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Topic: NOW It’s 100 Years (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post ReplyPost New Topic
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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 28 July 2014 at 2:06pm | IP Logged | 1  

The Great War, the War to End All Wars, officially began on this day in 1914.
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John Young
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Joined: 22 August 2004
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Posted: 28 July 2014 at 2:28pm | IP Logged | 2  

I don't remember every meeting anyone who had fought in the Great War.  My Great Grandfather that I knew was to old, and my Grandfather's were were born in 1919 and 1923 respectively.  

My father knew several vet when he was a young man, but they never talked about the war when he was around.  He heard rumors or stories about scars or why they acted so funny. One man had survived a mustard gas attack.  He had a scared face, never married and worked at the local grocery.  He always was patient with the kids, and gave them candy.  Dad also said that everyone told him not to stare.  I just imagine it must have been hard for a little kid not to stare.  


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Thom Price
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L’Homme Diabolique

Joined: 29 April 2004
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Posted: 28 July 2014 at 2:53pm | IP Logged | 3  

Although I've read quite a bit of fiction set during the WWI years, I'm not sure how much about it I really know.  I don't think I could name a cause of the war other than "Archduke gets shot, all hell breaks loose".
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Jason Fliegel
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Joined: 19 December 2005
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Posted: 28 July 2014 at 3:24pm | IP Logged | 4  

The basic version of the cause is "Austrian Archduke gets shot; interlocking alliances draw in the Great Powers."  The deeper version is that Austria-Hungary and Russia had been fighting for dominance in the Balkans and used Ferdinand's assassination as an excuse to turn a long-running diplomatic struggle into a war (diplomacy by other means); the other Great Powers were drawn in partly because of alliance commitments but really to protect their own interests and advance the interests of their allies.
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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 28 July 2014 at 3:39pm | IP Logged | 5  

My maternal grandfather (born 1895) was in the Great War. That was what he called it.

He was even a POW.

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Brad Krawchuk
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Joined: 19 June 2006
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Posted: 28 July 2014 at 4:41pm | IP Logged | 6  

When I was a child, my grandmother knew someone who had fought in the First World War. He was born in 1901, and lied about his age to go overseas with his older friends when he was 14. 

I can't even think about what that must have been like. 
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Steve De Young
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Joined: 01 April 2008
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Posted: 28 July 2014 at 5:53pm | IP Logged | 7  

The magisterial book about the build up to World War I has been Massie's Dreadnought for many years now. Its just an amazing piece of history writing, and well worth the time investment it requires.

The other thing I always think of in terms of the Great War is 'Paths of Glory', which I think may be Kubrick's most underrated film.
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Bill Mimbu
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Posted: 28 July 2014 at 6:22pm | IP Logged | 8  

I don't recall anyone from my family involved with The First World War. The Russo-Japanese War in 1904 involving my Grand-Uncle, yeah, but not the Great War.
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Carmen Bernardo
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Joined: 08 August 2006
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Posted: 28 July 2014 at 6:48pm | IP Logged | 9  

   I had no relatives that I know of being involved in the war, so my only recollections are of old movie reels featured in PBS documentaries and textbook chapters read during my school years. The impression that I got was that there wasn't much interest in the United States until some of our citizens died in the sinking of the Lusitania. The swift end to the war after we got involved seemed to have left us with a sense of self-importance (as in the USA saving Europe's collective behinds), though the horrors of that war also influenced the period of isolationism which followed.
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John OConnor
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Joined: 01 August 2004
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Posted: 28 July 2014 at 7:12pm | IP Logged | 10  

The Zimmerman note had some influence into our entering...
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Matt Reed
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Robotmod

Joined: 16 April 2004
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Posted: 28 July 2014 at 8:07pm | IP Logged | 11  

My Great Grandfather fought in WWI. I have his discharge papers from 1919, the ones he carried with him to the day he died in the early 60's. 
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Jeffrey Rice
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Joined: 10 September 2011
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Posted: 28 July 2014 at 10:27pm | IP Logged | 12  

I found newspapers in my attic from the time. In one paper, most of the ads noted the business would be closed for Registration Day. I was trying to figure out whether it was a forgotten or renamed holiday when I found an article listing locations for all young, able-bodied men to show up on Register Day. Lightbulb!

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