eurodale on Nostr: Do you ever worry about 'The Spirit of 1914'? 😬 At the outbreak of war, enthusiasm ...
Do you ever worry about 'The Spirit of 1914'? 😬
At the outbreak of war, enthusiasm ran high among many young Germans. This would be the adventure of a life time, an opportunity to shape the new century and return home with glory and honor.
Their unfettered optimism is easy to understand.
There hadn't been a major war engulfing the continent since Napoleon over a century earlier. No one knew how all the technological, economic, military and cultural developments since would play out in an actual conflict. But they were quite excited to find out and certain it would be over by Christmas.
Does that sound eerily familiar?
Fast forward four years and 40 million people had been killed or maimed in battle. By 1945, as many as 125 million were lost. Without even counting the countless victims of communism.
I sometimes see ghosts of that same madness in our current zeitgeist, that same exhilarating acceleration of history leading us into utter darkness.
Let's pray that I am wrong, but don't you ever worry?
At the outbreak of war, enthusiasm ran high among many young Germans. This would be the adventure of a life time, an opportunity to shape the new century and return home with glory and honor.
Their unfettered optimism is easy to understand.
There hadn't been a major war engulfing the continent since Napoleon over a century earlier. No one knew how all the technological, economic, military and cultural developments since would play out in an actual conflict. But they were quite excited to find out and certain it would be over by Christmas.
Does that sound eerily familiar?
Fast forward four years and 40 million people had been killed or maimed in battle. By 1945, as many as 125 million were lost. Without even counting the countless victims of communism.
I sometimes see ghosts of that same madness in our current zeitgeist, that same exhilarating acceleration of history leading us into utter darkness.
Let's pray that I am wrong, but don't you ever worry?