2014 has hardly taken its first
faltering steps and those arrogant dinosaurs of empire are out with
their megaphones spouting that WW1, was a glorious victor for
democracy, a noble cause, a just war for freedom. They want to mark
the centenary of the start of that event, that soaked Europe's soil
in the blood of ordinary people, as a glorious part of our history.
History is to be re-written, what was a greed driven squabble between
the aristocratic owners of empires, that sucked in and slaughtered
the best of Europe's youth, is to be lauded as something of which we
the ordinary people should be proud. The massive misery, suffering
and deaths of that unnecessary, avoidable carnage, is set to be used
as a bandwagon, by the millionaire flag waving parasites. It will be
abused and misrepresented, in an attempt to portray that crap slogan
“We're all in this together”. It will be used as a pompous
platform of grandeur and splendour, to take our eyes of the poverty stricken state of our present society.
We must continue to shout the
truth about that disastrous ego driven aristocratic grab for power
and territories, we owe it to all those who died under those pitiful,
miserable, avoidable conditions. We cannot allow their unjust
slaughter to be used by a bunch of well-heeled hypocrites, to further
their own political ideology. At every turn we must counter their
lies with truth. There was no aim for democracy in their plans, there
was no defence of freedom on their agenda, it was a thrust for power,
and land grabbing, on a grand scale, and as usual in their plans, we
the ordinary people were to pay the price.
The following is an extract from an excellent article in the Guardian:
This is all preposterous nonsense. Unlike the second world war, the bloodbath of 1914-18 was not a just war. It was a savage industrial slaughter perpetrated by a gang of predatory imperial powers, locked in a deadly struggle to capture and carve up territories, markets and resources.Read the full article HERE:
Germany was the rising industrial power and colonial Johnny-come-lately of the time, seeking its place in the sun from the British and French empires. The war erupted directly from the fight for imperial dominance in the Balkans, as Austria-Hungary and Russia scrapped for the pickings from the crumbling Ottoman empire. All the ruling elites of Europe, tied together in a deathly quadrille of unstable alliances, shared the blame for the murderous barbarism they oversaw. The idea that Britain and its allies were defending liberal democracy, let alone international law or the rights of small nations, is simply absurd.
At the Cenotaph.
I saw the Prince of Darkness, with his Staff,
Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph:
Unostentatious and respectful, there
He stood, and offered up the following prayer,
'Make them forget, O Lord, what this Memorial
Means; their discredited ideas revive;
Breed new belief that War is purgatorial
Proof of the pride and power of being alive;
Men's biologic urge to readjust
The Map of Europe, Lord of Hosts, increase;
Lift up their hearts in large destructive lust;
And crown their heads with blind vindictive Peace,'
The Prince of Darknes to the Cenotaph
Bowed. As he walked away I heard him laugh.
Siegfried Sassoon.
Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk
The word "Victory", so extolled in history books, is drenched in blood, pain and madness.
ReplyDeleteBeen very interested in your post, yet, as a french, I don't really get Sassoon's poem. Is the Prince of Darkness representating an English leader wishing that people forget the war and still want to fight ? If it is, the leader laugh at the end because he is glade to have cattle that he can sacrified ? Thanks for reading, sorry for the potential faults. Good blog anyway
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