It was "The War to End All Wars". Starting in 1914 in Europe, it spread through Asia, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Northern and Southern Africa and the oceans of the world. The United States tried hard to keep from being embroiled, but unrestricted sinking of ships in the Atlantic and diplomatic pressures brought the American Expeditionary Forces, under the command of General Pershing, to France in 1917. This war introduced modern weapons and tactics; machine guns, tanks, Zeppelins, aeroplanes, poison gas and psychological barrage.
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"The whole earth is ploughed by the exploding shells and the holes are filled with water, and if you do not get killed by the shells you may drown in the craters. Broken wagons and dead horses are moved to the sides of the road, also many dead soldiers lie here. Wounded soldiers who died in the ambulance have been unloaded and their eyes stare at you. Sometimes an arm or leg is missing. Everybody is rushing, running, trying to escape almost certain death in this hail of enemy shells. Today I have seen the real face of war." German Musketier Hans Otto Schetter |
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"Yesterday I visited the battlefield of last year. The place was scarcely recognizable. Instead of a wilderness of ground torn up by shell, the ground was a garden of wild flowers and tall grasses. Most remarkable of all was the appearance of many thousands of white butterflies which fluttered around. It was as if the souls of the dead soldiers had come to haunt the spot where so many fell. It was eerie to see them. And the silence! It was so still that I could almost hear the beat of the butterflies' wings." A British officer, 1919 |
