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The soldier who embraced martydom with the greatest ardor during the First World War--was Adolf Hitler. He said (see below) that thousands of Germans had "sacrificed their young lives freely and joyfully on the altar of the beloved fatherland."
Of course, his syntax was different, but British General Douglas Haig expressed an identical sentiment, paying credit to the splendid young officers who attacked enemy lines "knowing it meant certain death."
In Mein Kampf, contemplaying the millions of Germans who had died in the First World War. Hitler asserted that it would be a “sin to complain”—because after all, were the men not “dying for Germany?”
Identical words could have flowed from the mouth of General Douglas Haig: Even though millions of British soldiers had died in the First World War, it would have been a "sin to complain," because after all, "were they not dying for Great Britain?"
Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Russia--it doesn't really matter what you call the entity. For every nation during the First World War, the dream was the same: slaughter in the name of a nation-state.
And each and every nation somehow persuaded young men that "It would be a sin to complain."
Why would it be a sin for young men to complain about being slaughtered? THIS IS THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION THAT NEEDS TO BE POSED IF ONE WISHES TO UNDERSTAND WARFARE.
And historians have not yet posed this question, much less answered it.
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