On Friday I did a special program. I discussed my adventures working on a World War One battlefield archaeology dig. I'd asked that it be scheduled as close as possible to 11 am, November 11th. That of course was the exact moment that the Great War ended. Literally at the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month.
It was a good sized audience and I had a lot to say. Of course the light hearted and the somber got inter twined. If you followed my real time reports from the site back in May and June you will recall much that was frankly surreal. I surprised myself a bit towards the end. Describing the human cost of the war, the husbands, sons and sweethearts thrown away so pointlessly, I actually choked up a bit. I've done enough public speaking to know a few tricks to get around this sort of situation, and its a good thing I did.
I talked a bit at the end about how The Great War changed the world, Western Civilization in particular.
Prior to 1914 life made sense. You probably had faith in your King or Kaiser. Science was making remarkable discoveries which promised better and easier lives. Above it all you probably believed in a benevolent God who, lets face it, looked upon your Nation with just a little extra benevolence.
Fast forward to 1918.
Half of the Great Powers no longer existed in their old forms. Russia had collapsed into savagery and civil war. Germany, Austro-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire all had lost their monarchies and a lot of their territory. The new map of the world was criss crossed with new artificial borders many of which people are to this very day fighting and dying over. Even those countries that "won" the war were weakened, their leadership demonstrably flawed.
So what was left to believe in? Science? It had proven equally adept at new ways to kill people. High explosives dropped from overhead. Poison gas to choke your fellow man as if you were fumigating rats in their burrows.
God? To those who survived it seemed as if, in this man made Hell on Earth, the Wicked and the Virtuous suffered alike. And frankly, if everyone ends up in Hell anyway can there even be a God? The magnificent empty churches of Europe are another lasting scar of the war.
Hopefully we have learned a few things. Although it can go too far a degree of skepticism is warranted when the brass bands play and the recruiting posters call one and all to the colors. And we are in some ways less divided than in times past. When digging Hill 80 I was standing amidst the wreckage of Europe that came to pass when alliances involving dozens of nations drew their swords. But a century later we had volunteers from 38 countries coming together to instead draw trowels and shovels. And for the better cause of learning and for the still better one of giving 128 lost soldiers dignified resting places among their fallen comrades instead of lying alone or in groups in the stark mud of shell holes and mass graves.
Well done, well said. Great post.
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