Why War Is Hell

All over the globe and in many religious traditions, Hell is said to be a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Many religions often describe Hell as being endless and tormenting, a place of no rest and sorrow1. In the same sense, nothing has said to be a bigger disaster than World War I. The correspondence between hell and war is very strong and is one with many similarities. Hell is often described as a place of darkness and filth, when trying to figure out a physical description - basically the opposite of what Heaven would be described as which would be thought of as more pleasant conditions2. Similarly, the conditions of the soldiers in the trenches could be illustrated as being nothing less than hell. The soldiers also had to witness suffering amongst themselves and their fellow men. With their pride for their country being the main purpose for them to struggle through the pain, they managed to get past many of the atrocious injuries3. However, most of them still got lost in the fires of hell and were killed in the war.
In World War I, the trenches were used on both sides during the war. It was primarily a defensive tactic, placing soldiers low in the trench for protection4. They were, of course, dirty. They were often crowded, so any kind of wound sustained in the trenches was likely to become infected, whether it was sustained in battle or opening from a can5. Antibiotics had not been invented in World War I, so palliative care was about the only treatment that could be given6. Aside from the direct effects of wounds, the indirect effects of many men in close, dirty quarters meant that common diseases like colds and the flu could spread quickly. For example, when it rained, the trenches made low-level marshes, filled with inches of dirty water that made soldiers susceptible to fungal infections now known as trench foot and trench mouth7. Parasites like lice, fleas and weevils were everywhere, and they could spread other diseases. Dysentery,...