Public Affairs

A war remembered

No10-2014-674-060 Recalling the events of August 1914.

A century ago, four years of unprecedented carnage left an indelible mark on every city, town and village across Britain and Ireland.

Parliament was still reeling from the crisis in Ireland as it began to consider the turn of events in Europe. On 28 June, Gavrilo Princip had set out to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo.

A network of alliances linked the protagonists (Serbia and Austria-Hungary) with Russia, Germany, France and Britain. In the first four days of August, Germany declared war on Russia, occupied Luxembourg, declared war on France and invaded Belgium. The last of those actions prompted Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, to invoke the guarantee of Belgian neutrality – the 1839 Treaty of London – which Britain had an “honour and interest” in upholding.

Andrew Bonar Law, the Leader of the Opposition, pledged “unhesitating support” for the Government but his Labour counterpart, Ramsay McDonald, was unconvinced. “What is the use of talking about coming to the aid of Belgium,” he said, “when as a matter of fact, you are engaging in a whole European war which is not going to leave the map of Europe in the position it is now?”

His question resonates with the revisionist view of the war, articulated by Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. From their perspective, they saw a cruel and futile conflict with soldiers sent to die by generals and politicians. Britain’s main motive was indeed to maintain the balance of power in Europe. The Treaty of London had been signed to create a ‘buffer state’ to keep German troops away from the English Channel.

The counter-revisionist view acknowledges the suffering of the soldiers but also maintains that a major war was inevitable. International crises were becoming more frequent alongside an ever-quickening arms race. Fritz Fischer, the first historian to view the German war archives, concluded that Kaiser Wilhelm had intended to start a war during the summer of 1914.

In Ireland, Edward Carson and John Redmond pledged the support of their respective movements for the war effort. Carson – who had just supported the Larne gun-running – was soon promoted to the Cabinet, firstly as Attorney-General and secondly as First Lord of the Admiralty.

When Redmond’s brother Willie was fatally injured at Messines in 1917, he was rescued by men from the 36th (Ulster) Division. The nationalist leader found himself increasingly sidelined at home after the Easter Rising.

Given the scale of the struggle, the final total of casualties is unknown but estimates settle around 9-10 million war dead. Every lost life left a void in the lives of their relatives, friends and neighbours. By the time the guns were quiet, forty-nine thousand Irishmen (of all creeds and classes) had lost their lives.

At the Menin Gate in Ypres, a bugler from the local fire brigade nightly sounds ‘The Last Post’ in memory of the fallen. The small town in Flanders was the centre of attention on 26 June when European leaders gathered to remember how the war engulfed their continent.

Ireland remembered its role in the war on 3 August at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. The next morning, the Commonwealth heads of government gathered for their service of remembrance in Glasgow Cathedral. Later that day, attention turned to the ceremony at Mons, the candlelit vigil at Westminster Abbey and Northern Ireland’s official commemorative service at St Anne’s Cathedral.

Any positive consequences of the First World War are difficult to identify. In its aftermath, empires broke apart and new nations took shape but continued grievances led ultimately to a greater conflict 20 years later. The centenary is a telling reminder of the futility of war and the unforeseen consequences of political brinkmanship. Ultimately, a more peaceful twenty-first century would be an appropriate tribute to those who fell near the start of the twentieth.

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