History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

History - Essay Example Trench warfare was the norm, and soldiers were pitted against one another in horrible conditions. The use of mustard gas by the Germans against the British in the Second Battle of Ypres increased the horror of this war. (WW1 timeline). Valery wrote from a position of intellectual and emotional shell-shock. The scope and terror of the war left him questioning everything, and he was afraid: â€Å"We modern civilizations have learned to recognize that we are mortal like the others.† He was no longer complacent about the death of past cultures: â€Å"†¦through the misty bulk of history, huge vessels once laden with riches and learning†¦were no concern of ours.† The mind, Valery wrote, is deeply injured and may not recover from the shock of its realization that there is no longer the buffer of time. Civilization could end at any moment. The Lost Generation epitomizes the feelings of British intellectuals in WW One’s aftermath. Hugh Dalton writes of his frien d Rupert Brooke â€Å"with his passing, a bright light seemed to go out of my life, and a bright hope of the future† (The Lost Generation).