It’s all quiet on the western front

Totally agree, as that is a masterpiece! Its worth watching the forgotten voices, as that gives a true account from the people that were there. I don't know how that generation survived after the great war, given what we have seen from more recent conflicts. A visit to the battlefields of Flanders really brings it home, and every time I visit it makes me reflect just that little bit more.
Me too. It's a special place. Quiet corners to contemplate what happened. I'm heading back this spring.
 
The first 6 months of WW1 seemed like a game to a lot of young men, others had a lot of social pressure put on them to go and do their bit (white feathers from young women etc). British Propaganda was the cleverest in the World for influencing the public to do their bit and hate the Hun. Everything was controlled in war time. I remember Rudyard Kipling was on a WW1 committee that decided if information about casualities should be made public in 1915 as the number were starting to increase, most members wanted the figures to be censored, but Kipling said tell the truth.

The British solders were not allowed to take photos and film. Often official photoage of action was usually recreations. Solders were encouraged to keep the horrors to themselves even after the war. The numbers of British dead rose as the war progressed. I think 1918 had the highest casualities which made it a bit easier for recruitment. Still by mid 1916 young men were forced to fight. Very few realised in 1914 what a mass war in an industrial age would produce, with developments in machine guns, poison gas, tanks, advanced quick firing artillery, flame throwers etc

In Germany "All Quiet" was banned in book and film format after the Nazis came to power. Defeat in WW1 for Germany was blamed on striking trade unionists, profiteering Jewish Businessman, Far Left German Politicians, cruel food blockades by the Royal Navy, by the Nazis. No mention to running out of troops.

As far as I know wars are always started by politicians and there arer always some that learn little from the past see Blair in Iraq and Afganistan.
 
The cenotaph says to the glorious dead… but it’s always been glorified up until the time it was pumped direct into our living rooms on tv seeing how ‘glorious’ those dead looked all twisted and broken 😞

I certainly don’t celebrate Remembrance Day (I do reflect though) and agree some people love the one upmanship almost as much as they do with their Xmas lights…

My military friends plaster their FB with loads and loads of memes and poppy images as if saying they remember more than the rest of of us..

Don’t get me started on poppy fascists and ‘it’s not racist’ types..😡
I totally agree with you, as sending humans off to war to kill fellow humans is such a stupid act. Ok, I totally get the stand up and fight for what you feel is right, but the world wars as we know now could have been avoided not to mention all the other wars, many of which are still on going. Avoiding conflict should always be the aim of every human so that countless lives can be saved and not to mention the incredible suffering on the wounded and the of the connected families. We all should strive for peace, and while we can't also appease waring factions, supporting one side also isn't the right answer either, as it only leads to deeper divides in the long run. Peace to all for 2023.
 
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I still haven't seen this but I've just read it's been nominated for 14 BAFTA awards. The most nominations for a film in a foreign language for over 20 years.
 
Read AQOTWF a few years ago, don't recommend unless you are willing to burden yourself and relive the graphic hopeless pain described. Still a masterpiece, if I had known how graphic it became I would not have picked it up.
Yeah I agree with that. Of every book or film I've read about war it was the most harrowing. Barring threads.
 
It's a harrowing yet brilliant film. I like that it's told from the German perspective and shows that in reality there were no winners. Utter destruction and mass casualties and for what? Humans killing humans in the most brutal way possible.
 
In Germany "All Quiet" was banned in book and film format after the Nazis came to power. Defeat in WW1 for Germany was blamed on striking trade unionists, profiteering Jewish Businessman, Far Left German Politicians, cruel food blockades by the Royal Navy, by the Nazis. No mention to running out of troops.

That's a fundamental mistake. WWI ended in an Armistice. Germany was not defeated. The fighting on the Western Front ended within a few miles of where it had been in 1914. Germany was struggling, and America was pouring in troops and materiel. Germany - running out of food, men, materiel and the will to fight - would have been defeated eventually, but not until late 1919 or later. Another million lives.

Germany should have been credited with agreeing to a ceasefire, not punished by the Versailles Treaty and the duplicitous Allies. Germany didn't start WWI any more than France, Britain or Russia.

By imposing such punitive terms on Germany, the Allies were - in effect - claiming that Germany had been defeated, and that Germany had been responsible for starting the war. Neither was true.

The brooding resentment all this created was fertile ground for extremist politicians, which is what happened.

Incidentally, who else would be responsible for wars but politicians? Politicians run countries.
 
That's a fundamental mistake. WWI ended in an Armistice. Germany was not defeated. The fighting on the Western Front ended within a few miles of where it had been in 1914. Germany was struggling, and America was pouring in troops and materiel. Germany - running out of food, men, materiel and the will to fight - would have been defeated eventually, but not until late 1919 or later. Another million lives.

Germany should have been credited with agreeing to a ceasefire, not punished by the Versailles Treaty and the duplicitous Allies. Germany didn't start WWI any more than France, Britain or Russia.

By imposing such punitive terms on Germany, the Allies were - in effect - claiming that Germany had been defeated, and that Germany had been responsible for starting the war. Neither was true.

The brooding resentment all this created was fertile ground for extremist politicians, which is what happened.

Incidentally, who else would be responsible for wars but politicians? Politicians run countries.
That's really informative Soutra thanks 👍
 
That's a fundamental mistake. WWI ended in an Armistice. Germany was not defeated. The fighting on the Western Front ended within a few miles of where it had been in 1914. Germany was struggling, and America was pouring in troops and materiel. Germany - running out of food, men, materiel and the will to fight - would have been defeated eventually, but not until late 1919 or later. Another million lives.

Germany should have been credited with agreeing to a ceasefire, not punished by the Versailles Treaty and the duplicitous Allies. Germany didn't start WWI any more than France, Britain or Russia.

By imposing such punitive terms on Germany, the Allies were - in effect - claiming that Germany had been defeated, and that Germany had been responsible for starting the war. Neither was true.

The brooding resentment all this created was fertile ground for extremist politicians, which is what happened.

Incidentally, who else would be responsible for wars but politicians? Politicians run countries.
So how did WW1 start if it’s not Germany to blame? I was always under the impression they started both world wars.
Genuine question and apologies for my ignorance.
 
So how did WW1 start if it’s not Germany to blame? I was always under the impression they started both world wars.
Genuine question and apologies for my ignorance.
A myth that Britain likes to tell itself. As Soutra states, Germany was no more to blame for WW1 than Britain, France, Austria-Hungry, or Russia.

An assassination in Serbia, a country part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time was the start of a chain reaction. Serbia wanted independence from Empire and were supported by Russia in this aim. The Austrians blamed Serbian nationalists for the assassination, but mindful of Russian support for Serbia, didn't want to act without their own support. Once Germany said they would support things escalated.

It was all politics and could have been avoided really. Politicians on all sides sent millions of young people to their deaths.
 
That's a fundamental mistake. WWI ended in an Armistice. Germany was not defeated. The fighting on the Western Front ended within a few miles of where it had been in 1914. Germany was struggling, and America was pouring in troops and materiel. Germany - running out of food, men, materiel and the will to fight - would have been defeated eventually, but not until late 1919 or later. Another million lives.

Germany should have been credited with agreeing to a ceasefire, not punished by the Versailles Treaty and the duplicitous Allies. Germany didn't start WWI any more than France, Britain or Russia.

By imposing such punitive terms on Germany, the Allies were - in effect - claiming that Germany had been defeated, and that Germany had been responsible for starting the war. Neither was true.

The brooding resentment all this created was fertile ground for extremist politicians, which is what happened.

Incidentally, who else would be responsible for wars but politicians? Politicians run countries.
Great post Soutra.
 
So how did WW1 start if it’s not Germany to blame? I was always under the impression they started both world wars.
Genuine question and apologies for my ignorance.
In a nutshell, the European powers were allied into two powerful and opposing blocs by military and political treaties. Germany, the Austro Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire on one side (with other allies), and France, Britain, Russia and Italy (and others) on the other. The Ottoman Empire - Turkey, the Balkans and North Africa was starting to creak and break up. All of the other nations named above, and others, were trying to annex bits of the Ottoman Empire to add to their Empires. They all had greedy Imperial ambitions. Prussia, and then Germany as it became had defeated France in a war in 1871 and was growing very powerful. Britain, France, and Russia were all concerned about German expansion. Austria Hungary and Germany were worried about Russia.

So the network of political and military treaties was intended as a deterrent for all the countries - attack us and you are attacking my allies too.

But as Turkey became weaker and weaker, and lost conflicts in the Balkans in the early 20th century, Austria Hungary saw a golden opportunity to snatch bits for its own empire. So it annexed Bosnia Herzegovina, and Bulgaria, and was looking at others too. Serbia was grabbing bits too though, and Austria Hungary began to view them as a threat after Serbia annexed some Adriatic ports. But none of the other powers were prepared to go to war over Serbia, so nothing happened - although things were tense - until Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Bosnia by a Serb. Then Austria Hungary issued an ultimatum (ludicrously harsh) to Serbia. The Serbs couldn't, or wouldn't agree, so Austria Hungary attacked.

Then Russia vowed to defend the Serbs, and declared war on Austria Hungary
Germany - defending its ally, declared war on Russia
France, supporting its ally Russia started mobilising troops
Germany could see itself being outflanked, so declared war on France, and occupied Belgium to knock France out of the war quickly
Britain declared war on Germany, to support France and meet its obligation to maintain Belgian independence

And then everyone was at war.
 
So how did WW1 start if it’s not Germany to blame? I was always under the impression they started both world wars.
Genuine question and apologies for my ignorance.
It started by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. He was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary and was assassinated in Sarajevo.

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Read AQOTWF a few years ago, don't recommend unless you are willing to burden yourself and relive the graphic hopeless pain described. Still a masterpiece, if I had known how graphic it became I would not have picked it up.

I think this came across quite well in the remake. I like to think I have a "sturdy stomach" when it comes to horror and gore but I felt sick at some of the scenes within the film. Truly grim, you couldn't imagine what it must have been like.
 
So how did WW1 start if it’s not Germany to blame? I was always under the impression they started both world wars.
Genuine question and apologies for my ignorance.

There is a documentary on Netflix - The Road To War.

It details how the politics in eastern Europe were rumbling years before Ferdinand was assassinated. It can be a tough watch if you haven't got the attention span but informative nonetheless.
 
There is a very interesting backstory to this film. The ex Scottish triathlete Lesley Patterson bought the rights to the film and wrote an adapted screenplay for this film.

I have just seen that with Oscar nominations about to be announced tips that this will be amongst them.
 
In a nutshell, the European powers were allied into two powerful and opposing blocs by military and political treaties. Germany, the Austro Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire on one side (with other allies), and France, Britain, Russia and Italy (and others) on the other. The Ottoman Empire - Turkey, the Balkans and North Africa was starting to creak and break up. All of the other nations named above, and others, were trying to annex bits of the Ottoman Empire to add to their Empires. They all had greedy Imperial ambitions. Prussia, and then Germany as it became had defeated France in a war in 1871 and was growing very powerful. Britain, France, and Russia were all concerned about German expansion. Austria Hungary and Germany were worried about Russia.

So the network of political and military treaties was intended as a deterrent for all the countries - attack us and you are attacking my allies too.

But as Turkey became weaker and weaker, and lost conflicts in the Balkans in the early 20th century, Austria Hungary saw a golden opportunity to snatch bits for its own empire. So it annexed Bosnia Herzegovina, and Bulgaria, and was looking at others too. Serbia was grabbing bits too though, and Austria Hungary began to view them as a threat after Serbia annexed some Adriatic ports. But none of the other powers were prepared to go to war over Serbia, so nothing happened - although things were tense - until Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Bosnia by a Serb. Then Austria Hungary issued an ultimatum (ludicrously harsh) to Serbia. The Serbs couldn't, or wouldn't agree, so Austria Hungary attacked.

Then Russia vowed to defend the Serbs, and declared war on Austria Hungary
Germany - defending its ally, declared war on Russia
France, supporting its ally Russia started mobilising troops
Germany could see itself being outflanked, so declared war on France, and occupied Belgium to knock France out of the war quickly
Britain declared war on Germany, to support France and meet its obligation to maintain Belgian independence

And then everyone was at war.

Thank You for this - causes of war are easily manipulated and the media takes the story to the masses.
Over time, we ponder those who have been lost and our emotions go from utter desperate sadness to glorification.
At the far end of the emotional scale you get enthusiasm for resolving conflicts by fighting.

It was an early example (and there were others before this) where so called leaders were happy to use their citizens (usually poor and ill informed) as collateral damage.

Politicians remain at the top of their game driving hatred in society to ensure they stay in power.
 
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