Reynard Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I'm a bit 'meh' about WWI to be honest, far more interested in other parts of history. I'm actually really interested in inter-war Europe. We did the Weimar Republic in advanced higher history at school and did all the appeasement stuff the year before. That's not to say I'm disinterested. I think the number of WWI related documentaries dramas that will be on as every channel will no doubt be scrambling for viewers with the likes of Antiques Roadshow, Time Team, Timewatch etc. having WWI specials will become more than a bit tedious. I actually met quite a number of WWI vets as a nipper due to my grandpa's work. I can't really remember much as it was all before I was 6 but my dad made me shake hands with a man who had been there on the first day of the Somme as a sort of something-to-tell-your-grandchildren type thing. Without ww1 there wouldnt have been ww2. It set it all up nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Yeah. That worked out well for them too. Either let Johnny Foreigner kill you or let your own new ruling class starve you, take away your livelihood and murder millions of dissenters and undesirables in the work camps. Not sure what would have been for the best there. Yeah I know, the average Russian really didn't have much of a choice in 1917. Pre-revolution Russia was hardly the promised land either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclizine Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Maybe the government could 'celebrate' the Great War by pardoning all of the British soldiers executed for 'cowardice'. There was a general pardon in 2006, although mainly symbolic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reynard Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Yeah I know, the average Russian really didn't have much of a choice in 1917. Pre-revolution Russia was hardly the promised land either. A big weird place all round. It has always seemed to be full of borderline maniacs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Without ww1 there wouldnt have been ww2. It set it all up nicely. Indeed. There was a certain inevitability about both wars though. One wonders what would have happened had the Treaty of Vienna followed Wilson's 14 points or not been so burdensome for Germany and unpopular or had the Wall St. crash not happened when it had or at all, Germany looked like it was beginning to stabilise politically and economically by the late 20s. Japan, however, was certainly on the road to war but the I think the consequences of WWI had little to do with Pacific war, except perhaps the mandates given to Japan maybe gave them further ideas of Empire or co-prosperity zones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotThePars Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I'm a bit 'meh' about WWI to be honest, far more interested in other parts of history. I'm actually really interested in inter-war Europe. We did the Weimar Republic in advanced higher history at school and did all the appeasement stuff the year before. That's not to say I'm disinterested. I think the number of WWI related documentaries dramas that will be on as every channel will no doubt be scrambling for viewers with the likes of Antiques Roadshow, Time Team, Timewatch etc. having WWI specials will become more than a bit tedious. I actually met quite a number of WWI vets as a nipper due to my grandpa's work. I can't really remember much as it was all before I was 6 but my dad made me shake hands with a man who had been there on the first day of the Somme as a sort of something-to-tell-your-grandchildren type thing. We studied the Weimar Republic as well at advanced higher and am in agreement over how interesting it was. Would love to have had a chance to revisit it at university. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloomogganners Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Not what I asked 557,000 Scots enlisted in all services. Total killed as a % of males aged 15-49 Scotland 10.9% Britain & Ireland 6.3% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The OP Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 The Green Brigade will have banners of the Kaiser and "Austro-Hungary were cheated!". Then they all get arrested days later because they could've potentially offended some tit who wasn't actually there by singing The Foggy Dew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Nederlander Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 FWIW, and ignoring all the usual guff that this thread will attract - my G.Grandfather died during WW1 but no-one in my family knew much about him so I set about finding out what I could, The results were fairly fascinating, I've emailed and enquired on quite a few websites off-and-on over the years to the point where I've now 'located' the wreck of the ship he was on (the Dunkirk diving club pinpointed it for me), compiled a list of casualties - located the grave of a man who died months after the sinking of his injuries but isn't listed on any memorials - I located the grave of one of the casualties near his home on a remote Scottish island (who turns out to be one of the central figures in a book written by Neil Oliver) but shouldn't really be buried there as bodies weren't repatriated - I found an eyewitness account of the sinking which details how two of the men died - with the help of U-Boat.net I've found out which boat laid the barrage of mines that eventually sank the ship etc. etc. I also found out that he was illegitimate and from Ireland, I found the house he lived in, discovered that his illegitimacy meant he used two surnames etc. etc. It's all out there if you can be arsed asking - if you're interested visit the CWGC website and take it from there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizfit Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Don't know much myself about my family in WW1. I do know my great grandfathers both fought in the second. My grans father was already in the black watch when they went to war and was in Africa for most of the fighting there. And my grandads dad was in France & Germany. My dad said he was older then the other grandparent and was involved in less fighting because of this. Might take a look into the 1st world war information then, see what I can dig up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reynard Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 557,000 Scots enlisted in all services. Total killed as a % of males aged 15-49 Scotland 10.9% Britain & Ireland 6.3% Thanks. They all volunteered for their country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloomogganners Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Thanks. They all volunteered for their country. Military Services Act (conscription) was passed in 1916. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reynard Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Military Services Act (conscription) was passed in 1916. How many volunteered in the first two years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivo den Bieman Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Pre-revolution Russia was hardly the promised land either. "An eighteenth century country accidentally existing in the twentieth..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivo den Bieman Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 What's your views on this? Should they be going ahead, should we be 'celebrating' it, why is it happening for the start and not the end etc... The new £2 coin with Kitchener is coming out 'your country needs you' stamped across it. Should we have 'Dulce et Decorum est' on the side of it? Why are we the only country to be celebrating the start of it as well? Is Nov 11th not good enough? I've checked with mates down under in both countries and in Canada, we seem to be the only country to be marking the start if the slaughter... Views please. The hotel rooms in Sarajevo are apparently all already block booked for the week containting the 28th June anniversary. The place is going to be absolutely mental, choked with the world's politicians all congratulating themselves on how great they are. There is going to be a memorial concert by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in this building, which was destroyed in 1992, and which friends of mine are now working on pretty much round the clock, repainting frescoes, for it to be ready for then. With Bosnia in the world cup for the first time, and these commemorations, June is going to be totally crazy here. It-s going to be a weird year in Sarajevo all round. For most Sarajevans what Princip did is a pretty taboo subject, still, but they will be forced to confront it a bit this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer (Raconteur) Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 The hotel rooms in Sarajevo are apparently all already block booked for the week containting the 28th June anniversary. The place is going to be absolutely mental, choked with the world's politicians all congratulating themselves on how great they are. There is going to be a memorial concert by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in this building, which was destroyed in 1992, and which friends of mine are now working on pretty much round the clock, repainting frescoes, for it to be ready for then. With Bosnia in the world cup for the first time, and these commemorations, June is going to be totally crazy here. It-s going to be a weird year in Sarajevo all round. For most Sarajevans what Princip did is a pretty taboo subject, still, but they will be forced to confront it a bit this year. I predict a riot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloomogganners Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 How many volunteered in the first two years? Do your own research for once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jock001 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 557,000 Scots enlisted in all services. Total killed as a % of males aged 15-49 Scotland 10.9% Britain & Ireland 6.3% Things like that happened a lot more recently than WW1. In the Falklands war the only troops sent by English regiments were 4 light tanks and associated personel from the blues and royals. None of the equipment made the beach. Everything else was UK wide regiments like the SAS or paras or troops from anywhere except England. Generally places where the tories got very few votes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloomogganners Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 "They are hardy, intrepid, accustomed to a rough country, and no great mischief if they fall." General Wolfe 1759 on Scottish soldiers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidthebaw Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I think Cameron et al have misunderstood how people see WW!. It's seen as a waste of millions of lives for no reason by the public. My Gran's uncle didn't make it, thankfully my great grandad did. That's a 50% hit rate in one family of two brothers. That's an example of one consequence of this war. Like many others we're closer to the consequences of WW2 Korea and possibly NI,Iraq and Afghanistan. However, WW1 is SEEN as the biggest waste and to commerate the start in the fashion the govt is proposing (A football game FFS) is to seriously misjudge the public mood in Scotland on this matter. As far as most people go, we commerate WW1 every year we don't need to remember the start of the fucking war just its ending. I don't have a top 5 wars but the War on Drugs is my favourite continuing one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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