At 5am this morning, 90 years ago, the armistice that ended WWI was signed. This will be the last major anniversary commemorated by veterans, since there are only 10 surviving and the youngest is 107. Ironically, I owe my life to the conflict itself, because my great-grandfather’s brother was killed, and his fiance ended up marrying my great-grandfather.
Although the truce was agreed in the early morning, it did not come into effect, officially, until 11am. This technicality resulted in a horrifying fact. In the 6 hours between 5 and 11, three times as many people were killed as America has lost during the entire Iraq War or 911. More people were killed than in the D-Day landing, and more Americans were killed than any other nation. This was because most generals decided to stop fighting, but America’s commander, Pershing, specifically ordered attacks right up until the last minute.
In Pershing’s defense, he believed that the enemy needed to be forced into unconditional surrender, or there would be another war, and that every last second should be used to smash them to a pulp. The consensus view, however, points to the opposite, that it wasn’t the softness of the allies that eventually caused the Second World War, but the harshness of war reparations, German economic collapse and subsequent climate of political unrest and extremism. After seeing millions of people being slaughtered, you would have thought that Pershing might have had enough. If I’m wrong, Pershing’s posthumous reputation has been imperceptibly dented by an obscure blogger. If I’m right, Pershing is responsible for thousands of people’s deaths due to his arrogance, incompetence and blood lust.
Despite these losses on the last day of WWI, America has never had its equivalent of the battle of the Somme (although the Civil War comes close), the resulting patriotic capitulation and distaste for: war; national debt and people like Pershing. And people still take pictures of families sitting on bombs, smiling.