How do you do,
In the United States, November 11 is Veteran's Day. It's that one time of the year where we honor the veterans of wars who had fallen in combat as well as the ones who are still among us today. Yet, it wasn't always called that.
One hundred years ago, this day, the Armistice that would end the fighting of World War I happened. It came into affect at 11:00 on this day, a century ago (by which point, nearly everyone in the Western Hemisphere was still asleep). For many, it seemed the war was completely over. Perhaps, the whole concept of war was over. Perhaps Man may be able to live in peace. At least, that is what we all felt as the Treaty of Versailles was being signed, a document intended for peace that instead led to another war.
Prior to November 11, 1918, there would have been millions of European men who were, like Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind, willing to be happily buried in their homes, knowing that they were in countries that ruled the world. In 1914, the Great War came. In between those years, those millions of young men watched as their childhood friends were cut to pieces by machine guns, tangled up in barbed wire, or suffer from trench fever. They saw real men die in agony when they shot them, yet tanks seemed unfeeling with their armor and airplanes appeared unstoppable since they could fly. All for what? Just to capture a few yards in some places, or a hill in another. And at sea, the submarine added another monster lurking below.
For each country involved, World War I had a different meaning. For Great Britain, both it and World War II marked the watershed moment in the power of the empire. For France, the war was a trying time for the Third Republic, considering as most of the battles were fought in France and her will was tested to the limits. France certainly came out intact and stronger than before (even if it seems it was all thrown away in World War II, France had earned the final victory in the end). Italy's time in the war does seem strange as she turned on her allies and tried to defeat them, only to lose for the most part. Then, the Centrals attack and send Italy running, which makes one think Italy lost this one, but the Italians did hold out on the Piave Line and their final battle was a victory (even if the troubles of post-war times led to Fascism). For Russia, Germany, and Austria, the war was marked with defeat, the dissolution of their empires, and chaotic aftermaths. As the Russian reader knows, the hardships of war kicked off the revolution, which led to the Communist take over and the rise of the Soviet Union. For Germany, the defeat also meant hardship and anger as she was blamed for it, and it would plant the seeds for the Nazis taking over. This doesn't mean nothing good can be said for them all, considering how the Germans were defending their home at the start and Russians defended theirs later on. And I also admire the determination of the Austro-Hungarian Army at Przemysl, where they withheld a siege for 133 days.
The war wasn't confined to Europe. The Middle East was involved, also, where the Ottoman Empire made its last stand. During the period Turkey was fighting, the tragedy known as the Armenian Genocide occurred, while the Anglo-Egyptian Army enter Jerusalem, something no Englishman had done since the Crusades, and the British-Indian Army went into Mesopotamia (which meant such places my generation know like Basra, Baghdad, and Karbala were fought over then), and one British soldier helped an Arab revolt. In the end, Turkey became a republic and maintained her sovereignty while her southern neighbors were occupied by the British and the French. The war was also fought in Africa, where even African soldiers fought each other and one German Army present surrender undefeated in the end. Asia saw Japan grab off the German settlement in China as well as the islands she would later fight the US in in World War II. In the Americas, the war was largely naval battles fought away without any engagements on either continent. So, that explains why it was a world war.
For the United States, World War I was what ended the tradition of focusing on our home waters. Before, the US was satisfied with staying out of international affairs, with a few exceptions. World War I changed it; it meant the US would be involved with world affairs besides the Western Hemisphere, and World War II would later consummate that, making it possible for the US to assume the role as the world police. And all the US did in the war was minimum compared to everyone else and we arrived late in the war.
One thing World War I did was it ended the romantic notion of war. There was a growing movement prior to it that was seen by many who felt that wars are too horrible to use in solving problems. It really took the Great War to really make it official, since there was no way to hide the trenches and the basket cases. Indeed, it is a fact that war was what halted Fascism and Imperialism and Communism in the past; it is a fact that it took a war in Southeast Asia to make US society, indeed all the Western Civilization, to change itself for the better or for worse; it is a fact that through war Saddam Hussein was twice defeated and Kuwaitis and Iraqis were free of his tyranny; it is a fact that war was the only way to stop ISIS and the Taliban; and it is a fact that without war humanity would never have evolved to its current state. But there is another side to this: it's something that General Sherman pointed out once.
"War is cruelty, no use refining it," he said. He made it cruel enough that the Confederates were willing to surrender, and to some if we have plenty of Shermans around, it can make any wars that happen now be done with quicker. At the same time, wars also breed more evils while destroying one form of evil. Think of how the Twentieth Century would have been if World War I had ended sooner, or never happened. We have to think of the grieving widows that are spawned of wars, or the orphans, and we must think that in many religions there are those who pray that war would never happen in their lives. We have to think of the young men we send to the slaughter or leave maimed, or mentally scared for life when we start wars. Never mind if the earth is over populated, especially since it would take an apocalyptic sort of war to reduce it greatly and that would mean hardships for the survivors.
For that reason, most of us see that view of the peace feelers in 1918 and wonder at the naivety. Then again, who is to say someone a century from now would think the same of our current society. Since another war happened, the day we set aside to remember the Armistice is made Veteran's Day. In the past, the United States had Memorial Day (once called Decoration Day) as a way to give honor to servicemen. This was a product of the Civil War. After World War II, which with the First World War gave us two generations of veterans, we had a holiday set up for the living while Memorial Day leans more to the dead.
So, what are we to learn from this. Basically, to avoid counting our chickens before they hatched. In order to have peace, we would have to avoid making the same mistakes as before and not make additional antagonisms. Those vets from 1918, they saw that lesson learned even as they grew old and then ancient, even as they became shadowed by their sons who fought in World War II, and grandsons in some armed conflict of the late century (for the US, the Vietnam Conflict). So, in honor of those men who fell in the Great War, whatever nationality they may be, and for those who saw the end and have it lived it through, even to the last ones left alive, let us all take a moment to pause and make peace with the past. May they all rest in peace.
"Blessed are the peacekeepers for they will be called children of God."
Matthew. 5:9.
