Whose War John Reed Analysis

War never changes. In John Reed's article "Whose War?" in April of 1917, he talks about the horrors of war and how people are so romanticized about the war that they miss that fact, the fact that people will die, the fact that their sons will not come home, or the fact that they will not come back the same man as they left. And for anyone who disagrees with the war is branded a traitor and un-American because that is what they believe. He talks about the irony that people who disagree with the majority and are censored, are dangerous. He explains that people are seeking justice, a war overseas, but there are so many injustices done to the common people here in America that the only people that could possibly benefit are the rich. Lastly, he points out the hypocrisy of this war, there are worse nations than Germany at the time. People were being punished in France and England for not wanting to kill. Germany violated international law for declaring the British Isles a war zone, but when England closed the …show more content…
For example, he explains what he has seen come from a war "I have seen men die, and go mad, and lie in hospitals suffering hell; but there is a worse thing than that. War means an ugly mob-madness, crucifying the truth-tellers, choking the artists, side-tracking reforms, revolutions" (Zinn 289). Most Americans did not understand because they were not affected by a war like Reed was. War was very much romanticized by Americans at this time because of history and stories of bravery. It was not until World War Two the people understood the impact of a war. The Great War really changed the world's ideas on war and very much lead to the rise of Hitler in every way. People were so changed that they tried so hard not to go to war the second time that Hitler amassed so much more than he should have. The people that came out of The Great War were forever changed by it; it is called the lost generation of a reason. People had no