Today, 100 years ago, the war to end all wars ended with the signature of the armistice in Compiègne on the 11th of November at 5:00 AM.
A horryfying war, which kickstarted the slow process of "de-monarchization" of the continent, the rise of Valkist Communism and the end of German hegemony in Central Europe. We look back at it as a lesson for us, Europeans. This continent was ravaged by many wars, but in our times, we got a taste of long-lasting peace in Europe, which we all enjoy.
Now, from our dedicated local historian @IlluminatiRex , who has a few words to add to this:
"My field of study is the First World War and one of the most fascinating things to me is how popular views of the war (along with the historiography) have evolved and changed over time. While this will primarily reference the United Kingdom, much of what I say is applicable to other nations in Europe (especially in regards to new research)."
A common misconception is that the First World War was not truly a World War. This could not be farther from the truth. There is not a continent on the Earth that was not effected in some major way. From the 140,000 Chinese Laborers, countless Colonial African soldiers, millions of Americans and Canadians, hundreds of thousands of Australians, the African countryside and population that was decimated for years to come by Von Lettow-Vorbeck's campaign (hundreds of thousands of native Africans died during and after his campaign), and many, many more perspectives. While not as big in scale as World War Two - it was still a global conflict.
The war had a lasting effect on public consciousness throughout Europe. Many views shared by academics and pundits in the 1960s (and some of these views originated in the 1930s!) are still held by the population at large. These views were formed in the face of the Cold War and the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. Poets such as Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen were essentially canonized, and pieces of media such as Joan Littlewood’s stage musical (and later film) Oh! What a Lovely War helped cement a specific image of the war into the public’s consciousness. That view is usually “Mud, blood, stupid generals, and futility”. This of course does not even look at other debates within other parts of the historiography, primarily the debate over how the war started (one of the most important books on that subject, even though most of its thesis is no longer widely held to be true, is Fritz Fischer’s Griff nach der Weltmacht: Die Kriegzielpolitik des kaiserlichen Deutschland 1914–1918, or Germany’s Aims in the First World War published originally in this same period - 1961).
However, since the 1980s there has been much new research examining these beliefs about the war itself. In many cases the research has not lined up with what was once thought before. Historians are no longer asking if the armies of all nations were “Lions led by Donkeys”, but are rather asking more nuanced and fruitful questions such as: “how steep was the British Army’s learning curve between 1914-18?” or “How did the Entente powers attempt to coalesce their strategies to face the realities of a coalition war?” or “Did Erich Falkenhayn actually intend for an attrition strategy at Verdun, or was that post-war posturing in an attempt to save his reputation?”.
These questions have given rise to a much more balanced view of World War One where one nation is no longer viewed in isolation, but rather as acting as a part of a much larger whole. As well, generals are not held up as a single class of stupid men, nor are the soldierly held as a single class of innocent victims. Rather, a variety of perspectives and ideas has been revealed by historians, and that it is very difficult to apply one message or meaning to the whole of any military or nation that participated in the First World War. This research has also led to work on understanding class, racial, and national differences in all aspects of the war: from war enthusiasm to actual combat experience. Researchers are also much more willing to dive into the perspectives of minorities and colonial soldiers who had often been ignored.
This research has proven to be fruitful, and yet not without its detractors. For example, in 2014, when the popular Television historian Dan Snow published an article relating to 10 “myths” surrounding the war (https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25776836), he received hate mail for it. Many people still base their views on films such as Warhorse and novels such as All Quiet on the Western Front. Oftentimes people react negatively when what they remember from school or Blackadder doesn’t line up with the newer research. Many often feel a personal connection to the war and what they were taught about it. Dr. Stephen Badsey for example notes a “lazy use of we” when discussing the actions of nations during World War One.
Historians still have a long way to go before their research is accepted by a wider audience, but many people have become interested in the war during the Centenary and have begun their own research. This research is done out of the utmost respect for those that lost their lives, in an attempt to truly understand what their culture and lives were like. Lest we forget.
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/137/0224b5fd-f6ac-47f9-b6c3-1b574619a06e/20c47e6546ac9fc2061adf530a19c504.png
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/137/482fad1e-7e4d-498e-bb19-335c342d844e/WWOne02.gif
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/137/90ae1515-a463-4b62-abf0-79efa092268f/postwar_europe.png
Not quite. We have 11 hours.
great uncle fought in gallipoli as a medic. got the military cross for saving a dude's life, and later on became a water engineer who created the Murnane reservoir in singapore, was forced on a death march by the Japanese army and eventually died in the 1950s.
Captain David Joseph MURNANE Royal Engineers. | The National Arc..
It's been a long four years, and it's been interesting to see how the commemorations have occurred. From the touching and somber "Remember Us" for the First Day of the Somme in the UK (where actors and reenactors stood silently at train stations etc... and handed out cards with the name of someone who died that day) to the absolutely odd ceremonies at Verdun in 2016. The centenary also saw the release of the first AAA FPS set in WWI: Battlefield 1, helping to shift the war's usual media prescence (I remember debating with someone on Facepunch when rumors first leaked in like Febuary 2016 that it was going to be WWI. I was adamant it would work, and I was right!) It's smashing success actually got a lot of people interested in the war. At the same time, we also had pop historians such as The Great War on YouTube educating people (even if sometimes they got stuff wrong) as well as a plethroa of new books and studies that have looked at the war from all angles. New memoirs and diaries have been translated to English or published for the first time. I've been able to do original research on Allied submarines in the war.
A monumental war, with monumental consequences that has been remembered in many different ways over the past four years.
My great grandpa never made it to battle because the war ended while he was on the way to Europe. I'm told he liked to joke "The Germans surrendered because they heard I was coming." Or other variations of the same thing.
The tactics in use in 1914 were more Franco-Prussian war based than anything
The charges never really died out, and cavalry took on other roles as well. The BEF for example went into WWI with their cavalry doctrine being one of Mounted Infantry. Use their horses to get place to place quickly, while being able to dismount and hold a position. That's not to say they didn't charge ever during the war, because they did quite successfully through 1918. A notable example being the Secunderabad Brigade at High Wood on July 14th, 1916 where they were supported by their divisional Machine-Guns and Artillery. Cavalry was also super important for reconaissance. While the Airplane was useful in that regard, it wasn't perfect and the cavalry had to fill the gap (especially since the Internal-Combustion Engine was not yet sophisticated enough, or armored cars available enough, to fill a reconnaissance role).
good post though <3
And as much as I do love The Great War (they've done a lot of good spreading information about the war), they can be kind of spotty with accuracy sometimes. Not often, but it's usually some outdated information - like on the usage of bayonets (which was more widespread than pop-culture usually gives it credit for). Still, they're a good series and get progressively better as they went on - especially since they started diversifying sources ~1916-1917ish.
Crimean War was actually 1853-56 with France, the United Kingdom, and the Ottomans (and a couple others) facing off against the Russians. The Franco-Prussian War was 1870-71, with the French facing off against the Prussians. Infantry tactics had evolved in that period, especially following the U.S. Civil War, there was a move away from line tactics towards skirmishing tactics.
Crimean War is one of those wars not often talked about so no worries haha.
One has to wonder how would the world be today had the other side won WW1.
https://youtu.be/6aRWhuA8DRI
This was taken this past weekend at the annual Fall Great War Association Tactical Reenactment in Pennsylvania. I was supposed to be there and would have been in this column, but alas I had car troubles.
These are all representations of the almost the entire British Empire - from the British Isles, to Canada and Australia.
I hope we will not face another world war in my lifetime. If there is, I do wish it is quick and that it will be less brutal than the previous one.
World War 1 is such a fascinating war.
So many of my ancestors fought for the British during the Great War. One great uncle was injured by some form of gas that effectively destroyed his left lung, another was shot twice, my great grandfather was also involved but I'm not exactly sure on the specifics. It was sadly a war that left the foundations for the next... The one which my recently deceased grandfather fought in as a combat medic in the paragliders. A man who forged his documents at the age of 14, just so he could go along with his brother, who'd he later be forced to ID.
RIP too all lost in WW1, and the wars that came after. I'll proudly observe the moment of silence in remembrance.
Ever since 2014 (and with the start of the Great War youtube channel) WW1 has been my primary interest in historical study. I'd always been interested in it too because my great grandfather fought in it under the Americans (he also was apart of the hunt for Pancho Villa). He survived a mustard gas attack from the Germans, which is kind of ironic since he was polish and would've been born in what was then Germany.
My grandad, a Sgt. of the Manchester Regiment, survived the war intact, certainly long enough to send this photo to my grandmother with a very rude poem dated 1919.
Or at least, I found it with a poem dated 1919, i'm not confident enough to say 100% wether this photo is WW1 or 2 era. Any historians in the room feel free to clarify.
https://i.postimg.cc/Cxy0rnvg/granda.png
(I'd quote the poem but I'm sure I'd have the rozzers breaking my door down before breakfast)
My family tries not to speak about it, but several of my great-relatives fell in WWI, and several more went in WWII and never came home, along with a handful in the Blitz. Because some of their addresses straight up no longer exist it's hard to track exactly who with my last name is a direct descendant. My local authority sucks at record-keeping. Suffice to say everyone with that name who fell today will be in my memory, relative or not.
To put the war into perspective, the British took more casualties in one battle than the United States lost during the entire Vietnam War.
For us, this is THE war, and WW2 is part 2, the footnote.
What seem to be boots with gaiters and the large pocket on the trousers’ left leg indicate that it’s a WW2-era photo. The WWI British uniform did not have those features.
Also important to remember that even if this aweful war ended 100 years ago, there was a still a lot of horrible consequences going on from it like the turmoils in germany and eastern europe still being ravaged by the mess that was the russian civil war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkKEynoTwp8
To the millions of people who never made it home again, Rest in Peace, knowing that ultimately their piece of the earth is still there.
https://youtu.be/vH3-Gt7mgyM
(Always liked this clip)
When we were cleaning out my grandfather's desk a few years ago I found some paperwork on one of my ancestors.
I think he'd be my great great uncle on my grandfather's side but he fought at Verdun and was wounded in the butt by shrapnel. There's nobody really left alive from my grandfather's family though so I don't know what happened to him afterwards though.
Depends on how you define "battle" in regards to World War One. As "battles" lasted months and had quieter periods broached with new phases.
The Somme, which is what I figure you're referencing, lasted from July 1st, 1916 (which started "The Battle of Albert" until July 14th) until the Battle of the Ancre (which ended on November 18th). While July 1st did have an astronomical amount of casualties - with 38,320 wounded and 19,420 dead, it is not representative of usual casualty rates. Not every day was the first day of the Somme - those numbers were extraordinary. The U.S. otherwise had ~58,000 deaths in Vietnam with 304,000 wounded.
So if you were to take the whole of the operation - from July 1st to November 18th, you wouldn't be wrong (tbh it's not the most useful comparison, very different kinds of wars against very different opponents), but if you were to take July 1st in isolation you be wrong (people often conflate the whole battle to July 1st).
as much as I love Blackadder, it's fourth season has been a travesty. A lot of people sadly take it as truth and fact, when in reality it's a comedy show - it's far from accurate in any sense and most of its jokes are based on the myths that have been busted over the past 30-40 years. But a touching scene none the less.
It's surreal to think my French bayonet is over century year old
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa1ALtQqrVs&t=19s
The great war just released their episode on the week of the armistice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWHbF5jGJY0
One of my great-great-grandfather fought at Verdun and was made prisoner there, he spent the rest of the war in a German PoW camp.
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/211575/f12d3c50-a844-4d29-8339-650f0b1c3b6b/IMG_20181111_140940.jpg
Here he is in the fifties with his wife, having survived two world wars:
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/211575/012e2f40-e286-46f7-85e8-8625bd27f789/IMG_20181111_141027.jpg
Don't know much about the rest of the family, though. Great-grandfather on my mother's side was notoriously stern with his kids and refused to discuss anything about what happened during WW2, let alone WW1.
It's a WW2 photo, that is the Battledress uniform that was introduced in the mid-30's.
I know from a headstone at the cemetery I had a great-great uncle serve as a Sgt in the army around the time of the first world War but I have no idea if he was in the AEF or not.
Great grandad died slowly from mustard gas injuries in the months after the war.
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