World War One - Targeting Empire by Louis Evan Palmer
The Bid To
Counter &
Destroy
European
Empire
At the beginning of World War One, Europe had a Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and German Empire. At the end, none of them remained. The British Empire, the "winner" of this bloody game was seriously wounded and would begin its own descent but, at that moment of Triumph, on November 11, 1918, it appeared that they were supreme.
That's how it looked at the highest level, Britain countering European pressures and attacking their weaknesses, and after much to-ing and fro-ing and lying and killing, emerging victorious. The price, however, was so high that it soured the Brits, and everyone else, on war as a solution to anything - for a few years.
The desire for vengeance by Britain & France who had as much as anyone sought the conflict was hypocritical and ferocious. The British blockade of Germany was continued for many months after the war had ended with the result that many thousands of Germans starved or died of diseases brought on by malnutrition. The Treaty of Versailles extracted heavy penalties and reparations and ensured that resentment would fester in the subjugated countries for decades even if much of the money and goods demanded by the Treaty was not paid in full.
The helplessness of the masses was exposed yet again as the machinations of a few in the elite dragged the rest of society into the dreadful maw of war. Who could stand up to that Juggernaut of violence and its lashing armies and police?
Politicians, so-called statesmen, and generals vied with one other as to their mettle, their willingness to shed other men's blood or to massacre innocents, to risk damnation in the tribunals of the afterlife. This was one reason that the victors had so few left to cheer in the parades - their great men had sent them all to die in the deep unforgiving mud of Europe.
But again, look at the highest level, at the before and after to see the motivation for these crimes of nations battling. The British Empire triumphed, the American Empire drank at the European trough, the rivers and seacoasts absorbed the blood that paid for their conquests and dominion. That was the primal reason for it - pure and simple.
World War One - Trageting Empire, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com
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Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications.
That's how it looked at the highest level, Britain countering European pressures and attacking their weaknesses, and after much to-ing and fro-ing and lying and killing, emerging victorious. The price, however, was so high that it soured the Brits, and everyone else, on war as a solution to anything - for a few years.
The desire for vengeance by Britain & France who had as much as anyone sought the conflict was hypocritical and ferocious. The British blockade of Germany was continued for many months after the war had ended with the result that many thousands of Germans starved or died of diseases brought on by malnutrition. The Treaty of Versailles extracted heavy penalties and reparations and ensured that resentment would fester in the subjugated countries for decades even if much of the money and goods demanded by the Treaty was not paid in full.
The helplessness of the masses was exposed yet again as the machinations of a few in the elite dragged the rest of society into the dreadful maw of war. Who could stand up to that Juggernaut of violence and its lashing armies and police?
Politicians, so-called statesmen, and generals vied with one other as to their mettle, their willingness to shed other men's blood or to massacre innocents, to risk damnation in the tribunals of the afterlife. This was one reason that the victors had so few left to cheer in the parades - their great men had sent them all to die in the deep unforgiving mud of Europe.
But again, look at the highest level, at the before and after to see the motivation for these crimes of nations battling. The British Empire triumphed, the American Empire drank at the European trough, the rivers and seacoasts absorbed the blood that paid for their conquests and dominion. That was the primal reason for it - pure and simple.
World War One - Trageting Empire, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications.
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