Guns of August

August, particularly in Europe is the month for vacation. But it was on this date 100 years ago that the first guns roared and bullets flew indicting the start of the Great War, which we now refer to as World War I.  Back then, the term “great” was not used as we would often connote it today.   Today we think of something better than good, but great also has the connotation, which in this case is apparent--to be indicative of its range, its level of calamity, and probably of its effects.  The war engulfed much of Europe and beyond, affecting what Europeans and Americans would term most of the civilized world.  As one historian commented, the “guns roared to life and rattled the summer tranquility of Europe.”  Europe would not be the same after the war.  As that same historian noted, the war, in killing 2% of the world’s population affected a generation of Europe’s best and brightest, it brought down venerable institutions, and it brought down a way of life.

Trench warfare of WWI

The war is often thought to have begun in late June of 1914 when the Archduke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo.  However, it would take over one month for the first shots to be fired.  The murder was the spark that led to the war.  There was a seeming indifference to this war, and its causes have been much debated, but perhaps little recognized.  Political, economic, territorial conflicts had been bubbling for over a decade.  An intriguing web of alliances, of which only the Vatican could well appreciate, would enter into play.  Colonial issues, and a rise in nationalism cannot be understated either.  The Austro-Hungarian Empire stretched well east into the Balkans and beyond.  For the first time the world would find itself in a wide ranging conflict, where modern inventions would come into play and show the brutality of weapon systems of which man is capable.   The advance of the industrial age not only brought furnaces and central plumbing and cheaper goods, but a different way of warfare.

WWI era tanks

As the armistice was completed on that November 11 day in 1918, many thought it was the war to end all wars.  But yet, we know that not to be the case, a more world-wide conflict would erupt less than thirty years later, driven in large part by decisions made with the armistice.  Punishment of Germany would lead to strict sanctions, driving up inflation, affecting trade, and more importantly the national psyche, this would lead to the rise of Adolph Hitler, and that much greater conflict into which he and the axis powers would lead the world.  It would also lead to the destruction of the Ottoman Empire, and the coming of the British Mandate over Palestine.  These decisions would be further modified by the treaties ending World War II.  European powers have always tended to have a certain hubris and the aftermath of both wars would allow Western Europe and the US to be in command of the peace.  Artificial national boundaries were created, a decision with which is still in play today.  With the fall of the totalitarian regimes, some supported by communism, no strong dictators were available to quell or subdue national tendencies.  This would lead to the Balkan war in the 1990’s, driven by the varied ethnic groups with a desire for independence.  Nationalism is again at play today, perhaps most famously in Ukraine, where Russia went in and reclaimed Crimea earlier this year; this was an area which it had, under Khrushchev, gifted to Ukraine.  Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine receive support from Russia in a continued fight for their viewed nationalism.  Nationalism is not limited to Eastern Europe.  It also shows itself in the Mideast.

WWI trench

Today as hard-liner Islamists fight to fill the void of falling (Syria) or fallen (Iraq and Afghanistan) ruling elites.  Showing that Christians are not the only religious group to quarrel amongst themselves, the Shiite—Sunni battles take internecine warfare to new heights.  The Mid East is an area around which much of the world pivots, and it is filled with strife.  The current Israeli—Gaza conflict (shoving the strife in Syria to the side of the news) takes center stage in our European-American world view.  Hamas and its Muslim leaders prefer no state of Israel.  Israel’s largest alley, the United States is supplying more defense material for their Iron Dome, but the US also a country that has alliances with a number of Arab states, particularly nearby Saudi Arabia.  An intricate web of alliances is again at play, showing that perhaps we still have to learn from history.  

Draft card for Rudolph James Hovel.  He did not serve.

In the meantime, individual lives are affected.  Christian communities in Syria, which have been present since the beginning of Christianity are being driven out by an Islamist hate group demanding payment for them to stay, although in the west we have another name for it—extortion.  Africa is seeing an outbreak of Ebola, which may lack the 90% death rate of the 1976 outbreak, but with higher levels of travel is more wide spread.  Individual lives go on, but circumstances, whether individual or from a larger scale can affect the comfort of the life one has grown accustomed.  The guns that fired in August 100 years ago proved how a seemingly small event, can trigger events that reshaped individual lives, nations and the world order.  An order of which we still see the effects 100 years later.

Note:  The Guns of August is the title of a book by historian Barbara Tuchman.

Photos from Google images.  Image of draft card from historical records.