WW1 Diary -- I need some ideas?

Question

I have no idea what to write. Like I do, but I don't know how to start off. I asked my teacher and he suggested starting my WW1 diary as if I was joining up: reasons, expectations etc. but I was sick for a lot of the lessons and he tried to explain as much as he could but still = |
It has to be 14 entries (i dont even know how I am going to end this!)

Answer 1

You know what might be interesting, if you can find the story, on Christmas one year during WW1, the British and Germans declared a 24 hour cease fire. They where living in trenches about 1/2 mile apart and constantly shooting at each other. Well it was a nice day and men from both sides came out of the trenches (they were wet, smelly places). Somebody (nobody knows who) came out with a soccer (foot) ball and a game started between the Brits and the Germans. If you can find a description of that event, you could write a great diary from the perspective of a young Brit or German. Just an idea, but WW1 is my area of specialty in Military History.

I think you teacher wants you to use historical facts and YOUR IMAGINATION, so read up on facts and make the diary based on you imagination of what it would have been like to have been there. Imagine what it would have been like knowing there was going to be a truce (safety, even for a short time), imagine what it would have been like during the short time of safety, and imagine what it would have been like once the truce ended.

I used "World War One Christmas Truce" as my search term and found a lot of good sources, my description of the story isn't quite right, so read up on it, it's very interesting and I think would make a great diary. Good luck, here are 3 links I found.

Answer 2

Start off as though you are a civilian considering joining. The pros, cons, and any other feelings on it.

The do a little research into military training and what you may have been feeling then.

Then talk about your combat experiences. Research the way war was conducted the...entrenchments, the birth of the tank, the birth of the machingun, the birth of chemical weapons (mustard gas), the death of the mounted cavalry, the first deployment of close air support and aerial combat maneuvering (The Red Barron).

Also consider the way that leaders are praised and criticized in modern political debate and translate that to the leaders of that time... Czar Nicolai, the Keiser, Archduke Ferdinand, Wilson, etc.

Answer 3

well just remember what WWI was really all about.

there were some spectacular battles, but for the most part, it was an endless stalemate.

most soldiers lived their lives in deeply dug out trenches and their lives surrounded their lives stuck in such a place.

you also might remember that to this day, historians don't completely understand why millions of young men were so eager to go off to fight a war that defended a europe that would vanish because of the war.

Answer 4

You could pretend you were joining the Lafayette Escadrille, which was the American unit of fighter pilots in France before the Americans joined the war. The movie Flyboys (with James Franco) is the story of some of its members. It's a pretty interesting topic, and I doubt anyone else in the class will have something similar.