Cold War Echoes: Examining the Ruthless Pursuit of Territory in Literature

Jacques Tardi’s Stark Depictions: The Brutality of World War I

In continuation, you have Jacques Tardi, who created an anonymous French soldier to depict his comic book on what World War I was like for all of the French soldiers. Here, he basically says that the War was pointless and how you become accustomed to the amount of dead bodies of soldiers. In chapter 1917, page 47, it says, “You got used to it, but it’s still pretty to see what you’d most likely looked at the end of the day.” What makes this statement stand out is the image portrayed.

It was a French soldier who had died on top of a tree, and all that was left of him was his uniform since he was now a skeleton with a missing leg. So, one can only imagine the horror and the scene that a soldier went through in World War I. Tardi also goes on to discuss the amount of soldiers killed or the resources that were running out because this War also brought out the worst in everybody.

Now Morel, Remarque, and Tardi shared similar viewpoints about the War and what goes on. The European countries all fought for the expansion of territory. For instance, for Morel, King Leopold’s invasion of the Congo brought destruction and harm not only to African Americans there but also to Africa. He used Africans as slaves, brought them to Europe, created capitalistic imperialism, and devastated the resources for profit.

In Erich Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, the invasion of territory and the lack of resources that was caused by World War I made the whole War more difficult. Because of that, many German soldiers lost a lot, if not all, of their supplies. And for Jacques Tardi, Goddamn this War! You had soldiers question whether or not the War was worth it. And the lack of resources for territory gain was not worth all the violence caused.

Territorial Ambitions: The Dire Costs of Expansion and Scarce Resources

In continuation, all three of the authors’ texts show that a lot of people died because of this. In Black man’s burden, Africans died at the hands of King Leopold and the imperialistic gains. In All Quiet on the Western Front, many German soldiers died because of the lack of knowledge and putting the soldiers on the frontline. Plus, the lack of resources caused many soldiers to die as well.

They did not have much ammunition and much food left, so some practically died, being thrown into the War. And as for Goddamn, this War! The French also had a lack of resources, and many died because they were on the frontline as well. To which many believed that the War should not have even happened. Millions of soldiers perished at the hands of the War.

Conclusion

In conclusion, even though each author had different views and different situations, they each shared a similarity. Because of wanting expansion of territory and having a lack of resources, it caused more bloodshed than needed. And it caused more violence than what was done.

References

• Tardi, J. (2012). Goddamn This War! Vintage Publishing. Paris, France.