Presentations for Units 7 and 8

This is the update for the last units we've studied. Sorry for the delay.

UNIT 7

UNIT 8

Presentation to study World War 1

This is the presentation to study World War 1:

Otto Dix and World War 1

Otto Dix was a German painter who fought in World War 1. He went to fight full of enthusiasm, but what he experienced in the battlefields strongly traumatized him. After the war he had recurring nightmares with the scenes he had seen during the war and he painted several paintings and made a series of etchings that reminds of Goya's War Disasters about the Peninsular War. Here you have some of his works and a short video about his art:


SERIES OF ETCHINGS  DER KRIEG (WAR)

Stormtroops advancing under a gas attack

Wounded soldier

Corpse of a horse

Crater field near Dontrien lit up by flares

Collapsed trenches

Dead sentry in the trenches

Gas victims

Transporting the Wounded in Houthulst Forest

Skull

Dead man in the mud

PAINTINGS 

The War Cripples (1920)

The Trench (1923)

This painting was destroyed during the Nazi era

War Triptych (1929-1932)

Flanders (1934)

Sources: 

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/may/14/art-apocalypse-otto-dix-first-world-war-der-krieg-in-pictures

https://reflectionsandcontemplations.wordpress.com/2010/10/17/unpacking-a-painting/

On this link you can download a presentation with the complete series of Etchings: 

http://nga.gov.au/dix/slideshow.cfm

And this is a video that summarizes Otto Dix career and his participation in WW1: 

War Against War!

Source: https://libcom.org/forums/history/war-against-war-shockingly-powerful-ww1-photographs-ernst-friedrichs-classic-anti

This is the title of a photobook published by German anarchist pacifist Ernst Friedrich in 1924. During WW1 he was a teenager and joined a group of young anti-militaristic workers and was sentenced to prison after an act of sabotage in a military industry in 1917. When the war ended, he was released and continued to fight for peace and against militarism. In 1924 he had the idea of publishing a photobook  to show the atrocities and horrors of World War 1. The book includes a lot of pictures of  the consequences of the brutality and dehumanization caused by modern war. The short texts he wrote focused on explaining the lies and hypocrisy of the political and economic interests that promoted the war. His book, called in German Krieg dem Kriege! (War Against War!) was the first to include a big collection of pictures about the war and his intention was that the people discovered the real face of modern war and could have a more informed opinion about violence and militarism as "solutions" to problems between different territories. 

Source: https://thecharnelhouse.org/2014/07/10/ernst-friedrich-war-against-war-1924/

Here you have some of the texts he wrote on the book: 

And as we all, all human beings, equally feel joy and pain, let us fight unitedly against the common monstrous enemy, War. 

We shall unite in protesting against, in weeping over the accursed mass murders for which we all bear equal guilt. But let us also raise our eyes cheerfully to the red dawn of freedom and peace. 

This book is dedicated to all war profiteers and parasites, to all war provokers, and is consecrated also to the “kings”, generals, presidents and ministers of all lands. To the priests, however, who blessed the weapons in the name of God, this book is dedicated as a War bible! 

Show these pictures to all men who still can think!

He who then still believes in this mass butchery, let him be locked up in a madhouse, let us avoid him as we do the plague!

They lack the courage, these war-thinkers and war leaders, to go themselves into the battle, and themselves to die a sweet “heroic death”.

That is why they invented such beautiful phrases as “Fatherland” and “Field of Honour” and spoke of “defence” and uttered other lies.

The war against war signifies:
The war of the victimised against the profiteers!
The war of the deceived against the deceivers!
The war of the oppressed against the oppressors!
The war of the tortured against the torturers!
The war of the hungry against the well fed!

THE PREVENTION OF WAR

It is true that capital is the cause of every war.

But the guilt of war rests on our shoulders.

It is we proletarians that make the conduct of war possible; it is for us likewise to prevent wars!

Refuse to serve!

Bring up your children so that they may later refuse to render military and war service!

How very many lightly overlook the fact that in one’s own home in the family, war is being spontaneously prepared!

And here lies the beginning of all evils, here lies the beginning also of war!

The mother that sings soldier’s songs to the baby on her lap, prepares for war, yes, she prepares for war!

The father that makes gifts of toy soldiers to his child mobilises the child for the war idea!

The toy soldier is the Judas that you yourself bring into the home, is the betrayal of human life! Remember always this one thing: -

Ye parents that do not wish  that your sons should murder the dear sons of other parents, you should remember that the child whom you present with a helmet and sabre and gun, plays his tender soul to death out of his young body.

Those children, however, who are educated in love and solidarity, and are brought up to respect unconditionally the inviolable sanctity of human life, these children will most certainly be unfit for arms and war-service.

We, opponents of military service must finally destroy the halo and the humbug, and tear down the gaudy tinsel of the soldiery, and we must speak out what then still remains to be said:

a professional murderer paid by the state, who is trained in murder schools (called barracks) privileged by the state, in the carrying out of the most gruesome of crimes, the murder of human beings! That is what the children should be told!

I WILL NOT!

Stronger than all violence, than the sabre and the rifle, is our spirit, is our will!

Repeat these three words: “I will not!”

Give content to these words and all wars in future will be impossible.

War Against War! became a very famous book and Friedrich received a donation, which he used to buy an old building and create an Anti-War Museum in Berlin. The museum opened in 1926. 

Source: http://www.gusto-graeser.info/Leben/Lebenslauf/lebenslauf_index.html

 Source: http://www.anti-kriegs-museum.de/english/start1.html

In 1930 Friedrich was sent to jail again due to his propaganda campaigns against militarism. When he was released the folowing year, he managed to bring his archive abroad. In 1933, when the Nazis reached power in Germany, their SA troops destroyed the Anti-War Museum and he was sent to jail again.  The museum was transformed into a Nazi meeting place and later it became a torture chamber.  

Source: http://www.anti-kriegs-museum.de/english/start1.html

At the end of 1933 he left Germany and migrated to Belgium, where he re-opened the 2nd Anti-War Museum. 

During World War 2 Friedrich joined the French Resistance against the Nazis. When the war ended, he used the compensation received from the German government to buy a piece of land in Paris, where he created the Île de la Paix, an international center to promote peace and understanding, with the objective of hosting groups of French and German students. After Friedrich's death this center was sold and destroyed. 

In 1982 a new Anti-War Museum was opened in Berlin to remember Friedrich's work. 

Source: http://www.anti-kriegs-museum.de/english/history.html

Here you have some more links, if you want to learn more about Ernst Friedrich and his work for peace: 

https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/Illumina%20Folder/kell20.htm

https://libcom.org/forums/history/war-against-war-shockingly-powerful-ww1-photographs-ernst-friedrichs-classic-anti

http://fotografie.hfg-karlsruhe.de/imaging/related-book-war-against-war-krieg-dem-kriege

http://craigritchie.co.uk/archives/2581

In Flanders Fields

Here you have this poem written by Canadian poet John McCrae. As Canada was a colony of the United Kingdom, when World War 1 started, McCrae was destined to Europe as  a doctor. He was in charge of a campaign hospital in the Western front. In 1915 one of McCrae closest friends died during the Second Battle of Ypres, The day after his friend's funeral, McCrae wrote the poem that remembers those who fell in the battlefield and won't continue to live. In 2006 Canadian composer Anthony Hutchcroft wrote the music for the song of this poem.

http://www.flandersfieldsmusic.com/thepoem.html

Tuesday, 3rd May 2016

Hi there !! Today, I have to do the journal. Well, I had to do it yesterday, but I couldn't, so I changed it with Sara. Thanks !!

Well, today it has been a... "special" class. Paqui has brought some letters about people who were living in the trenches every day due to the war.  The letters were really shocking. Here you have some of the letters we have read (in Spanish)

CARTA DE UN SOLDADO BRITÁNICO

2 mayo 1918

Cariño mío

Ahora, si no hay problemas, vas a saber todo sobre lo que pasa aquí. Sé que te llevarás una gran sorpresa cuando te llegue esta carta (espero que te llegue sin contratiempos). ¡Si alguna autoridad la ve...! Claro, tú has supuesto bien dónde tendría mi primera experiencia en la línea. Sí, fue en el saliente de Yprès... Oh!, el de aquella noche fue un encantador "bautizo de fuego". Teníamos que excavar y temprano en la mañana comenzó el ametrallamiento. Oh Señor, si alguna vez alguien tuvo miedo, absolutamente aterrorizado, a la muerte, ese alguien era el muchacho que yo soy. Uno de mi sección se asustó al ver una granada caer a dos metros de nuestra trinchera justo cuando alguien con instinto de líder iba hacia una cima; yo, sin embargo, me quedé quieto como una roca: éramos doce hombres cuando entramos en combate; salí con tres... Oh! Eso fue horrible.

Supongo que te gustará saber cómo está aquí el ánimo de los hombres. Bien, la verdad es que (y como te dije antes, me fusilarán si alguien de importancia coge esta misiva) todo el mundo está totalmente harto y a nadie le queda ya nada de lo que se conoce como patriotismo. A nadie le importa un rábano si Alemania tendrá Alsacia, o si la tendrá Bélgica o Francia. Lo único que cada uno quiere es acabar con esto e irse a casa. Ésta es honestamente la verdad, y cualquiera que haya estado aquí en los últimos meses te dirá lo mismo. De hecho, y esto no es una exageración, la mayor esperanza de la gran mayoría de los hombres es que los disturbios y las protestas en casa obliguen al gobierno a acabar con esto como sea. Ahora ya sabes el real estado de la situación.

Yo también puedo añadir que he perdido prácticamente todo el patriotismo que me quedaba, sólo me queda pensar en los que estáis allí, en todos a los que amo y que confiáis en mí para que haga el esfuerzo que sea necesario para vuestra seguridad y vuestra libertad. Esto es lo único que me mantiene y me da fuerzas para soportarlo todo. En cuanto a la religión, que Dios me perdone, no ocupa ni uno entre un millón de todos los pensamientos que cada hora inundan la mente de los hombres. 

Dios te bendiga, cariño, y a todos los que amo y me aman, porque sin su amor y confianza, desfallecería y fracasaría. Pero no te preocupes, corazón mío porque seguiré hasta el final, así éste sea amargo o dulce, con el amor siempre como mi primer pensamiento y cuidado, mi guía inspiradora y mi aliciente.

Au revoir mi amor, y que Dios te mantenga segura hasta que amaine la tormenta, con el amor más profundo de todo mi corazón. Tu amor,

Laurie

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CARTAS DE SOLDADOS FRANCESES

Fuera, con los pies inmediatamente enterrados, sacudo trozos de barro glacial que me pesan en las manos... Retomo mi marcha, las piernas abiertas, atravesando la tierra blanda de los desprendimientos, sondeando prudentemente el fango que tapa los hoyos. Y pese a todo, a veces, el sitio hacia el que lanzado mi impulso se hunde, el barro aspira mi pierna, la agarra, la paraliza; debo hacer un gran esfuerzo para liberarla. Del fondo del agujero que se ha llenado en seguida de agua, mi pie saca un lío de cables en el que reconozco la línea telefónica. Justamente ahí aparece el telefonista encargado de reparar las líneas, trae la cara contraída por las agujas heladas de la lluvia: "¡Vaya desbarajuste! ¡No se ha conservado nada ahí dentro! ¡Sólo hay barro y cadáveres!". Sí, cadáveres. Los muertos en los combates de otoño, que habían sido enterrados someramente en el parapeto, aparecen a trozos en los desprendimientos de tierra" 

Paul Tuffrau

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Carta de un soldado francés. Verdún, marzo 1916

Esos tres días pasados encogidos en la tierra, sin beber ni comer: los quejidos de los heridos, luego el ataque entre los boches (alemanes) y nosotros. Después, al fin, paran las quejas; y los obuses, que nos destrozan los nervios y nos apestan, no nos dan tregua alguna, y las terribles horas que se pasan con la máscara y las gafas en el rostro. ¡Los ojos lloran y se escupe sangre! Después los oficiales que se van para siempre; noticias fúnebres que se transmiten de boca en boca en el agujero; y las órdenes dadas en voz alta a 50 metros de nosotros; todos de pie; luego el trabajo con el pico bajo las terribles balas y el horrible ta-ta-ta de las ametralladoras."

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Marne, 8/9/1914

Mi pequeñina, 

Marie, naciste ayer, todavía no te he visto y sin embargo, ya te conozco. Esto no debería existir, un padre que no haya visto aún a su hija. 

La guerra no es como las historias que le contaba a tu hermano. Por otra parte, ya no quiero contar más ese tipo de historias.

Tu tío está conmigo. No le gusta escribir, pero le gustaría poder hablarte.

Estamos bien y no estamos heridos. Desde hace dos días, los hombres caen uno tras otro en el barro y ni siquiera tienen derecho a tener una sepultura digna. Nuestro día a día está lleno de sangre y tierra. Somos muertos vivientes, sepultados vivos bajo la tierra. La tierra nos cubre por completo, está omnipresente, en nuestras ropas, en nuestros jergones, incluso en nuestra comida.

La guerra es una pesadilla infinita.  

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Artois, 2/4/1915

En las trincheras, vivimos entre el barro. Hay tierra por todas partes, en nuestros pañuelos, en nuestros bolsillos, en nuestras ropas e incluso en lo que comemos. Además, hace mucho frío y hay mucha humedad.

Aquí las ratas son especialmente repugnantes, por lo gordas que son. 

A pesar de todo, atacamos bastante a menudo las trincheras enemigas, pero esto produce muchos muertos en nuestro regimiento, por los obuses, las granadas, los lanzallamas,..

Cada tarde tenemos que ir a buscar a los muertos y los heridos a ese infierno llamado « tierra de nadie ».

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Douaumont 26/27 !916

Querida mía

Aprovecho estos dos días de descanso para escribirte. Esto no  es agradable: es un infierno, especialmente sin ti.

Ayer participé en una gran ofensiva. Tuvimos  que trepar, arrastrarnos, correr, saltar y he sobrevivido. La mitad de mi regimiento ha muerto y de los que sobrevivieron, al menos la mitad están heridos.

Llueve mucho, por lo que  estamos tan sucios como tú nunca me permitirías ir. Mis cabellos están llenos de piojos y no nos afeitamos. Me he enterado de que nos llaman los « peludos ».

Las balas silban tan rápido como las vidas se apagan

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CARTA DE UN ESTUDIANTE ALEMÁN DESDE EL FRENTE

Una y otra vez quiero deciros algo: vosotros, que permanecéis en la patria, no olvidéis cuán horrible es la guerra. No dejéis de rezar. Actuad con seriedad. Abandonad toda superficialidad. Arrojad de teatros y conciertos a los que ríen y bromean mientras sus defensores sufren y se desangran y mueren. De nuevo he vivido durante tres días (del 1 al 4 de enero) la más sangrienta y horrible batalla de la historia, a doscientos metros del enemigo, en una trinchera provisional excavada a toda pria. Durante tres días y tres noches han caído granadas y más granadas: estallidos, silbidos, sonidos guturales, gritos y gemidos ¡Malditos aquellos que nos condujeron a esta guerra!

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Verdún, 18 de marzo de 1916

Querida mía, 

Te escribo para decirte que no creo que vuelva de la guerra. Por favor, no llores, sé fuerte. En el último ataque perdí mi pie izquierdo y la herida se ha infectado. Los médicos dicen que sólo me quedan unos días de vida. Cuando te llegue esta carta, puede que ya haya muerto. Te voy a contar cómo fui herido: hace tres días nuestros generales nos ordenaron atacaR. Fue una carnicería absolutamente inútil. Al comienzo del ataque éramos 20.000. Después de cruzar las alambradas, ya sólo quedábamos 15.000. En ese momento me hirieron. Unobús cayó cerca de mí y un trozo de metralla me arrancó el pie izquierdo. Perdí el conocimiento y no me desperté hasta un día más tarde, en la enfermería. Más tarde supe que de los 20.000 soldados que empezaron el ataque, sólo 5.000 sobrevivieron, gracias al repliegue ordenado por Pétain. 

En tu última carta me dijiste que habías quedado embarazada tras mi permiso de hace dos meses. Cuando nazca nuestro hijo, dile que su padre murió como un héroe luchando por Francia. Y sobre todo, asegúrate de que nunca entre en el ejército, para que no muera de una forma tan estúpida como la mía. 

Te quiero. Espero que podamos vernos en la otra vida, te doy las gracias por todos los maravllosos momentos que me has hecho pasar, te querré siempre. 

Adiós,

Soldado Charles Guinant

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Le Chemin des Dames 26/4/1917

Mentiría si no confesase que un gran número de nuestros compañeros se han hecho barrer como un montón de polvo después de un bombardeo durante la pasada noche. Es un milagro que todavía esté vivo para escribiros. 

!Pero al menos como un héroe, como dirían nuestros queridos dirigentes ! !Probablemente sea sólo un campesino, pero no soy idiota ! !Como podrás comprobar, estoy  indignado ! !Las órdenes son cada vez más ridículas ! ¿Cómo esperan que lancemos otra ofensiva cuando nos estamos muriendo de enfermedades, de cansancio o simplemente estamos muertos? !Es vergonzoso que se nos sacrifique de esa manera !

El gobierno nos ha mentido en todos los sentidos. Según ellos, íbamos a ganar rápidamente y ya somos millones de muertos y heridos. 

Esta guerra sólo se sustenta sobre  mentiras y traiciones. Ojalá se termine pronto.

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Mi querida Lucie, 

Cuando te llegue esta carta, ya me habrán fusilado. Ésta es la razón: el 27 de noviembre, hacia las 5 de la tarde, tras un violento bombardeo de dos horas, en una trinchera en primera línea de frente, cuando nos estábamos acabando la sopa, unos alemanes llegaron a la trinchera y nos hicieron prisioneros a mí y a otros dos compañeros. Aproveché un momento de confusión para escaparme. Seguí a mis compañeros, pero después fui acusado de abandonar mi puesto  en el frente. 

Ayer juzgaron a 24 de nosotros en un consejo de guerra. Seis de nosotros, incluyéndome a mí, fueron condenados a muerte. No soy más culpable que los otros, pero necesitan dar ejemplo a los demás.  El ejército te enviará mis efectos personales. 

Me despido de ti por última vez con prisa, con lágrimas en los ojos y el alma en pena. Te pido perdón por todo el dolor que voy a causarte y el aprieto en que voy a meterte. 

Mi pequeña Lucie, una vez más, perdón. 

Voy a confesarme y espero verte en un lugar mejor. Muero inocente del delito de abandono de puesto del que se me acusa. Si en lugar de escapar de los alemanes me hubiera quedado como su prisionero, habría salvado la vida. Es una fatalidad

Mi último pensamiento es para ti, hasta el final. 

Henri Floch

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Habiendo acabado con la Guerra, hago esta declaración como un acto de desafío a la autoridad militar, porque creo que la guerra está siendo deliberadamente prolongada por los que tienen el poder de terminarla. Soy un soldado, convencido de actuar de parte de los  soldados. Creo que esta guerra, en la cual entré creyendo que era una guerra de defensa y liberación, se ha convertido en una guerra de agresión y conquista. Creo que los objetivos por los cuales yo y mis camaradas habíamos entrado en esta guerra deberían haber sido tan claramente declarados que hubiera hecho imposible  cambiarlos, y que, como esto ha ocurrido, los objetivos que nos obligaron a actuar ahora deberían ser alcanzados por la negociación.

He visto y he aguantado el sufrimiento de las tropas, y no puedo por más tiempo ser partidario de prolongar estos sufrimientos para unos fines que creo son malos e injustos. No protesto contra la dirección de la guerra, pero sí contra los errores políticos y la falta de sinceridad con los combatientes que están siendo sacrificados. De parte de los que sufren hago esta protesta contra el engaño de que están siendo víctimas; también creo que puedo ayudar a destruir la complacencia insensible con la cual la mayoría de aquellos que en casa apoyan la continuación de las agonías que no conocen, y que ellos no tienen la imaginación suficiente de advertir.”

Siegfried Sassoon, 15 de junio 1917, leída en la Cámara de los Comunes en Londres el 30 de julio.

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Querida Léonie 

He confiado esta última carta a manos amigas y espero que te llegue algún día para que puedas saber la verdad y porque quiero dar testimonio del horror de esta guerra. 

Cuando llegamos aquí, la llanura era magnífica. Hoy, las orillas del Aisne parecen el país de la muerte. La tierra  está toda revuelta, quemada. El paisaje no es más que un campo de ruinas. Nosotros estamos en las trincheras de primera línea. Además de las balas, las bombas y las alambradas, están las minas y la perspectiva de saltar por los aires en cualquier momento. Nuestros uniformes se caen a pedazos. Chapoteamos en el barro, un barro arcilloso, espeso, pegajoso, del que es imposible desembarazarse. Las trincheras se derrumban con los obuses y sacan a la luz esqueletos y cráneos. El olor es apestoso.

Echamos de menos todo: el agua, las letrinas, la sopa… Estamos mal avituallados, nuestros platos están vacíos. Sólo tomamos una comida por la noche, que llega fría por la distancia que separa las cocinas de los túneles. Ni siquiera nos queda tabaco o un poco de caldo o un trago de aguardiente para calentarnos. 

Salimos a combatir con la bayoneta en el fusil. Es muy difícil moverse, con cascos de chapa de acero pesado e incómodo, pero que nos protege de las piedras que rebotan, y cargados con todos los bártulos contra los gases tóxicos. Hemos participado en ofensivas a ultranza que han acabado fracasando en montañas de cadáveres. Estos incesantes combates nos han dejado exhaustos y desesperados. Los desgraciados lisiados que el mundo mirará con un aire desdeñoso a su vuelta ¿sólo tendrán derecho a una pequeña condecoración para recompensarles por la pérdida de un brazo o de una pierna? Esta guerra nos parece a todos una infame e inútil carnicería. 

El 16 de abril el general Nivelle lanzó un nuevo ataque en Chemin des Dames. Fue un fracaso, un desastre. ¡Había muertos por todas partes! Conforme yo iba avanzando, no existían sentimientos: el miedo, el amor, no tenían ningún sentido. Sólo importaba seguir adelante, correr, disparar y por todas partes los soldados caían gritando de dolor. Las pendientes de acceso llenas de árboles eran ásperas. Perdido en la niebla, vagué con el fusil en la espalda, con el sudor chorreándome por la espalda. El campo de batalla me daba náuseas. Un verdadero osario se extendía a mis pies. Bajé la colina pasando por encima de cuerpos descoyuntados, con un odio terrible apoderándose de mí

Ese ataque sembró la confusión en todos los “peludos” y reforzó nuestra desilusión. Desde entonces, ya no soportamos los sacrificios inútiles, las mentiras del Estado Mayor. Todos los combatientes están desesperados, muchos han desertado y nadie quiere continuar. Circulan octavillas para incitarnos a dejar las armas. La semana pasada el regimiento entero se negó a salir otra vez de la trinchera. Nos hemos negado a continuar atacando, pero no a defendernos. 

Entonces, encargaron a nuestros oficiales que nos juzgasen. Me han sometido a un consejo de guerra excepcional, sin posibilidad de recurso. La sentencia me ha caído como una losa: mañana seré fusilado para dar ejemplo, con seis de mis camaradas, por negarme a obedecer. Ejecutándonos, nuestros superiores tienen como objetivo ayudar a los combatientes a reencontrar el gusto por la obediencia. No creo que lo consigan. 

¿Comprendes, Léonie querida,  que no soy culpable, sino una víctima de la justicia expeditiva? Voy a acabar en la fosa común de los muertos vergonzosos, los olvidados de la historia. No moriré en el frente, sino con los ojos vendados, al alba, arrodillado ante el pelotón de ejecución. Siento mucho el dolor y la vergüenza que mi triste fin te causará. 

Es tan difícil saber que no te volveré a ver nunca y que mi hija crecerá sin mí… Concebir a esta niña antes de mi partida al combate fue una locura  dulce y bonita, pero hoy, dejaros solas a las dos me parte el corazón. Os pido perdón por abandonaros. 

Prométeme, amor mío, que no contarás a la pequeña Jeanne las circunstancias exactas de mi muerte. Dile que su padre cayó como un héroe en el campo de batalla, háblale de la bravura y la valentía de los soldados y si un día la memoria de los “peludos” fusilados para dar ejemplo es rehabilitada, lo que no creo, entonces, si lo consideras necesario, enséñale esta carta.

No dudéis nunca de mi honor y mi valor, porque Francia nos ha traicionado y Francia nos va a sacrificar. 

Prométeme también, mi dulce Léonie, que cuando el tiempo haya aliviado tu dolor, no renunciarás a ser feliz, a sonreír a la vida. Mi muerte será así menos cruel. Os deseo a las dos, mis mujercitas, toda la felicidad que merecéis y que no podré daros. Os envío un beso, con el corazón al borde de las lágrimas. Vuestros maravillosos rostros, grabados en mi memoria, serán mi último consuelo antes del fin

Eugène, tu marido que te quiere tanto.

All this letters were censored, so they didn't arrive to their destination. They all talk about what war is and how they felt there, because those who were at the back and those who were at rearguard would revolt and wouldn't support the war. My letter talked about two French men who lived there, in the war and about a man who wrote to his wife because his daughter was born and he was fighting there. Some people cried while we were reading the letters.Even Paqui has cried a bit. But this is very very normal. This is what a war is about: Suffering, fear and dead. Lots of dead. For us only a number, but we can't imagine the amount of people who died in the war. And this is the truth about the war: suffering and fear, not what we study at high school.

Then, we have listened to a song that was forbidden at that time. It was called: " La chanson de la Craonne"

http://www.regaindelecture.com/pub/Couv-Craonne-01-1.jpg

Here you have a video with the song:

And finally, Paqui has read some quotes of a book she was brought. It is called "Fear", by Gabriel Chevalier

http://estaticos02.elmundo.es/elmundo/imagenes/2009/04/12/1239542424_extras_ladillos_1_0.jpg

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02046/fear-cover_2046102f.jpg

And that's all for today. BYE !!!

NEW VOCABULARY

Howitzer shell: Obús

Shrapnel: Metralla

Censored: Censurado

Helping disfigured soldiers

As many soldiers were disfigured during WW1, there was a series of artists who thought tthat they could help them using their art to design masks that could cover their wounded faces.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2014/09/25/351441401/one-sculptors-answer-to-wwi-wounds-plaster-copper-and-paint

The first initiative appeared in the United Kingdom in 1916. Sculptor Francis Derwent Wood created a team of sculptors in the 3rd London General Hospital, where they designed metallic masks for the traumatized soldiers who had lost part of their faces. The soldiers called this department the "Tin Noses Shop"

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-27592604

American sculptor Anna Coleman Ladd read an article about the "Tin Noses Shop" and decided to move to Paris, settle down there and open the Studio for Portrait Masks,  administered by the Red Cross. There, she statrted working. Every mask took a month to be finished. Thewy were many by copper and later painted manually. The patient had to wear the mask while Anna painted it, so that the colours used were as closely as possible to their real colour.

There were around 20,000 soldiers with facial wounds. Not all could receive a mask and many of them had to live with their wounds in residences or isolated villages, so that their faces didn't disturb the "normal" people.

Here you have some links if you want to learn more about this topic:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/faces-of-war-145799854/?no-ist

http://www.npr.org/2014/09/25/351441401/one-sculptors-answer-to-wwi-wounds-plaster-copper-and-paint

http://www.theguardian.com/world/postcolonial/2014/may/26/broken-gargoyles-the-disfigured-soldiers-of-the-first-world-war

http://shm.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/02/27/shm.hkq095.full#xref-fn-31-1

Trench warfare

The main feature of WW1 was the little movement of the armies after some weeks. The armies of all the belligerent countries were so similar in forces that the fronts quicly stabilized and the soldiers had to dig trenches. Here you have some videos of what life was like inside the trenches:

 This video belongs to the film War Horse:

 

New weapons in WW1

Here you have some short videos about the new technology and weapons used in WW1. I reccommend you to watch those related to poison gas:

Some videos about the use of propaganda in WW1

This video includes a short explanation about the different treatment given to the allies and the enemies:

   

The following two videos include many examples of posters used during WW1 with different purposes:

 

 And here you have a link from the British Library with more information about this topic:

 http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/themes/propaganda

Apocalypse: World War 1

This is a French TV series broadcasted in 2014. All the images used are historical, although colourized. It's a  faithfl account of what happened in all the fronts during four years of war. Here you have the five chapters: 

FURY

  

FEAR

   

HELL

  

RAGE

DELIVERANCE

Presentation of World War One and some videos and maps

This is the presentation for this part of the unit:

 

And these are some videos about the war, including the one I was looking for this morning:

This animation explains the beginning of the war:

http://www.the-map-as-history.com/demos/tome06/WW1-Map-Beginning-of-the-Great-War-1914.php

Some interactive maps:

http://www.worldology.com/Europe/europe_history_md.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/western_front/index_embed.shtml

And this is an interesting animated map that covers all the war and its territorial consequences:

http://www.mrzahran.com/history/mme/WWoneNI.swf

Monday, 27th of April

Hello everybody!  I 'm Clara Inés and this is my third journal of the year. 

Today in Social Sciences we have done a lot of things.

At first Paqui has come to our class later because she has been with the 3rd ESO students visiting a beer factory.


Then we started the lesson, but at first all the people have started to ask  Paqui about the projects that we made and then Victor has come to class. After all these interruptions we have finally started with the scheme of the different stages of World War 1.

In the 1st stage: War of movement (1914): the armies moved towards the enemy. Fight developed in two fronts. In the Western front the Germans attacked France through Luxembourg and Belgium (Schlieffen Plan, to take Paris: the Germans planned a short fight against France to focus in the Eastern front against Russia. This failed and they had to fight almost alone in two fronts). After the battle of Marne, the French stopped the German advance. In the Eastern Front the Russians advanced through Eastern Prussia and Galitzia. The Germans stopped them after the Battles of the Masurian Lakes and Tannenberg. 
At the end of 1914 Japan joined the Triple Entente and the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers. The Japanese occupied Tsingtao and they didn't do much more during the rest of the war.

 

                        Source: http://historoda.com/2013/04/13/wwi-europe-plunges-into-war/                          

In the 2nd stage: War of attrition (1915-1916): The war fronts stabilized and didn't move since the end of 1914. Soldiers dug kilometres of trenches and tried to keep their positions. Bulgaria joined the Central Powers and Italy and Romania the Triple Entente. In the Western front the Germansattacked in Verdun and the French reacted at the Somme. The front didn't move, but there were around two million victims. In the Eastern front a big German offensive to the East took place and Russians had to retire back.
A third front opened in the Balkans: the Central Powers occupied Serbia and Romania. The British attacked the Ottoman Empire from Egypt and occupied Palestine, but they were defeated at Gallipoli.
Also Paqui  has done a scheme on the blackboard to explain all this.

 

Source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3611617,00.html

In the 3rd stage: crisis of 1917: There were internal problems in all the belligerent countries: soldiers' mutinies in all fronts, nationalist protests in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Easter Rising in Ireland and a revolution in Russia: the Bolsheviks took power in October 1917 and decided to sign an agreement with the Germans to take Russia out of the war Brest-Litovsk Treaty

                     Source:http://io9.com/5960510/thousands-of-australian-students-are-taught-that-robots-                                                              led-the-russian-revolution

We have also added some new words to our glossary:

To exhaust-agotar

Slaughter – carnicería

To instill- inocular, inculcar

To withdraw- retirarse

Rising – levantamiento

Easter Rising – levantamiento de Pascua

Finally the bell has rung, and we couldn’t finish with the 4th stage, but we will finish that the next day. And we have gone to another class.

And a video for review all that we learned.

Bye!!

Thursday, 23th April 2015

Hello!
Today we've had a talk about the World War 1.
We have first gone to the assembly hall and given her our projects. I've liked this project even if it's a little bit long, I've enjoyed a lot doing it and I've learnt a lot. But then we've moved to the Social Sciences classroom. María and me have gone to look for Manuel but we haven't found him. Secondly, when we were in the Social Sciences Room, the talk has started. Paqui has spoken us about the World War 1, as I've said before,  not about the history or the battles but about novels and comics that reflex information that we didn't know about the World War 1. She has given us different letters from soldiers of the WW1 and we have commented on them . Mine talks about a British soldier who writes to his girlfriend or wife and he tells how bad the life is there. I think that with this letters, we can almost feel what they felt, it's very emotional.

Source: http://www.sinembargo.mx/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/private-harry-lewis-lincoln-26-1st-bedfordshire-regiment.jpg

Paqui has recommended us some novels, the main one was "The Fear", which I would like to read if I find the book somewhere.

Source: https://jackmoreno.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/el-miedo.jpg?w=625

And she has also shown us two comics about this War but I haven't had time enough to see them. I'd like to read also "¡Puta Guerra!". 

She has told us some facts such as starting the WW1, people went there happy. I knew this because yesterday I've started watching a film Paqui has recommended us to see: Feliz Navidad. I haven't finished it yet because it was late and I fell asleep, but I'm going to finish it today. I've seen the children in schools learning to hate the others, how happythey were about the WW1 because they were bored, how the brother dies just at arriving at the war, how they become friends for just Christmas Night, I've learnt that the Scottish supported the British and the French and the Germans, the artist boy singing and declaring peace or something like this, the blonde girl singing... I'll continue watching the film soon.

I think WW1 is a very interesting event in history. In my opinion, it was amazing. 

Finally, we've listened to a song sung in French that they composed in the WW1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iGEiY6wvDo

I've found this video which summarizes the WW1 in 6 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3UjJ5kxiLI

I let you an interactive game to improve your knowledge about the WW1. It's simple and interesting, you have to choose one period and place it in its chronological place: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/hq/worldwarwhen.shtml

If you fail it gives you three clues. When you complete it, you receive a certificate. I've got a DONKEY, what about you?

Tuesday, 21st of April 2015

Hello there!

Today we have spoken about the different stages of the WW1, from the beggining to the end with a armistice on the 11/11/1918 at 11am o'clock, but really it ended at 5pm because the news about the armistice were late.

After that Marta has asked Paqui how many people died during this war, the number is horrifying, twenty million people died there.

Then we have reviewed the letters from soldiers that Paqui gave us yesterday. I think they are amazing because you can know how they felt there.

The first truce is about a truce which happened on the Christmas Day. The soldiers realized that the war mad no sense because nobody wanted to fight there. The shook their hands and had some time together. We have seen a commercial from Sainsbury about this:

There is also a film about this, called Merry Christmas. Here you have the trailer:

Then we have spoken about the second letter, which was written on Valentine's Day. It described how was the environment there; the smells, the noises, the parasytes that were there, rats...

Soldiers with dead rats during WW1
Source: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71846000/jpg/_71846607_1326440_topfoto_rats.jpg

The bell has rung and we haven't continued.

Here you have today's glossary:

- War of movement: guerra de movimiento

- War of attrition: guerra de desgaste

- Trenches warfare: guerra de trincheras

- To dig: cavar

- Armistice: armisticio

- Swine: cerdo

- Shave: afeitar

- Razor: maquinilla de afeitar

Tuesday, 14th of April, 2015

Hello everybody!

I'm Azahara and today it's my turn to write the journal. Today has been a different day, because Paqui hasn't come to the high school, she has gone on a trip to Toledo. Today I couldn't go to class, but my classmates have told me that they have stayed in the class with the teacher Antonio Garrido, and they have started doing the scheme of the different stages of World War 1.

World War 1 was divided into 4 stages:

• 1st stage: War of movement (1914): the armies moved towards the enemy. Fight developed in two fronts. In the Western front the Germans attacked France through Luxembourg and Belgium (Schlieffen Plan, to take Paris: the Germans planned a short fight against France to focus in the Eastern front against Russia. This failed and they had to fight almost alone in two fronts). After the battle of Marne, the French stopped the German advance. In the Eastern Front the Russians advanced through Eastern Prussia and Galitzia. The Germans stopped them after the Battles of the Masurian Lakes and Tannenberg. 

At the end of 1914 Japan joined the Triple Entente and the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers. The Japanese occupied Tsingtao and they didn't do much more during the rest of the war.

    Situation at the 1st stage of WW1.

Source: http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-maps/world-war-i-map-of-europe.html

• 2nd stage: War of attrition (1915-1916): The war fronts stabilized and didn't move since the end of 1914. Soldiers dug kilometres of trenches and tried to keep their positions. Bulgaria joined the Central Powers and Italy and Romania the Triple Entente. In the Western front the German attacked in Verdun and the French reacted at the Somme. The front didn't move, but there were around two million victims. In the Easternt front a big German offensive to the East took place and the Russiand had to retire back.

 A third front opened in the Balkans: the Central Powers occupied Serbia and Romania. The British attacked the Ottoman Empire from Egypt and occupied Palestine, but they were defeated at Gallipoli.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Passchendaele

• 3rd stage: crisis of 1917. There were internal problems in all the belligerent countries: soldiers' mutinies in all fronts, nationalist protests in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Easter Rising in Ireland and a revolution in Rusia: the Bolsheviks took power in October 1917 and decided to sign an agreement with the Germans to take Russia out of the war. In the Middle East, the Arab tribes revolted against the Turks and the British got a lot of territory. The USA and Greece joined the Triple Entente. 

STORMING OF THE WINTER PALACE (Saint Petesbourg)

Source: http://io9.com/5960510/thousands-of-australian-students-are-taught-that-robots-led-the-russian-revolution

• 4th stage: end of the war (1918): two decisive facts took place:

                a) Arrival of refreshment troops from the USA.

                b) Brest-Litovsk Treaty, signed between Russia and Germany. Russia lost Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine.

The Germans could focus on the Western front and launched two offensives: 1st at the Somme and 2nd at the Mame. Revolts in the German army and protests against the government started in Germany. In the Eastern fron Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire surrendered. The Austro-Hungarian army collapsed in the North of Italy and the Balkans. Protests increased in Germany and Kaiser Whilem II abdicated . The republic was proclaimed and the armistice was signed at Rethondes.

Source: http://app.emaze.com/@AORQCOTZ/ww1-progressive---darrius-joseph