The Great War

From the 28 of July, 1914 to the 11th of November 1918, the world was at war. What started as an assassination became a battle between world powers and redrew the map of Europe.

Two armies that fight each other is like one large army that commits suicide. 

French soldier Henri Barbusse, in his novel "Le Feu", 1915

100 years have passed since war was declared and losses were huge: The total number of casualties in World War I, both military and civilian, was about 37 million: 16 million deaths and 20 million wounded. The total number of deaths includes nearly 10 million military personnel and nearly 7  million civilians. The number of Irish deaths in the British Army recorded by the registrar general was 27,405, according to wikipedia
 
My grandfather's brother John was one of them. he was killed in Northern France.

The First World War killed fewer victims than the Second World War, destroyed fewer buildings, and uprooted millions instead of tens of millions - but in many ways it left even deeper scars both on the mind and on the map of Europe. The old world never recovered from the shock. 

Edmond Taylor, in "The Fossil Monarchies"

The war was over- Hard fought for peace arrived, but at huge cost. The landscape of Europe was forever transformed. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire ceased to exist. New countries had borders decided on in a haphazard manner and stability was lost:

The old empires had provided a degree of stability, so many had trouble adjusting to life under a different rule, says Margaret MacMillan, professor of international history at Oxford University.

“Suddenly people throughout the Middle East and the center of Europe found themselves living in a world where they didn't know what country they belonged to; it wasn't quite clear what the borders of those countries would be; a whole lot of small wars were breaking out between different national movements trying to grab territory, and so it was in fact a very difficult time for people," said MacMillan.

The Great Depression rocked the world as it tried to recover.

Yesterday I visited the battlefield of last year. The place was scarcely recognisable. Instead of a wilderness of ground torn up by shell, the ground was a garden of wild flowers and tall grasses. Most remarkable of all was the appearance of many thousands of white butterflies which fluttered around. It was as if the souls of the dead soldiers had come to haunt the spot where so many fell. It was eerie to see them. And the silence! It was so still that I could almost hear the beat of the butterflies' wings. 

A British officer, 1919 

And before too long, these nations battled again across Europe. Inevitable? Some think the punishment of the Versailles Treaty made it possible for the Nazi Party to rise, making the Great War into World War I, by bringing on World War II.

The Second World War took place not so much because no one won the First, but because the Versailles Treaty did not acknowledge this truth. 

Historian Paul Johnson, 1972

I wonder what all those men and women would think of the European Union and the state of the world today. Do we make them proud or do they weep for all that was sacrificed to get us to this point.