By Ben Mills
The lessons of World War One clearly, a century on, have still not been learned, and remembrance of what that conflict meant is perhaps most important now at a time of ever-increasing tensions and violence.
For the past century, since the end of the most bloody and fatal conflicts in human history, the world has paused on the anniversary of the Armistice to reflect on the importance of peace and to honour those who fought and lost their lives. Yet the lessons of World War One clearly, a century on, have still not been learned, and remembrance of what that conflict meant is perhaps most important now at a time of ever-increasing tensions and violence
The First World War was meant to be the “war to end all wars”. To the people who observed it, who fought through it, who lost their lives in it, what they experienced seemed the worst humanity could do. It was conflict on a new scale, where lives could be shattered almost instantaneously by the lethal weapons developed and tested on the battlefield (machine guns, artillery shells, poison gas) and where hordes of troops were being sent to their deaths en masse. It truly was a turning point in human history, not only in terms of a shifting structure in terms of which countries held power in the world, or in society, but also in the way wars were fought.
And the reality, surely unbelievable to those involved in WW1, was that this was not the “war to end all wars”. Though the number of casualties as a direct cause of war since 1914 is ridiculously impossible to calculate, crude estimates suggest that the total fatalities of conflicts in the 20th century may amount to 123 million people. However, this doesn’t include those who’ve died in major wars in the last 18 years since the beginning of the 21st century, such as those in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Congo or Ukraine, or those killed as a result of disasters like famine which spring from conflict, such as that currently consuming the Yemen.
It seems, then, that despite our best efforts to remember the victims of World War One the world has maybe let them down in terms of striving for peace instead of preventing loss of life. With the world looking again like it is becoming a more dangerous place, as conflict and humanitarian crises in Syria and Iraq continue to escalate and tensions between the west and countries such as Russia and North Korea increase, the messages of peace which need to come as part of our remembrance of the fallen troops in all wars over the last century are more important than ever. The best way to remember and honour the lives of those lost in wars is to ensure that the same fate is not met by millions and millions more in the coming century, by advocating peace.
As Wilfred Owen wrote in his poignant and harrowing poem Dulce et Decorum Est the idea of war being glorious and great is an “old lie”, lost in the despair and horror of conflict of the last hundred years since the end of World War One. I think we already know that, but at the same time, we haven’t gone far enough in making sure that the tragedy of the First World War isn’t repeated again. Admittedly, resolving issues between groups is not the easiest thing to do, but hopefully by encouraging leaders to engage in peaceful solutions to their problems things can be changed.
We need to promote peace over war, and that is the only way this Remembrance Day, which marks the anniversary of a landmark day in human history, we can truly honour and remember the innocent people who have tragically lost their lives in conflict.
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