100 years since World War I

[fretless]

[long standing member]

This thread gave me an reason to scan my Grandfather's WWI photos. They were the last of my family's photos that needed scanning for our digital album.
He was an artilleryman in the British Army.

incredible pics!!


I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO grateful that I never had to be in or see war in person. I can't even watch the execution videos from the wars that have happened since the internet gave villians access to world wide viewing.

[Ostinato Rubato]

Amazing photos....


When I think about both world wars what hits me every time is how easily we could be sucked into another one and how knowing this and knowing as much as possible about how and why they happened is the only hope against sliding back into a new wave of dead bodies.

[itchyfingers]

Amazing photos....


When I think about both world wars what hits me every time is how easily we could be sucked into another one and how knowing this and knowing as much as possible about how and why they happened is the only hope against sliding back into a new wave of dead bodies.

Very true. When they ended WWI the common thread was "this can never happen again", then one generation later, WWII.

One of the most interesting themes in Dan Carlin's Blueprint for Armageddon podcasts was how the guys fighting each other were way more similar to each other than the leaders/politicians forcing them to kill each other. The Bolshevik (sp?) revolution in Russia was essentially an output of this realization. I'd like to think in this modern age, the internet would be an important instrument in uniting people of similar class and status regardless of nationality. But then I look at how it has divided everyone in this country alone over the last 3 years...

[GuitarBilly]

I think mutual assured destruction through nuclear power is what keeps the world into going into another WW. Bombing poor countries seems to be the modern choice of warfare.
It's hard to declare war to a country that's guaranteed to wipe you off the face of the earth even if they lose. The whole peace through strength concept seems to be effective. We would have already attacked Russia and China (and vice versa) if it wasn't for the nuclear threat.

[Harvest]

Amazing photos....


When I think about both world wars what hits me every time is how easily we could be sucked into another one and how knowing this and knowing as much as possible about how and why they happened is the only hope against sliding back into a new wave of dead bodies.

Very true. When they ended WWI the common thread was "this can never happen again", then one generation later, WWII.

Maybe to the layperson yes. But to anyone who looked at the terms of the Armistice, they knew it was just a sustained ceasefire.

[Krunchmeister]

Amazing photos....


When I think about both world wars what hits me every time is how easily we could be sucked into another one and how knowing this and knowing as much as possible about how and why they happened is the only hope against sliding back into a new wave of dead bodies.

Very true. When they ended WWI the common thread was "this can never happen again", then one generation later, WWII.

Maybe to the layperson yes. But to anyone who looked at the terms of the Armistice, they knew it was just a sustained ceasefire.

As long as there is a greedy ruling class that can manipulate the masses THERE WILL BE WARS.

[Noah]

Maybe to the layperson yes. But to anyone who looked at the terms of the Armistice, they knew it was just a sustained ceasefire.

Nazi propaganda and Woodrow Wilson fuckery. Germany was beaten, and lucky to get off so easily. They had trashed northern France and Belgium, causing way more damage than they were asked to repay. If anyone had a reason to feel butthurt after the Treaty, it was the French.

[Krunchmeister]

Maybe to the layperson yes. But to anyone who looked at the terms of the Armistice, they knew it was just a sustained ceasefire.

Nazi propaganda and Woodrow Wilson fuckery. Germany was beaten, and lucky to get off so easily. They had trashed northern France and Belgium, causing way more damage than they were asked to repay. If anyone had a reason to feel butthurt after the Treaty, it was the French.

That's just inane -have you read actual history and not just propaganda? The French wanted that german money to repay THEIR OWN DEBT to American banker J.P.Morgan. Morgan bought congress and Wilson to ensure he would not lose money when he bet on the French. Wilson (who ran for re-election on a peace platform)passed the sedition act and threw anyone who spoke against the war into jail. Wilson had the boy-scouts go door to door leaving anti-german propaganda. Still few enlisted so congress passed the draft. The American public didn't want the war but Morgan had to get his due. If morgan had stayed out of it and not loaned to the French the war would've been over in a year and many thousands of lives would've been saved and there would've been no WW2. Everyday the war dragged on Morgan got richer.

[Noah]

Maybe to the layperson yes. But to anyone who looked at the terms of the Armistice, they knew it was just a sustained ceasefire.

Nazi propaganda and Woodrow Wilson fuckery. Germany was beaten, and lucky to get off so easily. They had trashed northern France and Belgium, causing way more damage than they were asked to repay. If anyone had a reason to feel butthurt after the Treaty, it was the French.

That's just inane -have you read actual history and not just propaganda? The French wanted that german money to repay THEIR OWN DEBT to American banker J.P.Morgan. Morgan bought congress and Wilson to ensure he would not lose money when he bet on the French. Wilson (who ran for re-election on a peace platform)passed the sedition act and threw anyone who spoke against the war into jail. Wilson had the boy-scouts go door to door leaving anti-german propaganda. Still few enlisted so congress passed the draft. The American public didn't want the war but Morgan had to get his due. If morgan had stayed out of it and not loaned to the French the war would've been over in a year and many thousands of lives would've been saved and there would've been no WW2. Everyday the war dragged on Morgan got richer.

Interesting. It must be so satisfying to simplify such a complex historical process down to one man.

France was far from beaten in 1915. Fresh off the Miracle of the Marne, with a powerful Russian ally and the British navy, there was no way they would cave. They would at least want to give the blockade some time to work.

Wilson and Congress couldn't tolerate a Germany who thought they could sink our shipping and not face the consequences. USA was a world power and Germany thought they could treat us like were weren't. Nope. I agree the propaganda campaigns on all sides were a little nutso. People had not yet wised up to the power of mass media and how governments can abuse them. The average citizen is still a few steps behind.

The damage in northern France was very real. Most of the French coal production and much heavy industry was located in that region. There was widespread devastation. Meanwhile German industry around the Rhine was untouched. No reparations would have meant an unfair burden on the French for having been unfortunate enough to host the war on their own soil.