Hemingway and WWI

Italy joined World War I in the spring of 1915 by declaring war on Austria-Hungary. With an under-equipped army of 1.2 million, Italy advanced against Austro-Hungarian forces in the Tyrol region of Italy and were met with a stalemate. Two years later, 1917, Germany joined forces with the Austro-Hungarian army and decimated Italy’s army during the Battle of Caporetto where 300,000 Italian soldiers lost their lives. By the end of the war 615,000 Italian soldiers had died and Italy was given a permanent position in the League of Nations.

A Farewell to Arms, written by Ernest Hemingway, follows an American, Frederic Henry, through the years of 1916-1918 in Italy. He serves as an ambulance driver and officer while balancing a secret relationship with an English nurse, Catherine. The story of Frederic is a realistic telling of an Italian soldier’s life during WWI and it parallels Hemingway’s experience in the war.

Hemingway joined the the Red Cross and served as an ambulance driver in Italy and in 1918 he was wounded by mortar; fire much like Frederic. Also just like Frederic, Hemingway recovered in a Milan hospital and fell in love with Agnes von Kurowsky who would later become the inspiration of the character Catherine in the novel A Farewell to Arms.