Describe trench warfare and what happened to the soldiers for being in the trenches for too long?

Answer 1

The soldiers in the war experienced hardness and sadness because they didn't get there wife and child or children.

Answer:
The trench warfare of World War One had lots of experiences for the soldiers on both sides. Sadness and loneliness were the comparatively good parts:

• Gas: clouds of poison gas would drift down into the trenches filling them, burning skin and lungs but they couldn't leave as they would be killed by snipers
• Snipers shot anything that poked up or showed above the edge of the trench
• The other side would sneak into your trenches at night with clubs, knives and sharpened shovels to quietly kill as many as possible
• Lice: Fleas lice and other vermin infected everyone
• Rats: The easy availability of corpses led to a population boom among the rats who weren't adverse to a snack of live soldier
• Sewage: No sewers or toilets, so it was good when the water in the trenches was just cold muddy water
• Cold and damp: The war went on through the winter so everyone was cold and damp, frostbite and exposure were endemic
• Skin diseases: You were always wet with no dry cloths so fungus and rot grew all over your feet
• Gangrene and other infection from the smallest cuts - no antibiotics to speak of
• Shell shock: What we now call post traumatic stress syndrome was called shell shock. It was regarded as cowardice and sufferers were shot if they fled or refused to fight
  
• Poor leaders: The leaders kept throwing more and more men into pointless battles against untakable objectives
• Body parts: Your dead and dying friends lay on the ground ni front of the trenches to be hit and scattered by shells and bullets (don't forget the rats)
• Shelling: A preparation for battle was for artillery to "soften up" enemy lines with a few hours of shelling - no shelter in a trench
• Being buried alive: If you made a hole in the trench wall the shells would collapse it and bury you alive
• Drowning: If you ducked into a shell hole to hide during the advance (so you wouldn't be shot) the pack of supplies and ammo would drag you down into the water and mud to drown
• Limited medical care: This was almost a hundred years ago, almost all modern antibiotics, surgery, painkillers, plastic surgery, restorative surgery, nursing and such were just not there yet.
• The clothing and equipment was primitive and uncomfortable
  

Answer 2

Trench warfare was a dirty, uncomfortable form of warfare due to the constant exposure of soldiers to the natural elements as well as to the frequent cannon bombardments and sniper fire delivered by the enemy. The defense had the advantage; however, prevailing strategic ideas emphasized offense, so attacks were frequently made at great cost to the attackers. After weeks and months, then years, of being in the trenches, soldiers not only developed many physical maladies; they also suffered emotionally and even spiritually, sometimes being unable to fulfill their duties, as a result.