking to fuck you psychologically as much as physically. At least in the world wars you had some semblance of where and when the enemy would come.

I actually don't know anything about Russians in WW2, enlighten me?

And yeah Vietnam is up there for American soldiers

theAteam posted...

At least in the world wars you had some semblance of where and when the enemy would come.

Maybe in official battles, but not so much when you're living in a city in danger of being bombed to hell.

Civil War and Vietnam Wars were bad, but they were still seen as regular wars.

WW1 and especially WW2 really felt like "end of the world" scenarios for the people living through them.

KarsaToblakai posted...

I actually don't know anything about Russians in WW2, enlighten me?

Eastern front in WW2 was hell of earth compared to the Western front. Which was already hell on earth. So Eastern was heller.

Really, it was brutal as fuck there.

KarsaToblakai posted...

I actually don't know anything about Russians in WW2, enlighten me?

And yeah Vietnam is up there for American soldiers

They would be shot if they refused to keep fighting
It was common for them to have to scavange food and equipment because they never had enough supplies

Ivynn posted...

Eastern front in WW2 was hell of earth compared to the Western front. Which was already hell on earth. So Eastern was heller.

Really, it was brutal as fuck there.

IIRC the USSR had more military casualties than the rest of the involved countries combined.

manhookcardoor posted...

D Day tho

D Day was nowhere near the top of the list for "battles that would suck to be in." It is just a historic part of WW2.

Ivynn posted...

WW2 worst war to be a civilian in

The Taiping Rebellion had an unknown total civilian death count, but the numbers range from 20 million to 100 million with the latter probably being a lot closer to the totals for civilian deaths. That makes it a contender for the war with the most deaths (with WW2 being the alternative) made up entirely from just the civilian death count.

And yeah, WW1 would be the worst to be a soldier in. The Korean War also comes to mind as pretty awful, as does Vietnam. There are some pretty awful wars in Africa as well, though all of those tend to be bad because of things like weaponized raping and pillaging, and less about the soldier to soldier conflict (and that would then fall into the territory of WW2 being worse due to the Japanese front's exceptionally heinous take on their war with Korea).

You're all heavily biased to the 20th century. War was definitely worse in ancient times.

Doe posted...

You're all heavily biased to the 20th century. War was definitely worse in ancient times.

I'm struggling to find something as bad as Unit 731

Doe posted...

You're all heavily biased to the 20th century. War was definitely worse in ancient times.

Was it though?

I mean, my understanding of war in medieval times is a horrorshow certainly, basically a gigantic press on the battlefield and little to no hope of recovery from injuries.

But 20th century brought new things that made it WAY worse. WW1 was essentially living in a mud filled, rst filled trench for weeks on end, occasionally climbing over into a corpse filled nomadland, or scrambling to find a mask in time to survive a mustard gas attack.

catfan2008 posted...

I'm struggling to find something as bad as Unit 731

Unit 731 was not the normal experience for a soldier in WWII by a longshot. Meanwhile, wars fought by the Aztec essentially guaranteed that any soldier caught alive would wind up ritually sacrificed, their organs cut from their body while they still lived.

WW2 soldiers also had access to Penecillin and other medical advancements, while wounds in ancient times or even the american Civil War were fucked up and often resulted in things like un-anesthetized amputations.

KarsaToblakai posted...

I mean, my understanding of war in medieval times is a horrorshow certainly, basically a gigantic press on the battlefield and little to no hope of recovery from injuries.

thing is battles were usually a one day affair. a few days if you count in the posturing and small skirmishes beforehand

very low risk of death 90% of the time followed by a brief very high risk of death is way easier to handle than a near constant average risk of death

Doe posted...

Unit 731 was not the normal experience for a soldier in WWII by a longshot. Meanwhile, wars fought by the Aztec essentially guaranteed that any soldier caught alive would wind up ritually sacrificed, their organs cut from their body while they still lived.

WW2 soldiers also had access to Penecillin and other medical advancements, while wounds in ancient times or even the american Civil War were fucked up and often resulted in things like un-anesthetized amputations.

Saying 'it wasn't that common' isn't an argument.
I gave a specific scenario.

ROBANN_88 posted...

thing is battles were usually a one day affair. a few days if you count in the posturing and small skirmishes beforehand

very low risk of death 90% of the time followed by a brief very high risk of death is way easier to handle than a near constant average risk of death

Yeah exactly. I cannot imagine living in a trench where you risked death even without being attacked

catfan2008 posted...

Saying 'it wasn't that common' isn't an argument.

It literally is because the prompt of the thread is the worst war for a soldier to be in, not the worst thing that has ever happened to a soldier in a war, the latter being how you're interpreting the question

Doe posted...

the latter being how you're interpreting the question

This is not true

catfan2008 posted...

This is not true

Then why are you arguing that not being able to come up with something worse than Unit 731 is a reason WW2 was the worst war to be a soldier in?

Doe posted...

Then why are you arguing that not being able to come up with something worse than Unit 731 is a reason WW2 was the worst war to be a soldier in?

Perhaps you can argue with yourself instead because you are claiming arguments that I haven't made so I will not be responded to you

ellis123 posted...

The Taiping Rebellion had an unknown total civilian death count, but the numbers range from 20 million to 100 million with the latter probably being a lot closer to the totals for civilian deaths. That makes it a contender for the war with the most deaths (with WW2 being the alternative) made up entirely from just the civilian death count.

Chinese civil wars are just next level. Of the 10 deadliest wars in history, at least half of that are Chinese civil wars. One bad harvest, a mandate of heaven is questioned, a guy raises a rebellion, 10 million dead. >_>

Doe posted...

You're all heavily biased to the 20th century. War was definitely worse in ancient times.

In ancient times they catapulted disease infected corpses into towns and keeps and shit

People suck but war is getting better. I guess that's a win

WW1 would be my bet. Especially the early parts of the war.

Because it was in that sweet spot where weapons were getting better and medical tech was still pretty shit. Especially on the fronts where even meatball surgery was a luxury.

It was a war of splintered bones and melted lungs. Where you were lucky if you came back with only a touch of shell shock and partial deafness.

WW1 and it isn't even close. Civil War was bad too, but there isn't anything more terrifying than running across "No Man's Land" while encountering poison gas, barbed wire, muddy terrain, machine gun fire and artillery. If you watch They Shall Not Grow Old you would realize life in the trenches was far worse than you could possibly imagine.

B18Champ posted...

WW1 and it isn't even close. Civil War was bad too, but there isn't anything more terrifying than running across "No Man's Land" while encountering poison gas, barbed wire, muddy terrain, machine gun fire and artillery. If you watch They Shall Not Grow Old you would realize life in the trenches was far worse than you could possibly imagine.

"A shell had knocked off his left arm, knocked off his left leg and his left eye was hanging on his cheek and hes calling out for Nanny. His bleeding eye was hanging on, pulsing.

So i shot him. I had to, i had to shoot him. He'd have died in any case and it put him out of his misery. "Sobs" IT HURT ME"

Wasn't there an illness going around during WWI? Which made it worse.

dameon_reaper posted...

Wasn't there an illness going around during WWI? Which made it worse.

Spanish Flu, yeah.

Ivynn posted...

Spanish Flu, yeah.

Though technically you could argue it made it better since it ultimately ended the war.

KarsaToblakai posted...

Though technically you could argue it made it better since it ultimately ended the war.

It didnt end the war.

Just to make something clear.
The gas killed relatively few people.

Once all sides got used to it, and gave out enough gasmasks it was mostly just yet another thing that makes life more miserable.

The War on Christmas. It tears families apart every year.

divot1338 posted...

The War on Christmas. It tears families apart every year.

It also doesn't exist

Reminds me of my grandmother saying how her father would never talk about his time in WWI ever to anyone as far as her knowledge. I'm sure that's a thing amongst veterans of every war, but knowing how messed up things were I can't imagine what he saw and experienced. He did give his coat to a wounded comrade who was lying in the snow freezing. My grandmother only learned of that because the soldier came to my great grandfather's funeral and told her family about it.

KarsaToblakai posted...

It also doesn't exist

Those billboards I see would say otherwise

J03can posted...

Those billboards I see would say otherwise

I'm sure they would. They're wrong.

Cola Wars

It depends. Condition wise? So long as you weren't on the Western Front once maneuvering ended and the trenches set in there were worst places to be in history. The New Guinea Campaign (especially the Kokoda track) of WW2 springs to mind as particularly hellish.

A German stuck in Stalingrad post Russian counterattack, A Russian in Leningrad, a Marine at the Chosin Reservoir (Korean war), or being a Russian or French soldier during the Napoleon's invasion of Russia all also spring to mind as terrible times to be in the military.

Vietnam War was one of the worst times imo.

Tag for later

WW1 as the out dated tactics, new tech, new weapons, and old out dated medical practices/supplies, and the way the soldiers did not have sufficient equipment is a big factor.

WW1 is the first modern war because it forced all the militaries to make big changes due to all the drastic new tech, chemical warfare, and weapons that were fielded.