In English, "It is sweet and noble to die for one's country". This basically sums up the feelings of many leaders and scholars before The Great War. The poem Dulce et decorum est describes just how sweet and noble death really was in World War I. Viewpoints would change so drastically after WWI that Europe sat idly by as Hitler built his war machine out of fear of causing another war.

It is kind of ironic that this phrase was originally used by Horace (Quintus Horatius Flacchus) in one of his odes. Horatius actually went to war in Filippos, but later decided that deserting was a better option...

I guess Horatius would have agreed with mr. Owen afterall (see Dulce et decorum est)