It was 100 years ago today, (well, yesterday by now) that probably the stupidest and most pointless war in History broke out. The Austrian Empire declared war on Serbia over the murder of the heir to its throne by a Serbian. Then the Russians, citing treaty ties, declared war on Austria. The Germans had similar alliances with the Austrians, so they declared war on Russia. The British and the French were allies with Russia, and the Ottoman Turks with Germany , and the whole of Europe went to hell in a hand basket. Before it was over (its after affects continue to be hammered out to this day,) Italy, Japan, and the United States were also involved. It was a pointless slaughter caused by nations insisting upon making a point. The Czar of Russia, the Kaiser of Germany, and the King of the British Empire were all first cousins as well. Englands Queen Victoria was Grandmother to all three of them, and they had known one another since childhood, calling each other Nicky and Georgie and Willy. Which makes the entire thing even more bizarrely preposterous. World War I resulted in the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, but only due to England and France drawing lines on a map and dividing the spoils between them. They invented Palestine, Jordan, Kuwait, and other Arab nations on a map. Much of the trouble in that region dates back to this time, and to Muslim resentment of European overlords for a generation or so after the war. The Russian Royal Family was murdered by thugs posing as Communists who were financed by the Germans, and plunged that Empire into an age of nightmares that it has yet to completely awaken from. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissected, and the recent troubles in Bosnia and Kosovo are yet echos of that dissolution continuing to work themselves out. Germany was blamed for the war, (amazingly!) and was severely punished and fined. That Great powerhouse of industry and learning was pushed into depression and despair until a pied-piper promised them self respect once again, and led them to act II and their near total destruction in the following generation. The Japanese were snubbed at the post war conferences, and felt insulted. They recognized European racial prejudice and decided to go it alone in Asia, and to create their own greater sphere of economic interest and control. We know where that led. The after effects of World War I are still being acted out to this day. It is a glaring example of the incompetence of politicians when they think that governing a nation trumps concern for the citizens that inhabit that nation. We, the People are sometimes just cannon-fodder.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 06:48:55 +0000
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