The year in which we live is unusual, in that it is an important anniversary of two separate wars beginning a long phase which is more like a meat grinder than a human endeavor. In 1864 U.S Grant did what no previous Union general did- get beat by Lee yet keep moving forward. Eventually he trapped Lee at Petersburg, south of Richmond, Virginia. The subsequent trench warfare would be repeated on a much larger scale starting in 1914. Both, to different groups of people, dispelled the idea of military glory and honor. War was dehumanizing, dirty, and the causalities were mostly pointless. Never had so many young men in their prime been sent to their deaths so casually, and without effect.
In a long view of history, it was imperial powers being unable to live with great colonial wealth in peace. The conflict was sparked due to Austro-Hungary’s attempt to keep firm control of the Balkans, and the reason Germany and other powers were so well-prepared to kill one another was the decades of geopolitical chess. Germany wanted to exploit more people abroad but showed up to the world stage with all the choices cuts picked.
To inaugurate the centennial, The Atlantic has posted a whole slew of World War I photos. The one that struck me the most was this one, showing Western Front trench network:
Overall, the Western Front was fought in very nice country. In peacetime this was mostly productive farmland and small towns. People go there for natural beauty, yet by 1918 a vast swath of it looked like a dead moon. What this long-distance shot doesn’t show is that the no man’s land stopped anyone from burying bodies, so instead they just rotted, half buried by shrapnel and shell holes.
Dan Carlin, who did a similar series of podcasts about the Eastern Front of World War II, is presently doing a series about the Great War- Blueprint for Armageddon. Using a lot of diaries from regular soldiers, he captures how much optimism there was in the early going- adventure! Glory! Fun! That turned to terror, fear, and then a dull nihilism, where the threat of execution kept the frontlines from depleting completely. It’s recommended.
Unspoken Politics 