The Great War, The German Middle Class Perspective.

Training was miserable, at first. It was difficult to understand what marching had to do with being a soldier, but, at a certain point, it was as though we were one man - a mass of hearts and lungs, all beating and breathing as one! We are to be sent to the western front, where the war is to be won. I'm told, I'll be welcomed home as a champion of the German people before the first anniversary of the war. I've started to make some friends, but, they can sometimes get annoying and they occasionally get themselves into minor trouble - nothing serious. I don't know if it's better to stick together or to go it alone. I really don't want to get into trouble. the punishments for even minor transgressions can be pretty harsh. It seems that this march out of Germany is the time to decide whether I'm going to separate myself.