#Israel-#Hamas conflict is escalating and spilling into #Syria. They are not just Israeli strikes but also #Turkish.
And Türkiye isn't doing it just for giggles but in response to an attack on government facilities in Ankara. Terrorists backed by Syria & #Iran want to expand the conflict using Syrian territory.
There'll be more bloodshed, but as horrible as that sounds, US should stay out militarily until after #Election2024
Mark Francois talks about Neville Chamberlain "denuding the British forces of funding until it was too late."
This is wrong. Even while Chamberlain was signing the Munich Agreement in 1938, he was agreeing to a huge increase in spending to increase Britain’s armament in preparation for war.
ANZAC day, the 25th April, is one of the most solemn days in #Australia, commemorating the first great battle Australia took part in as a nation - the storming of the beach in what is now known as "ANZAC Cove", Türkiye on April 25, 1915 as part of #WWI. #ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the name for the joint force of the two young nations, forever joined in solidarity and mateship.
Violet Jessop survived the RMS Olympic after it crashed in 1911; and she survived the sinking of RMS Titanic a year later. During WWI, she was a nurse on the hospital ship HMHS Britannic when it hit a naval mine. She helped patients evacuate before abandoning ship herself.
Okay, time for a completely naïve take on #WWI#History. Family (not me, alas) are visiting Vimy today, and as usual I'm struck by the tremendous waste of lives from war and the spread of disease from the flu pandemic.
Almost all of the combatants are good friends now, and enjoy economic benefits from trade and cooperation. Did WWI accomplish anything besides the decline of monarchy?
Similar thoughts about WWII - The Commonwealth countries, the U.S., Germany, Japan - we all get along, and prosper from that.
Can you imagine if we just jumped to the good part, and spared everyone the grief?
Today in Labor History January 5, 1919: Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg launched the Spartacist Uprising in Berlin. Part of the post-WWI Revolution occurring throughout Germany, the Spartacist uprising was essentially a power struggle between the Spartacists and other Council Communists (left-wing, anti-authoritarian communists) against the Social Democrats. 500,000 workers participated in the General Strike they called for January 7 to replace the moderate Social Democratic government with a communist one. Many of the workers obtained arms. They tried, but failed, to get the support of the Navy, which remained neutral in the conflict. However, the Social Democrats got the anti-Communist Freikorps paramilitary to fight for their side. The Freikorps had weapons and military equipment leftover from WWI and were able to quash the uprising within a week. The Freikorps was comprised of WWI vets, many of whom were suffering from PTSD. Many went on to became Nazis. Up to 200 people died in the fighting, including 17 Freikorps soldiers. The Social Democrats captured, beat and executed Liebknecht and Luxemburg.
How effective do you think #InternationalLaw would have been at preventing civilian deaths during #WWI or #WWII?
And then ask yourself why did you answer the way you did? Is it because international law depends on a majority of countries to enforce it? And once it is established that the majority of countries do not care to follow it themselves, only the defeated enemy will be prosecuted in the end?
Why do you think that, only 80 years later, 21st century humans and nations are any different?
Radio was used in the #WWI for tremendous effect. It was, however, very new technology. Note, ”wireless telegraphy” = no sound, just noise pulses used to transmit Morse codes. Here's a piece of high tech in Russian hands as early as August 1914. (Rumours that this machine is still in use are exaggerated.)
All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque. You are a teenage German boy who signs up to fight in WWI with your classmates, and you never find anything worth fighting for, just mud and death in the trenches, as any sense of yourself or any recognizable future fades. 4 of 5 library cats 🐈 🐈 🐈 🐈.
Great War Fashion: Tales From the History Wardrobe by Lucy Adlington
The story of World War I women as told through their changing wardrobes, from silk stockings to factory wear.
"A man knows that if for a year he were to submit himself to the restraints which a woman puts upon herself, he would mentally, morally, and physically degenerate."
Today In Labor History March 26, 1918: American anarchist Philip Grosser wrote about being tortured in the prison on Alcatraz Island, while serving time there for refusing to serve in World War I. By 1920, he was the only draft resistor still serving time at Alcatraz. Alexander Berkman referred to him as "one of [my] finest comrades."
Considered too old to be a war correspondent during World War I, photographer Horace Nicholls aimed his camera lens on the homefront capturing the many contributions of the women who took over the workforce - including the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC)
Thirteen Days Diplomacy and Disater The Countdown to the Great War by Clive Ponting
Enormously gripping popular history of the 13-day crisis that led to world war.
At the end of the First World War, Germany was demonised. The Treaty of Versailles contained a 'war guilt' clause pinning the blame on the aggression of Germany and accusing her of 'supreme offence against international morality'. Thirteen Days rejects this verdict.
Early in the morning on the 24th March 1914 two trains arrived at the Railway station in #Belgrade carrying the first generation of recruits from the newly liberated regions, Old #Serbia and Southern Serbia. After the official reception, the recruits headed via central city streets towards the barracks in the Upper Town of Kalemegdan Fortress.