"Far above the feverish gaze of those on the ground, the bodies buried under the mud of the earthly lower depths and the wasted fields, this whole procession advances from the four corners of the horizon, driving back the infinity of the sky and hiding its blue depths."
Henry Barbusse
Under fire

WWI came during the time of the second Industrial Revolution. This was a time of great advancement in technology. Military needs were being met along with civilian needs during this time of great change. This was not only a time of great change in industry but also one in society. For all the change in lifestyles that occurred during the move from rural to urban, there was one state of mind that did not, it was the idea of war as a tool for national advancement. The totality of WWI and WWII led to the loss of millions of lives. Henry Barbusse wrote about his experience in WWI and this line from his book Under Fire best captures the mass deaths of WWI.
Those who have survived the previous battle, are waking from being buried in the mud from the heavy rain. The constant rain, is one of the factors which Barbusse thinks of as the worst of the conditions of the war. The rain is causing this level of mud because of all of the bullets, bodies, and artillery bombardment that has destroyed the once beautiful countryside.
Then Barbusse describes how the entire field is covered in bodies for as far as the eye can see. For Americans, this brings back memories of The Civil War. Advancements in miliary technology along with outdated military tactics brought terrible destruction in that war too. This war in Europe, brought unprecedented death to that region.
Unfortunately WWI was not the end of such mass destructive warfare. WWII would again plunge the world into total war and create fields of death again. Again there would be people writing about their experiences in this brutal time. It is up to people who have experienced these horrors first hand to write about them or to take an active role in their democracies. This is important, so those who have not experienced this can unleash the destructive force of war as a last resort.