http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1915
Here are some one liners...
War Made New and Terrifying -- A lot of people die through technology.
The Armenian Genocide -- A lot of people die the old fashioned way.
Notable Births -- Captain Midnight, Les Paul, and Frank Sinatra.
In Other News -- A prototype tank, "In Flanders Fields", and the KKK is reborn... in film... and later in reality.
War Made New and Terrifying
- What in God's name are those things?! WHAT ARE THEY?!
- This is not war. IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!
- --Indian-British solider in a letter to his father. [2]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
The battles of World War 1 were actually much worse than I'm describing here. The Second Industrial Revolution brought more than prosperity. It created an infrastructure that allowed large armies to be fed, clothed, armed and rearmed to the point where the complete destruction of a nation became possible. Bureaucracies broke down under the strain. Economic collapse was imminent, but it just didn't matter. For them, there was no tomorrow... but we know that tomorrow came. What emerged was ugly, bitter, disillusioned and building up for a second round. The next time will be different. It always is. [5] [6]
The battles of World War 1 were actually much worse than I'm describing here. The Second Industrial Revolution brought more than prosperity. It created an infrastructure that allowed large armies to be fed, clothed, armed and rearmed to the point where the complete destruction of a nation became possible. Bureaucracies broke down under the strain. Economic collapse was imminent, but it just didn't matter. For them, there was no tomorrow... but we know that tomorrow came. What emerged was ugly, bitter, disillusioned and building up for a second round. The next time will be different. It always is. [5] [6]
The Armenian Genocide
The killing of Armenian Christians has been going on long before World War 1, but when the Ottoman Empire (mostly modern day Turkey) sides with Germany, it all comes to a head. Russia is at war with Germany and traditionally, Russia has been an ally to Armenia. A lot of Armenians have escaped the persecution by the Muslim Turks, and joined the Russian army. Now the Russians are sending their ethnic Armenian units to beat the tar out of the Turks. It feels good to the Armenians. The Turks? Not so much. One more background item: secret negotiations are in progress to carve up the Ottoman Empire after the war. It's called the Sykes–Picot (sikes PEE-ko) Agreement. Whether the Turks know the secret or not, they'd have to be idiots not to have guessed. So here we are. A large Armenian population exists within the borders of the Ottoman Empire. They look like a 5th column ready to join the Russians (because they are). As the war rages, the Turks decide to move the Armenians to Syria... millions of Armenians, on foot with whatever they can carry. If you are asking yourself, "How did they feed these people?", you have noticed one of the problems. The other problems are murder, rape, pillaging, and beheadings. The number of Armenians that will die is unknown, but figure around 600,000 for this year alone and 1.5 million over all. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Was it intentional? It depend on what you mean by "intentional". The Ottomans of the time knew what would happen when they tried to move so many people at once. I'm leaving out a lot of the horror, but pictures exist, and credible, non-Armenian, non-Turkish witnesses reported on the death marches. It was a major catastrophe. Whether the death marches were organized specifically to kill off the Armenians is still debated. Look. I'm Jewish. Millions of my fellow Jews were murdered by Nazi Germany. They are sorry. I'm sorry. We are all F-ing sorry. Let's move past it now. We will not forget. Never that, but their sons didn't do it. Don't get me wrong. I'm watching the son carefully, but his sins are his own as are mine.
Was it intentional? It depend on what you mean by "intentional". The Ottomans of the time knew what would happen when they tried to move so many people at once. I'm leaving out a lot of the horror, but pictures exist, and credible, non-Armenian, non-Turkish witnesses reported on the death marches. It was a major catastrophe. Whether the death marches were organized specifically to kill off the Armenians is still debated. Look. I'm Jewish. Millions of my fellow Jews were murdered by Nazi Germany. They are sorry. I'm sorry. We are all F-ing sorry. Let's move past it now. We will not forget. Never that, but their sons didn't do it. Don't get me wrong. I'm watching the son carefully, but his sins are his own as are mine.
Notable Births
- Richard Webb (Actor, best known as Captain Midnight. I actually met this guy... and he cared!) [13]
- Frank Sinatra (Singer and actor. I liked him in "Guys and Dolls" and "Von Ryan's Express".) [16]
In Other News
- England produces "Little Willie," a prototype tank. It's not ready for prime time, but it's coming along. [17]
- "In Flander Fields" is published. "In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses, row on row..." [18]
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