Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen both were British soldiers during WWI, and both later became well-known for their anti-war verses.  Both wrote of the harsh realities of the war and satirized the messages the media was sending out about how it's glorified and beautiful and patriotic to die for your country.  While I'm sure they were both very patriotic and loyal citizens, they did not glorify the death, sqallid conditions of the trenches in which the soldiers lived, the blowing off of limbs and the dying from disease, and the watching your friends die one after another. He wrote of the emotional effects they all suffered as a result.  So, the connotations were that war is not pleasant and it is anything but glorified and honorable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Sassoon

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/8103/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/sassoon_siegfried.shtml