Remembering the Great War

Holywell, Wales, London, England, and Ironbridge, England

The Great War from 1914 to 1918 completely changed world history. At the time, no one thought there would be an even deadlier sequel, so it was still known as World War I. Villages and cities across the European continent saw the war prematurely end the lives of an estimated 15 to 22 million souls. Almost everyone in the United Kingdom knew someone whose hopes and dreams died on a battlefield far from home. With a worldwide Influenza epidemic that occurred at the end of the war, the sheer loss of life affected all communities in the United Kingdom, large and small.

While traveling through Great Britain, I found memorials to people lost, great and small. With London being the capital of the British Empire, there were memorials to large numbers of people who perished, whether they were soldiers, sailors, or civilians.

Smaller towns like Holywell and Ironbridge still lovingly maintain memorials for their lost soldiers from over a hundred years ago. Many young men left home and never returned, and perished in the meat grinder of trench warfare, or were shot down in rudimentary dogfights over the European continent, or drowned in throws of naval battles, many times attacked by a submarine with no warning that their ship was under attack or sinking.

On November 11 at 11:11:11 AM in 1918, an armistice was signed to end this horrible war that impacted so many homes and families worldwide. There was no definitive conclusion except sadness and the loss of life and innocence, as the world experienced much greater bloodshed only twenty years later.

Why the Great War was fought is still debatable. Many countries ceased to exist after the conflict, such as the Russian Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. Germany’s economy crashed, leading to a strongman taking control who promised to “Make Germany Great Again.” The greatness and rebirth he promised only lead to more deaths, a split Germany, and a world that is still dealing with the unresolved consequences of the World War that he started. Other nations learned the wrong lessons from The Great War, which eventually crashed the world’s economy and created an environment ripe for paranoia and hysteria that bred divisiveness and hatred for fellow humans.

When I have come across World War I memorials in my travels, I am reminded that the people who suffered the most are not those who fought on the front lines and whose lives were ended early, but the people who were left behind to pick up the pieces. The people who, over a hundred years later, still place wreaths of red poppies on memorials for the lives that were prematurely ended. Fathers and mothers had to deal with the unfathomable death of their sons on an unknown battlefield that became emblazoned in their memory for the rest of their lives. Sisters and brothers lost their siblings, and their children never got to know the uncles who could have helped teach them and guide them through their lives. Girlfriends, fiancés, and wives sent their lives to a foreign land, never to return. The soldiers who survived lost their friends and colleagues, along with possibly their limbs and their peace of mind.

People today should be wary of anyone who promises war to solve problems, gain resources, or achieve personal glory and image. As the Great War taught us, only more problems will be created, while the people who suffer the most are the ones who have to experience the rest of their lives with loss.