“I wonder what people will think of this war a century from now…”
They’re still bloody arguing about it.
Taken from the BBC article above:
"Mr Gove [said] that people’s understanding of the war had been overlaid by “misrepresentations” which at worst reflected “an unhappy compulsion on the part of some to denigrate virtues such as patriotism, honour and courage”.
“The war was, of course, an unspeakable tragedy, which robbed this nation of our bravest and best,” wrote Mr Gove.“
”But even as we recall that loss and commemorate the bravery of those who fought, it’s important that we don’t succumb to some of the myths which have grown up about the conflict."
He added: "The conflict has, for many, been seen through the fictional prism of dramas such as ‘Oh, What a Lovely War!’, ‘The Monocled Mutineer’ and ‘Blackadder’, as a misbegotten shambles – a series of catastrophic mistakes perpetrated by an out-of-touch elite. "
I happen to agree with that “myth” which I have high-lighted in bold.Methinks someone has indeed forgotten the lessons, whatever they were again.But here’s another article debunking myths
Still doesn’t make me change my mind about the bolded statement above.
I’m in Austria at the moment, and I’m curious what Germany and Austria will be doing / commenting/celebrating/commemorating. Whereas I know of many events planned in the UK, France and, Belgium, I understand Germany has done little or nothing else apart from creating a committee that will address representing Germany attending other countries’ commeration events. I don’t see much planned here in Austria but I might be missing something because of the language barrier. Next week I travel to Osttirol, a province that was split up after WW-I, where South Tyrol became part of Italy. We often cross the border into South Tyrol for shopping or eating out. I imagine something is being planned there…?
Meanwhile I’ve just read an article by a descendant of the assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria which “tries to excuse” Austria’s role/Austrian royalty of being part of the trigger for WW-I. He stated that the different European powers were ready to go to war; any excuse would have pushed them over the edge. Had it not been the assassination of his dukiness, it would have been another incident that would have kicked it off. Hmmm…excuses, excuses, excuses.
“Europe infighting. America had to come in and stop it twice.”After the second time, the US government and its contractors realized they liked it so much they decided to continue inserting themselves into the world’s conflicts, and create some new ones.
May I add that I’ve been noticing an uptick on talk-shows and newspaper articles regarding WW-I on Austrian TV and newspapers. The Kurier had one that translates roughly as “Chain of catastrophic events”. I guess one has to be here to observe the feeling and tone of the news.
The last three humans left on the planet were a Rabbi, a Priest, and a Mullah. They were bored and decided to go night fishing. Their boat motor ran out of gas, and died.
The Rabbi held up a match, and said, “I will shine a light and God will save us.” The Priest said, “NO! I shall hold up MY match, and God will save us.” The Mullah said , “No. You’re both wasting your time, I shall strike my match, and Allah will save us!”
All three lit their matches, ignoring the fact the engine stopped because all the gas had leaked into the bottom of the boat. The explosion and fire lit up the whole lake.
God in his wisdom came down from heaven with two burlap sacks. From the first, he released a female monkey, and she scampered into the woods. From the second sac, he released a male monkey, and he he went scampering in pursuit of the female.
And so God said: "If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again.
The book to read on all this is Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August. An excellent description of the events of 1914 – perhaps the best ever.Turns out it that everyone at the time was belligerent. And naive. And the resulting war was horrible, and the consequent events – Revolution and more War, were more horrible still. Turns out that smart diplomacy is infinitely cheaper than blustering stupidity.
SKJAM! Premium Member about 10 years ago
“The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain;Oh, Willie McBride it all happened again,and again and again, and again and again.”
OmqR-IV.0 about 10 years ago
“I wonder what people will think of this war a century from now…”
They’re still bloody arguing about it.
Taken from the BBC article above:
"Mr Gove [said] that people’s understanding of the war had been overlaid by “misrepresentations” which at worst reflected “an unhappy compulsion on the part of some to denigrate virtues such as patriotism, honour and courage”.
“The war was, of course, an unspeakable tragedy, which robbed this nation of our bravest and best,” wrote Mr Gove.“
”But even as we recall that loss and commemorate the bravery of those who fought, it’s important that we don’t succumb to some of the myths which have grown up about the conflict."
He added: "The conflict has, for many, been seen through the fictional prism of dramas such as ‘Oh, What a Lovely War!’, ‘The Monocled Mutineer’ and ‘Blackadder’, as a misbegotten shambles – a series of catastrophic mistakes perpetrated by an out-of-touch elite. "
I happen to agree with that “myth” which I have high-lighted in bold.Methinks someone has indeed forgotten the lessons, whatever they were again.But here’s another article debunking myths
Still doesn’t make me change my mind about the bolded statement above.
I’m in Austria at the moment, and I’m curious what Germany and Austria will be doing / commenting/celebrating/commemorating. Whereas I know of many events planned in the UK, France and, Belgium, I understand Germany has done little or nothing else apart from creating a committee that will address representing Germany attending other countries’ commeration events. I don’t see much planned here in Austria but I might be missing something because of the language barrier. Next week I travel to Osttirol, a province that was split up after WW-I, where South Tyrol became part of Italy. We often cross the border into South Tyrol for shopping or eating out. I imagine something is being planned there…?Meanwhile I’ve just read an article by a descendant of the assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria which “tries to excuse” Austria’s role/Austrian royalty of being part of the trigger for WW-I. He stated that the different European powers were ready to go to war; any excuse would have pushed them over the edge. Had it not been the assassination of his dukiness, it would have been another incident that would have kicked it off. Hmmm…excuses, excuses, excuses.
Jason Allen about 10 years ago
“Europe infighting. America had to come in and stop it twice.”After the second time, the US government and its contractors realized they liked it so much they decided to continue inserting themselves into the world’s conflicts, and create some new ones.
OmqR-IV.0 about 10 years ago
May I add that I’ve been noticing an uptick on talk-shows and newspaper articles regarding WW-I on Austrian TV and newspapers. The Kurier had one that translates roughly as “Chain of catastrophic events”. I guess one has to be here to observe the feeling and tone of the news.
Dtroutma about 10 years ago
The last three humans left on the planet were a Rabbi, a Priest, and a Mullah. They were bored and decided to go night fishing. Their boat motor ran out of gas, and died.
The Rabbi held up a match, and said, “I will shine a light and God will save us.” The Priest said, “NO! I shall hold up MY match, and God will save us.” The Mullah said , “No. You’re both wasting your time, I shall strike my match, and Allah will save us!”
All three lit their matches, ignoring the fact the engine stopped because all the gas had leaked into the bottom of the boat. The explosion and fire lit up the whole lake.
God in his wisdom came down from heaven with two burlap sacks. From the first, he released a female monkey, and she scampered into the woods. From the second sac, he released a male monkey, and he he went scampering in pursuit of the female.
And so God said: "If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again.
corzak about 10 years ago
The book to read on all this is Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August. An excellent description of the events of 1914 – perhaps the best ever.Turns out it that everyone at the time was belligerent. And naive. And the resulting war was horrible, and the consequent events – Revolution and more War, were more horrible still. Turns out that smart diplomacy is infinitely cheaper than blustering stupidity.