One hundred years ago from 11pm last night, the deadline expired that Britain had set Germany to end its invasion of Belgium and France. And as I saw the news this morning of various cities which had in the darkening evening light celebrated the above act, I thought back to a picture that seems emblematic somehow of the naiveté of the age, of ranks of men raising their hats in cheer in Trafalgar Square. And of course to Edward Greys apposite and prophetic words as dusk fell: The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetimes. To be frank, Ive found the commemorations a little bit alienating. The art has been misjudged, the television programs unmemorable, the newspaper articles a familiar recasting of attitudes of the present in the clothes of the past. The gatherings of the heirs of the British Establishment in our finest churches, and of European leaders standing in line before great memorials, in stately conclave met, seem to me to be a wholly appropriate repetition of the scene of the crime. Commemoration of the war dead, should one wish to make a profound or meaningful connection to these past events, an effort should be made to de-ritualise the commemoration of the war. I am not saying it is wrong to have done this, as it has brought the war to the attention of the populace, but as an historian, I can fortunately say that it is books, and reading, that are the way to do this. The First World War was, and remains, a written war. Very many of the soldiers who fought were the product of the late Victorian education acts, and they wrote home to their families about their experiences; they wrote to their friends about their experiences; they wrote poems, plays and novels about their experiences. Even the official War diaries of Regiments will give an inner insight of what men endued. The true raw and shocking and humbling stuff of the war is already out there. If you are reading this, you are a literate person: so, if you truly want to commemorate the war, dont follow a timetable set for you by some sentimentalising politician or producer but read about it, read, read, read. Read the accounts of the men themselves, read the poems against the simple written words of the men and not a pronounced misleading article , and read the latest history books of the Great War, and not the pacifist books of the thirties to the sixties. Visits to the Cemeteries whether here or Flanders/France also reinforces ones perspective. Above all dont have your thoughts about the war predetermined by me or anyone else. Read, and keep reading You will have a better understanding of the war and be a better person for it.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 10:51:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015