It was H.G. Wells who first coined the phrase 'the war to end war' in his 1914 book of the same title. It seem unlikely that anyone but the most naïve optimist could possibly believe that any conflict, no matter how destructive, or supposedly cathartic, would somehow be the catalyst for an end to all wars forever more. Had Mr Wells not been so famous, the phrase (which later morphed into 'the war to end all wars') would probably have been quietly laid to rest.
Instead, The Great War, whose end we commemorate today, became bitter tinder for future conflicts right down to the present day. Germany was effectively denied the chance to become a functioning, prosperous democracy as a result of the short-sighted harshness of the Treaty of Versailles. The seeds for the growth of authoritarian rule were planted in 1919. The fall of The Ottoman Empire created the conditions for the Middle East conflicts we still see today, and in fact at this very moment. The defeat of Tsarist Russia ushered in the abysmal experiment that was the Soviet Union and we live with those consequences too. I could go on.
That in no way nullifies the importance of Remembrance Day. No matter what the folly or how we might wring our hands at the benightedness of the human condition, reflection upon this awful war should lead us to be grateful for those who died. It might also lead us to action to head off future conflicts, by whatever means at our disposal, to speak out against the beating of the drums and the shouting of slogans, to read aloud again the diaries and poems of the men who served as a warning.
Wilfred Owen's 'Strange Meeting', where soldiers from opposing sides 'meet' in death, ends,
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