Surprising Ways WWI Directly Shaped The Way We Live Now
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Date: 2022-12-29
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Comments and reviews: 20
NGMonocrom
Making wrist-watches acceptable on men:
Prior to WW1, men wore pocket-watches. While wrist-watches did exist, they were incredibly small, fragile, and made only for women. It simply was not socially acceptable, regardless of class status, for any man to wear a wrist-watch. Nor did watch companies make them for men. The war changed all of that. Needing to coordinate attacks on the enemy meant needing to check the time at a glance. Dropping a pocket watch in the mud would be disasterous.
Early men's wrist-watches were pocket-watches (the open face variety) with lugs welded onto the cases to allow thin, one-piece, canvas straps with buckles to run through both lugs. The watch could then be secured to the wrist. Wrist-watches on men instantly lost the stigma of being seen as unmanly. That trend continues even today, with smart watches worn on the wrists of both men and women.
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Making wrist-watches acceptable on men:
Prior to WW1, men wore pocket-watches. While wrist-watches did exist, they were incredibly small, fragile, and made only for women. It simply was not socially acceptable, regardless of class status, for any man to wear a wrist-watch. Nor did watch companies make them for men. The war changed all of that. Needing to coordinate attacks on the enemy meant needing to check the time at a glance. Dropping a pocket watch in the mud would be disasterous.
Early men's wrist-watches were pocket-watches (the open face variety) with lugs welded onto the cases to allow thin, one-piece, canvas straps with buckles to run through both lugs. The watch could then be secured to the wrist. Wrist-watches on men instantly lost the stigma of being seen as unmanly. That trend continues even today, with smart watches worn on the wrists of both men and women.
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barbiquearea
The Great War also saw canned foods becoming widespread. As the war dragged on the belligerents needed to find vast quantities of cheap, high calorie food to feed their millions of troops, that could also be transported with ease and not spoil in the trenches. This not only saw canned foods becoming a staple for feeding troops in modern armies, but some countries like the French and Italians also experimented to make their canned goods more appetizing with special cuisines sealed in a can, that can be heated up to serve such as Beef Bourguignon, onion soup ravioli, spaghetti bolognese etc. These new canned cuisines also bled into the domestic market.
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The Great War also saw canned foods becoming widespread. As the war dragged on the belligerents needed to find vast quantities of cheap, high calorie food to feed their millions of troops, that could also be transported with ease and not spoil in the trenches. This not only saw canned foods becoming a staple for feeding troops in modern armies, but some countries like the French and Italians also experimented to make their canned goods more appetizing with special cuisines sealed in a can, that can be heated up to serve such as Beef Bourguignon, onion soup ravioli, spaghetti bolognese etc. These new canned cuisines also bled into the domestic market.
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capitalistdingo
WWI is often described as a pointless war compared to WWII (calling WWII a pointless war would effectively mean saying fascism should be tolerated and made peace with, a view which was once popular among the elites of the Western world. But WWI saw the end of several old fashioned empires and other unfortunate societal institutions, increased the rights of many who were being relied on by society to take the highest burdens of fighting and if we had pursued a policy of peace in our time at all costs before WWI the world could very well have been a much darker one today, just as such a policy before WWII almost lead to a much darker present time.
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WWI is often described as a pointless war compared to WWII (calling WWII a pointless war would effectively mean saying fascism should be tolerated and made peace with, a view which was once popular among the elites of the Western world. But WWI saw the end of several old fashioned empires and other unfortunate societal institutions, increased the rights of many who were being relied on by society to take the highest burdens of fighting and if we had pursued a policy of peace in our time at all costs before WWI the world could very well have been a much darker one today, just as such a policy before WWII almost lead to a much darker present time.
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Kriss
J Winter's challenge is a direct line from Wilfred Owen's Dulce et Decorum est. Here's the final stanza:
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devils sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
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J Winter's challenge is a direct line from Wilfred Owen's Dulce et Decorum est. Here's the final stanza:
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devils sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
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Alexa
as a german i only learned while living in the us that english speakers would call this 'the great war'. what's so great about it? millions died just because some effing royalty were killed? and the worst part is that so many young men went into it willingly not knowing what they've gotten themselves into it cause Europe was so ready for a war. keep in mind all parties were related through Queen Victoria. humans are weird! great bit though, learned a lot, thank you for that!
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as a german i only learned while living in the us that english speakers would call this 'the great war'. what's so great about it? millions died just because some effing royalty were killed? and the worst part is that so many young men went into it willingly not knowing what they've gotten themselves into it cause Europe was so ready for a war. keep in mind all parties were related through Queen Victoria. humans are weird! great bit though, learned a lot, thank you for that!
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Richard
Gilles, the pioneering British surgeon of World War 1 was related to Sir Archibald McIndoe of World War 2 fame. Both advanced reconstructive and plastic surgery during their respective times. Some of their surgical instruments can still be found in theatre today. The Thomas Splint reduced mortality associated with fractured femur from 80% to 20% Women's football became popular in WW1 but was more or less banned post war.
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Gilles, the pioneering British surgeon of World War 1 was related to Sir Archibald McIndoe of World War 2 fame. Both advanced reconstructive and plastic surgery during their respective times. Some of their surgical instruments can still be found in theatre today. The Thomas Splint reduced mortality associated with fractured femur from 80% to 20% Women's football became popular in WW1 but was more or less banned post war.
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jessieOz
Pilates is again not something developed in west. We in west like to claim that we are the best and inventors of everything but thats not real.
I do not know how the so called Mr Pilates developed his techniques. But this method of exercise using flexible ropes n fabrics has been around centuries in southern India. They still do it over there but in much more changed ways and very limited in scope now.
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Pilates is again not something developed in west. We in west like to claim that we are the best and inventors of everything but thats not real.
I do not know how the so called Mr Pilates developed his techniques. But this method of exercise using flexible ropes n fabrics has been around centuries in southern India. They still do it over there but in much more changed ways and very limited in scope now.
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mike
The most significant way it changed things, was so many people were dying for what - loyaltiy to their royal family and generals all in their clown costumes and customs, that they started questioning the whole idea of goverment, and it pushed miost of Europe to socialism and communism. Neither would have had the draw from so many in Europe if it weren't for all that unquestioned charge into death.
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The most significant way it changed things, was so many people were dying for what - loyaltiy to their royal family and generals all in their clown costumes and customs, that they started questioning the whole idea of goverment, and it pushed miost of Europe to socialism and communism. Neither would have had the draw from so many in Europe if it weren't for all that unquestioned charge into death.
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Marie
The first thing that comes to my mind is the wearing by men of wristwatches or now, having the internet on your wrist! Before WWI, no manly man would wear one! Recognition of what we now call PTSD, then, called shell shock. They found ways to treat it, unlike in previous wars. Plastic surgery for facial deformities were also invented and still with us.
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The first thing that comes to my mind is the wearing by men of wristwatches or now, having the internet on your wrist! Before WWI, no manly man would wear one! Recognition of what we now call PTSD, then, called shell shock. They found ways to treat it, unlike in previous wars. Plastic surgery for facial deformities were also invented and still with us.
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Gabrielle
Hey, you might want to remove the background music at 8: 51. It's called The Last Post and is typically played in remembrance of fallen soldiers in the Commonwealth. It can also be played to signify the end of the military working day, but I'm not sure it's entirely appropriate to put in this video where you did.
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Hey, you might want to remove the background music at 8: 51. It's called The Last Post and is typically played in remembrance of fallen soldiers in the Commonwealth. It can also be played to signify the end of the military working day, but I'm not sure it's entirely appropriate to put in this video where you did.
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Julia
One less wanted result of WWI that lasted until the 1990s in the UK, was restrictive alcohol selling hours. The only remants of that set of rules now, is the restrictions on who can sell alcohol and the selling of alcohol in areas where a sporting event is being held, on the day of that event.
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One less wanted result of WWI that lasted until the 1990s in the UK, was restrictive alcohol selling hours. The only remants of that set of rules now, is the restrictions on who can sell alcohol and the selling of alcohol in areas where a sporting event is being held, on the day of that event.
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Philip
I don't know if it was WWI or WW2, but I saw that the first port-a-let was on battle fields. They were made by a guy named Crapper, so if a soldier had to take a dump, he would say he was going to the crapper. Then the term was used when they got home. I don't know if it's true or not.
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I don't know if it was WWI or WW2, but I saw that the first port-a-let was on battle fields. They were made by a guy named Crapper, so if a soldier had to take a dump, he would say he was going to the crapper. Then the term was used when they got home. I don't know if it's true or not.
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Julia
The reason the Peace sausage could be patented in the UK, is because we have a large variety of sausages where bread and other fillers are mixed with meat, unlike German sausages. Today many British supermarkets sell a huge variety of British, foreign, vegetarian and vegan sausages.
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The reason the Peace sausage could be patented in the UK, is because we have a large variety of sausages where bread and other fillers are mixed with meat, unlike German sausages. Today many British supermarkets sell a huge variety of British, foreign, vegetarian and vegan sausages.
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Miriam
Not that this is profound, but I seem to remember having read somewhere that the superstition about 3 on a match being bad luck originated in the trenches. If a match burned long enough in the dark for 3 people to be able to use it, it gave snipers opportunities to pick them off.
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Not that this is profound, but I seem to remember having read somewhere that the superstition about 3 on a match being bad luck originated in the trenches. If a match burned long enough in the dark for 3 people to be able to use it, it gave snipers opportunities to pick them off.
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education
3: 38 - I like your sense of humor by comparing things of the past into things of the future. Really puts things into perspective and we all need some comic relief from a serious subject without getting too distracting
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3: 38 - I like your sense of humor by comparing things of the past into things of the future. Really puts things into perspective and we all need some comic relief from a serious subject without getting too distracting
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Jason
Bras were made as a way to reduce the fabric in women's undergarments for war use. Also (something America has somehow still yet to figure out) the widespread socialized healthcare for it's citizens stems from WWI.
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Bras were made as a way to reduce the fabric in women's undergarments for war use. Also (something America has somehow still yet to figure out) the widespread socialized healthcare for it's citizens stems from WWI.
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J.
Weird note! After WW1 the British believed that their next war would be with America! They started planning it, because of the economic, industrial and military prowess shown by the USA? Adolf certainly showed them?
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Weird note! After WW1 the British believed that their next war would be with America! They started planning it, because of the economic, industrial and military prowess shown by the USA? Adolf certainly showed them?
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Uli
The best thing the great war achieved was getting rid of a lot of monarchs. Although I don't condone the gruesome way some of them were made to leave it did a lot to advance the types of goverments we have today.
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The best thing the great war achieved was getting rid of a lot of monarchs. Although I don't condone the gruesome way some of them were made to leave it did a lot to advance the types of goverments we have today.
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Lenny
Industrial Revolution happens
- Everyone: hey, isn't this neat? With this revolution of industry, everything is so much more effective and efficient! It's great!
War begins
- Everyone: Oh. crap.
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Industrial Revolution happens
- Everyone: hey, isn't this neat? With this revolution of industry, everything is so much more effective and efficient! It's great!
War begins
- Everyone: Oh. crap.
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kudukilla
Surgery has almost always had innovations related to war, going back at least to the days of Napoleon.
WW1 was also the first war where there were more battlefield deaths than deaths from disease.
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Surgery has almost always had innovations related to war, going back at least to the days of Napoleon.
WW1 was also the first war where there were more battlefield deaths than deaths from disease.
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