“Lost” … But Not Forgotten
“Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better.”
Émile Coué, a French psychologist at the beginning of the 20th century, had his patients repeat that phrase in order to propel themselves to self-healing. In the first half of 1914, the general mindset of the western world might have sounded just like that. The booming progress of the 19th century caused the general standard of living to rise. Scientific and technological discoveries made life easier, and advances in medicine helped cure or eradicate many diseases which had devastated the populations of the world. Truly, the world seemed to be getting “better and better” every day.
Then right smack dab in the middle of 1914, a child barely out of diapers (ok, so he was 19…old enough to know better) committed an act that would plunge the world into the most devastating conflict up until that point. A war so destructive that when it ended, that generation thought it could never happen again. They had learned their lesson and took impotent drastic measures to ENSURE it would never happen again.
If you know anything about 20th century history, you might laugh at their idealistic naiveté. Or not since this is no laughing matter. Unfortunately, the “War to End All Wars” was only the beginning of a long string of violent struggles that continues to grow today.
When I first wrote this post, I’d been watching a British comedy about a grumpy country doctor whose aunt was concerned that her friend was possibly getting dementia or Alzheimers. Doc goes to see the old lady, asks her several random questions. I only remember the last one. When did World War II start? November 11, 1918, she responds. Doc and his aunt share a concerned glance. (November 11, 1918, was the day of the armistice to end World War I.) But then the lady goes on to explain her vast understanding of how the vindictive terms of the Treaty of Versailles led to nearly two decades of German struggle and unrest, which culminated in the second, even more disastrous world war that caused the first one to be largely forgotten.
I Thessalonians 5:3 says “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” (NIV) Although I believe this Bible verse is speaking of the end times, the wars of the 20th century are a good foreshadowing of the real war to end all wars. While it appeared in 1914 that life was improving, a far reaching war shatters the illusion. When it ended, people hailed it as the war to end all wars. Measures were taken afterward to ensure peace and safety for the world.
In January of 1920, the League of Nations was formed to provide a place where heads of state could peacefully assemble and work out their grievances. The gathering at the Washington Naval Conference in November 1921 was an early attempt at disarmament. And then in 1928, the Kellogg-Briand Pact, known in other parts of the world as the Pact of Paris, actually attempted to outlaw war. Noble attempts, maybe, but some of the very measures taken to ensure peace would lead to another world war in under 20 years. Just long enough for the children of the first war to come of age to fight…and die…in the second.
Several summers ago we were in Washington, DC. The fabulous WWII Memorial had opened while we were still living in Brazil, and I hadn’t had a chance yet to see it. We spent some time there, took pictures, sat and soaked up a little of the solemn atmosphere and thought about the sacrifices made by the men and women of that era. We moved along to see the other memorials: Vietnam, Korea, Iwo Jima…but where was the memorial to WWI? We happened to stumble across it, off to the side, surrounded by shrubbery needing to be groomed.
Dirty.
Overgrown.
Forgotten.
My eyes filled with tears when I realized what it was. And I was oddly annoyed that we got so many good shots with no strangers milling about in the background. Usually I grumble and complain (mentally, not out loud) that I can’t seem to get good shots of the places we visit because there are too many stinking tourists (like me) in the way. But not this time. No one else was there.
Forgotten.
Korea has been given the distinction of being the forgotten war, but even that one got a pretty nice national memorial while WWI didn’t have one. What we happened upon was actually a DC specific memorial commemorating DC residents who died in the war.
The generation of WWII has been called “the Greatest Generation”. A well deserved honor, for truly they were great. I don’t think many people my age and younger, as well as a majority of baby boomers, have any idea what the Greatest Generation sacrificed. I used to chafe at being called Generation X. There’s a certain chuckle-worthy ring to Baby Boomers, nobility in being The Greatest, and Millenials sounds so…futuristic and full of hope. But Gen X? A vague, faceless term to describe the youth of the colorful 80s. But hey, at least we weren’t lost. That’s the term used for the WWI generation. A scan through the emptiness of the following decades, the raunchy “Roaring 20s” and the Great Depression that followed in the 30s, is a good indication of just how appropriate that appellation was. But they didn’t start out that way. After all, every day in every way they were getting better and better.
I’m not a psychologist, but I have my theory about why that sad name is so fitting. Like the proverbial ostrich with his head in the sand, the people of the early 20th century were turning a blind eye to the great seas of boiling magma beneath the emotional surface of Europe and the western world. Neo-colonialism; liberty movements of the early and mid 19th centuries, some resolved, most not; extreme nationalism spawned by those same liberty movements, especially the unresolved ones; and the distrust of each other among the European nations which caused some conventional and some not-so-conventional alliances to be formed. This conglomerate of problems would rumble on June 28, 1914, when 19-year-old Serbian “freedom fighter,” Gavrilo Princip, and his buddies took matters into their own hands and assassinated the one man who might have been their greatest ally. It is said the Archduke planned to give more independence to Serbia once he assumed the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire. There is no telling if that was just a campaign promise that would be ultimately broken, as is the case with most politicians. We will never know since even the option was violently taken away from Franz Ferdinand by an assassin’s bullet.
The volcano rumbled and spat for weeks, then finally exploded a month to the day later on July 28. The world, which had been ambling happily out of the 19th century, was rudely thrust into the tumultuous 20th. One historian put it very succinctly when she said that the men and women of WWI galloped on horseback into the war, and those that survived flew home in airplanes. It’s a war that, more than any other conflict before it or, in my humble opinion, afterward, changed forever the political and emotional landscape of the world.
One hundred and three years ago, today, the Lost Generation ended the war that catapulted them into a new and modern era. We can no longer thank the American veterans of WWI for their service. The last one, Frank Buckles, died in 2011 at the age of 110. He fought for but never saw the fruition of a national memorial to the sacrifices he and his buddies made.
When I decided to update this post for today, I did a search online for a picture of the DC WWI memorial. Instead I discovered that on April 17 of this year, a national WWI monument opened to the public. When I saw pictures of the memorial, I sat and blubbered for a few minutes. (So I’m a cryer. Don’t judge me!) Ten years too late for Frank Buckles, but better late than never. And it proves one thing. Lost…maybe, but not forgotten. At least, not as long as we continue to remember and honor them for their sacrifices.
Happy Veterans Day to all the men and women who served or are serving now to keep our nation safe.
Links:
I tried to upload a few pictures to go with this post, but the system wasn’t allowing it. I’m not sure why. But here are some links to pictures of the DC WWI memorial before and after it was refurbished, and one to the site for the new National WWI memorial.
This page has photos of the DC WWI Memorial before it was refurbished. Very similar to what I saw on my visit. https://www.kruzanphotography.com/kruzanphotography/world-war-1-memorial-washington-dc-apr-2008
This site has a picture of the refurbished DC WWI Memorial https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/4140-district-of-columbia-national-guard-commemorates-world-war-i-throughout-2018.html
This is the site for the National WWI Memorial. https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/honor/national-wwi-memorial.html