Just over a hundred years ago, the armies of the
World’s Great powers were arrayed against each other to do battle in what was
latter called ‘the great war’ or The First World War--- The War to end all Wars!
Enticed
by a rise in industrialization, the race for sophisticated armament of the day
and the penchant for global influence in colonial empires amongst the great
powers (Germany, Great Britain, France, Russia and Austria-Hungary); the conflict was sparked by the assassination
of Austrian Crown Prince Arch Duke Franz
Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28th June 1914, thus igniting the gun
powder in the Balkan Peninsula that ultimately conflagrated Europe and the
wider World in a gruesome conflict otherwise called the first World War.
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| Arrival of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo (28th June 1914) |
"Our ghosts will wander through Vienna,
stroll around the palaces and scare the masters."….. anonymous Serbian
writ
It indeed happened that
the World Powers lined themselves in series of infectious alliances that
obliged them to go to war even when their respective countries were not
directly under attack. And so after the June assassination, and a diplomatic
moribund July, War was contiguously declared from the first day of August as Germany
declared war On Russia, and on France by 3rd August. Great Britain
declared war against Germany on August 4 as Austria-Hungary declared war
against Russia on August 5; Serbia against Germany on August 6; Montenegro against Austria-Hungary on August 7 and against Germany
on August 12; France and Great Britain against Austria-Hungary on August 10 and
on August 12, respectively; Japan against Germany on August 23; Austria-Hungary against
Japan on August 25 and against Belgium on August 28.
 |
| A live relic of an helmet on a WW1 battle feild Source:bbcnews.com |
‘The lamps are going out over all
Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.’…….
Edward
Grey (1862 - 1933)
British
statesman.
Although almost all the
belligerent nations were European and the major battle fields were in Europe,
the war transcended from being a European one to a global one as the colonial
powers moved to seize colonial territory from their enemies. As such, Africans
had the War experience as Great Britain fought and seized German colonial territory
in West Africa (Togo and Cameroun), East Africa (Tanzania) and South Africa
(Namibia); whilst a combined British, French and Japanese effort annexed all
German interests in the Far East and South Pacific. With the United States entering
the War on the side of the Allies on 6th April 1917 after 3 years of
conflict, the War truly assumed its status as a ‘World War’— as it had effectively
engaged all the continents.
‘In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place.’….
John McCrae (1872 - 1918)
Canadian poet and physician.
 |
| A reenactment of the march of Gordon Highlanders on the puppy feilds of Belgium Source:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2715756/Showered-million-poppies-Soldiers-stand-huge-red-cloud-symbolise-Great-War-dead-enact-scenes-conflict.html |
From initial skirmishes at Liege
to the serial battles at Mons, Marne,
Ypres,
Somme, Verdun, Gallipoli, Jutland,
Basra, Asiago, Isonzo, Brusilov,
Tannenberg and the Masurian lakes countless souls perished in astonishing
industrial scale.
‘They
shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.’…….
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.’…….
Laurence
Binyon (1869 -
1943)
British
poet and art historian.
In
response to the slaughter of World War I.
Poems for the Fallen, "For the Fallen"
The War finally
came to an end on the 11th hour of 11th November 1918
with the signing of the Armistice
agreement and capitulation of the foremost Central Power belligerent in Germany
not after some indelible marks have been imprinted in history by the effect of
the War; Viz:
1.
Unlike other Wars before this, any conflict between global powers or
their client states will automatically spiral effect in dragging nations across
continents to a multi-faceting conflict whose resultant will surpass the initial
conflicting terms.
2.
With the Use of Chlorine gas by the belligerents, ammunitions will now
be classified as ‘conventional’
and ‘Un conventional’ (Weapons
of Mass Destruction) weapons.
3.
Civilian centres such as Villages, Towns and Cities will now serve as
battle grounds thus effectively negating the notion that wars are to be fought
at some distant fields.
4.
The advent of the bombs, rapid firing machine guns and chemical weapons
meant that thousands of Soldiers could be mowed down in minutes as seen in the battles
of Marne and Ypres. Indeed a Millions of souls could perish in seconds after
these weapons were improved on much later after that war.
5.
Regardless of the Military might
of the belligerent, wars cannot be independently fought without considering
attendant and after effects of conflicting interests and ideologies which will
ultimately engage non-belligerent nations in subtle or active Warfare.
It’s a hundred years spanning ten decades of
historical epochs since the First World War was ignited; however, a century on,
the world still stands a risk of being dragged to a war of contiguous effect as
it was a hundred years ago viz;
1.
Like pre-1914, the World’s powers are now aligned in seeming loose
alliance of East and Western bloc ideology as fronted by Russia and the United
States.
2.
As seen in the Balkans in pre-1914 of a perfected disdain for occupying
forces, the Nations of the Middle East have taken this stance in open disdain
for Western Military presence in their lands. Like 1914, the Middle East is
serving a simmering ‘Balkan effect’ in global politics.
3.
As it was in 1914 when the War was forcefully promulgated upon Africa
due to colonial subjugation; though now independent, African Nations will once
again be dragged into a conflict involving the Great Powers as their territories
will serve as Military bases for these powers. The US already has an ‘African
Command’ AFRICOM
bases in Djibouti as the French Military has a ubiquitous presence in
almost all its former African colonies. China has so far been only economically
present in Africa but one cannot ignore the trade in Chinese and Russian arms
by some African countries. They too might come calling for higher military commitment
in the event of a conflict.
The resultant of
the First World War did not entirely spell doom and gloom for the World as it
ensured:
1.
Nationalistic consciousness in colonized territories. That in a sense
brought about the emergence of all Nation States as seen on today’s maps.
2.
It brought about the awareness for international cooperation and
collaboration amongst the Nations of the World. Though eventually moribund and
toothless in effect, the ‘League of Nations’ formed after the First World War
was a model precursor to the United Nations and its numerous under-agencies
which has in some ways helped mitigate
dire consequences of pertinent global issues.
Like Pre-1914 as
seen today, Nations of the World do not foresee a large scale global conflict
due to:
1.
Economic and social ties and interdependence
2.
Mutually assured destruction due
to the sophistication of modern arms
Nevertheless, we might be fooled into
a state of ‘false global security’ by not taking into account the simmering
events of the Israeli-Arab conflict, the wider Middle East conflict from the
Arab spring, the Ukrainian tensions and pockets of conflicts around Africa—all of
which ironically were creations from the aftermath of the First World War as
seen in:
1.
The Arab
revolt against Ottoman rule in 1916
2.
The Balfour
declaration of 1917 announcing Jewish rights to Palestine
3.
The emergence of a bipolar world with from the Bolshevik
revolution in Russia in 1917
4.
The awakening of Nationalism, creation of borders by colonial powers
with no respect for historical ties and cultures of peoples of the dominated
lands as seen in Africa and the Middle East (The Sykes and Picot
agreement). As such, agitations for a redrawing of National ‘colonial
borders’ could simmer into some sort of global conflict.
‘Six million young men lie in premature graves, and four old men sit in
Paris partitioning the earth.’…
Anonymous
Referral to the Paris Peace Conference
following World War I, attended by the leaders of France, Britain, Italy, and
the United States.
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| The World's big four leaders (US, Great Britain, France and Italy) at the treaty of Versailles in 1919 Source: http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/May-June-08/On-this-Day--Treaty-of-Versailles-Ends-World-War-I.html |
Yes peace was proclaimed in 1918 after the War that
was said to end all Wars and a treaty was signed in
Versailles in 1919. But several wars involving Great powers as a resultant
of their actions and deeds from the aftermath of the First World War has been fought.
There was even a Second World War! And today several global conflicts
threatening to drag numerous Nations to battle looms. Is 2014 not just a
Hundred years back?
‘This is not peace: it is an
armistice for twenty years.’……..
Ferdinand Foch (1851 - 1929)
French soldier, 1919.
Remark at the signing of the Treaty
of Versailles.
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