Posted on 12/20/2014 8:40:23 AM PST by NKP_Vet
Yesterday, June 28, 2014, marked the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Assassin Gavrilo Princip fired the first shot in what was to become a horrific years-long bloodbath. However, after the sound of gunfire was silenced on Armistice Day, the deaths continued to mount. Revolutions spawned in Russia and Germany, arbitrary redrawing of national borders set the stage for decades of conflict, harsh reparation demands inspired the rise of Nazi Germany and the onset of World War II. The first World War continues to kill to this day - just this past March, two Belgian construction workers were killed when they encountered an unexploded shell buried for a century. Bomb disposal units in France and Belgium dispose of tons of discovered shells every year. Though the events of World War I have now fallen out of living memory, the remnants remain -- scarred landscapes, thousands of memorials, artifacts preserved in museums, photographs, and the stories passed down through the years -- stories of such tremendous loss. On this 100-year anniversary, I've gathered photographs of the Great War from dozens of collections, some digitized for the first time, to try to tell the story of the conflict, those caught up in it, and how much it affected the world. To
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
The French 8th Colonial Regiment saw action against Germany. Only reason I know about this was as a former boxing fan. One Louis Fall, born St Louis, Senegal was decorated as a war hero. He won a world title as "Battling Siki". He met a violet death in "Hells Kitchen" New York in his twenties.
Take a look at the size of that crater. A mine? Can TNT make a crater that large?
Thx. Had heard there were Africans on French side, not seen the pix.
No, I’m afraid I don’t share your confidence. People are obvioulsy a product of their culture and their times, so I’m hardly condemning individuals. And it has more to do perhaps with worldview than grit. American culture has now cultivated generations that cower before PC dictates, wallow in moral relativism, and have an “entitlement” sensibility towards everything. That’s where I see weakness and decline. Would these things be quickly tossed off if dire circumstances arose?
I once had faith they would be, but the last few years have been teaching me otherwise. I see people letting Obama get away with his lawlessness, I see the GOP unwilling to fight on anything, I see open-borders, I see homo-fascists going after bakers and wedding photographers with little to no pushback. It’s endless. I just see no proof anymore that America has any kind of spine.
I agree with you, Yardstick...We shouldn’t forget the Vietnam veterans are made up of Boomers...
Today...Just takes a few minutes talking with a young Marine returning from Afghanistan...
The grit is still there...
http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/?p=8063#more-8063
Great book.
It was truly a world war. Russian and Indian troops and Chinese laborers also came to the Western Front. Vietnam provided troops and laborers for the French. German propagandists played up the racial angle connected to the French use of African troops — even after the war.
I think you’re dead wrong, but we’ll see I guess. The future isn’t predetermined. It’s ours if we work for it, but all bets are off if we don’t.
I don’t see how a gloom and doom mindset is of any help going forward.
My Grandfather was with the Canadian Black Watch at Ypres and was gassed in 1915.
yes
What’s more is that each ossuary at Verdun has a window allowing you to see the stacks of bones inside.
Sounds like you were a military dependent in the 50’s. Same here, my dad was stationed at Poitiers from 58-61.
That would be me. An Army brat. Spent five years in Stuttgart, Germany and three in Orleans, France.
It is, isn’t it.
Those photos were most likely shot with Lumiere Autochrome, which had been arond since 1907.
The entire 10 part series in The Atlantic on WW1 is here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/wwi/
Fascinating photographs on a various of aspects of the Great War.
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