This entry is going to stray from the political discourse for a moment of personal reflection, this the day after the Eleventh of November. It was ninety years ago today that The Great War came to an end. It was the war to end all wars, and it claimed the lives of some 67 000 Canadians. Scars were dug across Europe and soldiers were swallowed by the mud.
The early part of the Twentieth Century can be seen as a transition point in world history. There wasn’t a whole lot of exploring left to do, and the United States was establishing itself as a major cultural player. The Industrial Revolution had already gripped Europe, and Capitalism and Communism were emerging and conflicting ideologies. Gone were the days of Napoleonic conquering, and of 1812’s firing lines. Technology would go on to play a major role in the rest of the Twentieth Century, and World War I was a great display of this, with new weapons and tactics warfare had never seen. Machine guns and mustard gas, and eventually tanks, would litter the continent with death. Flanked to the sea, both sides dug in their front lines and waged a four-year battle of attrition and destruction.
This summer I spent some time travelling across Europe, and one place I am very glad to have visited was Vimy Ridge in France. This was the site of a decisive and strategic victory for Canada and her allies in April 1917 and it was one of the first sources of national pride and identity for our young nation. It was also the last place nearly four-thousand young Canadians ever saw. On the site today stands the most spectacular monument I have ever seen, and is inscribed with the names of the thousands of Canadian soldiers with no known graves in France.
That is the price of the freedom we enjoy today. And that is why we must never forget.
This may all seem very cliché. Every Remembrance Day we throw on a poppy and remind ourselves to not forget. But that’s just because it is so important. World War I was not the war to end all wars, and there are Canadian soldiers as well as other human beings from across the planet engaged in conflict, whether it’s in Afghanistan, Tibet, Rwanda, or anywhere else. Until the day when there is no more war this is the reality. So to those Canadians who laid down their lives for mine, and to those who risked theirs and safely returned home; to those currently engaged, and to the veterans of future wars: Thank you.
The early part of the Twentieth Century can be seen as a transition point in world history. There wasn’t a whole lot of exploring left to do, and the United States was establishing itself as a major cultural player. The Industrial Revolution had already gripped Europe, and Capitalism and Communism were emerging and conflicting ideologies. Gone were the days of Napoleonic conquering, and of 1812’s firing lines. Technology would go on to play a major role in the rest of the Twentieth Century, and World War I was a great display of this, with new weapons and tactics warfare had never seen. Machine guns and mustard gas, and eventually tanks, would litter the continent with death. Flanked to the sea, both sides dug in their front lines and waged a four-year battle of attrition and destruction.
This summer I spent some time travelling across Europe, and one place I am very glad to have visited was Vimy Ridge in France. This was the site of a decisive and strategic victory for Canada and her allies in April 1917 and it was one of the first sources of national pride and identity for our young nation. It was also the last place nearly four-thousand young Canadians ever saw. On the site today stands the most spectacular monument I have ever seen, and is inscribed with the names of the thousands of Canadian soldiers with no known graves in France.
That is the price of the freedom we enjoy today. And that is why we must never forget.
This may all seem very cliché. Every Remembrance Day we throw on a poppy and remind ourselves to not forget. But that’s just because it is so important. World War I was not the war to end all wars, and there are Canadian soldiers as well as other human beings from across the planet engaged in conflict, whether it’s in Afghanistan, Tibet, Rwanda, or anywhere else. Until the day when there is no more war this is the reality. So to those Canadians who laid down their lives for mine, and to those who risked theirs and safely returned home; to those currently engaged, and to the veterans of future wars: Thank you.
Russ MacDonald
1 comment:
Thank you Russ, for a well written testamonial to the sacrifices of our ancestors. It puts one in mind of the song by Ed McCurdy...
Last night I had the strangest dream
I'd ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war
I dreamed I saw a mighty room
Filled with women and men
And the paper they were signing said
They'd never fight again
And when the paper was all signed
And a million copies made
They all joined hands and bowed their heads
And grateful pray'rs were prayed
And the people in the streets below
Were dancing 'round and 'round
While swords and guns and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground
Last night I had the strangest dream
I'd never dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war.
GG
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