What was the mental state of the men in World War 2?

Answer 1

It depends on the perspective you look at it from. Soldiers desrcibed that they "didn't think about it" relating to killing other people. This action appears cold and remorseless to outsiders, but to soldiers, it was quite normal. During WW1, a new state emerged originally called "Shell Shock". It was re-named Battle Fatigue during the Second World War, and after once again renamed Combat Stress Reaction.

Shell Shock happened when a soldier was overwhelmed with his surroundings during war. Symptons included slowness of thought, and soldiers falling apart basically. This was one mental state that soldiers faced.

The disturbed mental state generally came after the war, and after the soldiers had returned home. Then mental unstability generally came over the soldiers.

However, during the war reports said soldiers on the front line could even appear normal, as if it had not affected them.