{"id":2043,"date":"2013-02-21T19:34:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-21T19:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/02\/world-war-ii-gets-all-the-press.html"},"modified":"2013-02-21T19:34:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-21T19:34:00","slug":"world-war-ii-gets-all-the-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/02\/world-war-ii-gets-all-the-press.html","title":{"rendered":"World War II gets all the press"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

So we often forget just how\u00a0devastatingly<\/u><\/span>\u00a0horrific was the First World War<\/a>. \u00a0In terms of battlefield deaths, the numbers rival the Second World War. \u00a0Civilian\u00a0casualties\u00a0in WWII mounted, however, as genocides and bombing raids multiplied the numbers a thousandfold. \u00a0The era of Total War reached its crescendo in the 40s, capped off over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. \u00a0But even that didn\u2019t account for all the numbers. \u00a0The civilians killed in death camps, and in the mass destruction of fully mechanized and industrialized warfare also accounted for the numbers. \u00a0Plus in the USSR, it\u2019s impossible to know just how many of the 20\u00a0million\u00a0died\u00a0solely\u00a0as a\u00a0result\u00a0of the Nazi presence, and how many as a result of the Soviet Union\u2019s own policies and strategies. \u00a0Add to that the similarly eerie question\u00a0about the millions killed in China (how many because of China vs. how many by Japan), and the numbers finally reach that level that still seems mind-boggling.<\/p>\n

But on the battlefield, in the trenches, the\u00a0casualties\u00a0of WWI still rival those of its second act. \u00a0Millions died when seldom before had such figures been seen. \u00a0Only in China, during revolutions of the past, or during periods of conquest such as under the Mongol Horde, and that over the course of centuries, did the casualty rates reach into the millions. <\/p>\n

But this was industrialized, technologically advanced, modern post-enlightenment Europe. \u00a0This was the apex of the hopes and dreams of a humanity that had tossed out the old superstitions, the antiquated ideals and\u00a0beliefs, and the pre-modern agrarian ways of non-civilized\u00a0humans. \u00a0This was Europe. \u00a0The point man of history. \u00a0It was supposed to look like this:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Not this:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

The sudden wake-up call, that began to creep in as the Titanic slipped beneath the water of the Atlantic, should have brought about major changes. \u00a0But, alas, humans tend to follow the motto \u2018why learn from history when you can repeat it instead?\u2019 Lessons were learned\u00a0alright, \u00a0mostly by the Germans and to some extent the Japanese. \u00a0The idea of the\u00a0Blitzkrieg\u00a0was, itself, the\u00a0result\u00a0of Hitler having learned how not to fight a war. \u00a0It\u2019s worth noting the hardheadedness\u00a0of people: that\u00a0the Germans would capture most of Europe before the rest of the world admitted the old stuff wasn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s the way it goes. \u00a0As we plow forth, pushing boundaries regarding technology and digital communications, genetics and just how long can a parent wait to abort a child after it\u2019s born, it\u2019s worth noting the\u00a0arrogance\u00a0of Europe exactly 100 years ago. \u00a0Titanic had already fired a warning shot, one that was\u00a0ultimately\u00a0ignored. \u00a0We know many of the bold new inventions are bringing with them as many banes as blessings. \u00a0Will we learn in time? \u00a0Europe was already beginning its downward spiral when Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were murdered, or so many historians argue (and I agree). \u00a0We know America is following the same trend. \u00a0What will historians write about our time in a 100 years? \u00a0Will they look back as we do today and ask, \u201cWhy, oh why, did they not learn and see what was obviously coming around the corner?\u201d? Makes me wonder. \u00a0Don\u2019t think I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So we often forget just how\u00a0devastatingly\u00a0horrific was the First World War. \u00a0In terms of battlefield deaths, the numbers rival the Second World War. \u00a0Civilian\u00a0casualties\u00a0in WWII mounted, however, as genocides and bombing raids multiplied the numbers a thousandfold. \u00a0The era of Total War reached its crescendo in the 40s, capped off over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. \u00a0But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWorld War II gets all the press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So we often forget just how devastatingly horrific was the First World War.  In terms of battlefield deaths, the numbers rival the Second\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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