Those who ignore history are damned to repeat it.
Looking back on the folly which preceded the catastrophe of August 1914, which led - to not one, but ultimately, two apocalyptic wars which defined the last century - it is easy to find oneself wondering how men could have been so blind, so foolish?
How could they have believed their own twisted propaganda? How could countries have abandoned their vital national interests to blindly follow purported allies with vastly different goals and capabilities?
After a disastrous engagement with Japan, and faced with severe social unrest, the Russian Empire was no more ready to fight a European war than to walk on the moon. The creaking Austro-Hungarian Empire, searching desperately for a raison d’être, was held together with sticky tape. The crumbling Ottomans were desperate for someone else to find a reason to renew their tenuous lease on life.
None were remotely up to fighting a global conflict. Yet politicians lie to journalists – then believe what they read in the press; the man in the street picked up the hue-and-cry, and the Old Europe stumbled toward its destruction.
What fools they were – seemingly not of another century but of another world. It is inconceivable that our modern democracies could ever do something so insane.
Complete story at - Stumbling into the Apocalypse - Russia Insider
Looking back on the folly which preceded the catastrophe of August 1914, which led - to not one, but ultimately, two apocalyptic wars which defined the last century - it is easy to find oneself wondering how men could have been so blind, so foolish?
How could they have believed their own twisted propaganda? How could countries have abandoned their vital national interests to blindly follow purported allies with vastly different goals and capabilities?
After a disastrous engagement with Japan, and faced with severe social unrest, the Russian Empire was no more ready to fight a European war than to walk on the moon. The creaking Austro-Hungarian Empire, searching desperately for a raison d’être, was held together with sticky tape. The crumbling Ottomans were desperate for someone else to find a reason to renew their tenuous lease on life.
None were remotely up to fighting a global conflict. Yet politicians lie to journalists – then believe what they read in the press; the man in the street picked up the hue-and-cry, and the Old Europe stumbled toward its destruction.
What fools they were – seemingly not of another century but of another world. It is inconceivable that our modern democracies could ever do something so insane.
Complete story at - Stumbling into the Apocalypse - Russia Insider
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments subject to moderation.