Lions and donkeys: 10 big myths about World War One debunked.

[dipsydoodle]

Much of what we think we know about the 1914-18 conflict is wrong, writes historian Dan Snow.

No war in history attracts more controversy and myth than World War One.

For the soldiers who fought it was in some ways better than previous conflicts, and in some ways worse.

By setting it apart as uniquely awful we are blinding ourselves to the reality of not just WW1 but war in general. We are also in danger of belittling the experience of soldiers and civilians caught up in countless other appalling conflicts throughout history and the present day.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25776836

[truebrit71]

1. There appears to be a concerted effort to revise WW 1 from the right in the UK...

...and this article seems to be part of that revisionist bullshit...

[bemildred]

2. It's kind of weird really. Reaganesque. Watch out. nt

[DetlefK]

3. A great novel on that topic: "The Good Soldier Švejk"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Soldier_%C5%A0vejk

A dealer of stolen dogs enlists to the military during WWI and sabotages it with passive resistance. (The reader never finds out whether this is through stupidity or deliberate.)

It was turned into a black&white TV-series and is still very popular in Germany.

The scene I remember best:
He and a friend have spent their last evening together at their local tavern, before they join the army in respective units.
What do they say as a goodbye, standing in front of the tavern?
"See you after the war at 8 (pm)."

[niyad]

4. k and r--a very interesting read.

[Historic NY]

5. We just began to examine the centennial here in my area....

from a small committee from one of the church groups (of the time) that sent off its members. Its now evolving to the larger county wide community, as committee members see just how many were lost. Locally we had soldiers fighting over there early on before it was declared with British & Canadian forces along with the, harrowing job of driving the ambulances. We are somewhat fortunate that the yeoman work was done back in 1924 to make sure no-one forgot.