Absolutely true. First off, British / Commonwealth / Dominion losses just in the St. Michael Offensive are horrific, the Third Army is pretty much smashed out of recognition, Fifth Army all but dies in place. Losses are highest among two Irish divisions, 16th and 36th, and pretty much have to rebuilt almost from scratch. And this is before the start of the Hundred Days, which for the British actually turn out to be even bloodier. The British (+Canadians and Australians) suffered 350,000 killed and wounded since the start of the Battle of Amiens (8 August 1918), with 140,000 just at… Read more »

Foch and Clemenceau were right … but honestly took absolutely the wrong lessons and drew the wrong conclusions about how that war ended, how the peace should be handled, and what post-war Germany should look like. It’s understandable, given what had just happened, but 100 years of subsequent history does not reflect on them kindly at all. Foch, obviously, was absolutely right about another war in 20 years. Too bad a big part of this was his fault – and much more Clemenceau and Lloyd George. Not to say the Americans were completely blameless. Wilson’s Fourteen Points and proposal of… Read more »

Oh God, yes. If you include not just the Treaty of Versailles, but the other treaties also drawn up at the Paris Peace Conference 1919-1920 (some treaties amended and re-ratified as late as 1923) you can make a laundry list of wars, conflicts, genocides, and trouble spots a mile long, all of which that draw a direct line of sight back to this. Iraq is a another huge one, which has also led to the general failure to re-forge the nation in the wake of 2003, because it was never a “real” nation to begin with. “Iraq” has always been… Read more »

Thanks very much, @damon . Yeah, like we said, when we did the big “Kaiserschlacht” series earlier in the year, I more or less promised the historical community that we would come back to the the Great War at least one more time for the 1918 Centennials. So we’ve now hit the Great War three times (Heroes of Limanowa, Spring Offensives, and 1918 Armistice).

And thanks very much to @johnlyons and @avernos for another great interview! 😀

As he says, the old lie:
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

Thanks very much, @ironshield . 😀

Thanks, @elessar2590 – my confusion is where to put the emphasis. Is is mon-ASH or MON-ash? Totally agree about the Eastern Europe. Some might argue it was a mess before the war as well, the Austro Hungarian Empire could already barely keep control and is was the assassination in Sarajevo obviously that finally ignited the whole thing. I’ve always been struck by just how LITTLE support the Easter Rising had at the time it happened. Even those local citizens who were opposed to the British Empire didn’t approve of an armed revolt while their sons were in the field in… Read more »

As bad as the reparations were, @zorg (50 billion marks in 1918), these were just the immediate demands. A schedule of 80 billion more marks was laid out to be paid by Imperial Germany out to (not kidding here) the 1980s. These were reviewed in the 1920s and waived. But the 50 billion initial reparation, plus being forced to accept sole guilt for the war, plus occupation of the Rhineland, plus the loss of territory in the East, plus the restrictions of industry and the armed forces … It was all way too much. Incredibly, men like Foch and Clemenceau… Read more »

You hear them saying that it’s a world market now but reading that even back before the great war decisions made in a boardroom could affect people all around the world.

Apologies, @torros – yes, I did get the message. This is more great news – Valor & Victory is making a comeback in a huge way! They just released new rules that are further cleaned up / clarified, a new website for the print n play is in the works, still free for anyone who wants to give it a try and expand their horizons a little. This is also good news for the designer, as he seems to have found a way to monetize his great ideas / contributions to the hobby. I am no fan of Vassal, so… Read more »

Great link, @torros – ah, wartime media. Always worth a chuckle, or a sad shake of the head. On a more serious note, it does bring up the important sociological point re: the very first step required in any war … dehumanize the enemy.

My favorite WW1 inscription is an unofficial one “i.e., graffiti” recorded off the Verdun fortress ny Yanl Magazine, written by an American:

Austin White – Chicago Illinois – 1918
Austin White – Chicago Illinois – 1945

This is the last time I want
to write my name here.

Thanks very much, @tibour !

I hope you liked our earlier article series featuring Belleau Wood.

You may be in luck, @intelligentmistertoad – a three-part article series starts today (Monday, 10/29/2018)

Thanks very much, @aztecjaguar – Glad you liked the interview and found it interesting / informative. This felt like an important article series / commemoration we just had to do, given the date.

Thank you @torros – I have just read the wikipedia Information about the 12 battles along the Isonzo river. I had no idea the Italien Front was so bad. But then, as has already been noted in the comments above, in Britain all we ever hear about is the war in the trenches – and very occasionally perhaps the Battle of Jutland. The Italian and the Eastern Fronts are almost never mentioned. Given that Italy lost so many soldiers (according to wikipedia 950,151 in these 12 battles) fighting the Central Powers, it does seem remarkable that Italy then became one… Read more »

Thanks very much @brucelea – Indeed, retreading “old battlegrounds” is always problematic, as we learn looking at the Battle of Ypres. Oh, I meant Second Battle of Ypres. Or was it Third? Fourth, maybe? Fifth / Flanders Advance?

When the names of your battles start to sound like a bad movie franchise, you may have a problem. 😐