100 years ago today

[LONDONER]

World War I started and lights went out all over Europe.

There will be many contributers to the board who will have no recollection of it at all but whether you do or whether you do not, were it not for the sacrifice of many hundreds of thousands of young lives who volunteered to fight to preserve the freedom that we enjoy today, Europe might now be living under the Nazi jackboot.

Tonight in the UK at 10pm, people are asked to turn out all lights and light a single candle to remember those who fell. Will you remember those who gave their lives?

[ExpatBrit77]

here in Belgium a lot of remembrance events today.
think you mean WW1 though and whilst the point about the Nazis is correct, they weren't founded until the 1920s.... WW1 and the excessive reparations that Germany had to pay to France and other countries after defeat in 1918 indirectly led to WW2 so there is a link between the two which a lot of people are unaware of.

[LONDONER]

here in Belgium a lot of remembrance events today.
think you mean WW1 though and whilst the point about the Nazis is correct, they weren't founded until the 1920s.... WW1 and the excessive reparations that Germany had to pay to France and other countries after defeat in 1918 indirectly led to WW2 so there is a link between the two which a lot of people are unaware of.

Thank you for the correction. The WWII was a typo. 1939 was not 100 years ago. Had Germany won WWI then no doubt Europe would be a very different place today.

I have heard about the commemorations in Belguim and in France and that it was a young Belgium who was the first casualty of the war.

[Wolfpack]

Thanks for posting this Londoner

[LONDONER]

Thanks for posting this Londoner

You're more than welcome. As you are in the UK you will be more than aware of the commemorations that are taking place.

[nullnaught]

Some disabled veterans get fucxked out of their dissabilty.

[BlueStar]

A commemoration of my own to the Lebanese people whom the ottomans raided their houses and stole every goodies they found, leaving the poor people dying from hunger during WW1. Around 200,000 Lebanese died miserably during that period.

[50Plus]

I suggest reading the Wikipedia entry on World War I. It is quite an interesting read, and I detest war mongering.

I did not know the entire history and the various subplots that were in play. WW I was a far different war than WW II which generally received much more western press and is the basis for so much of our lives today.

It is also interesting to see how the boundaries of present day Europe are so very different than what they were on August 4, 1914.

My country grew greatly from its involvement at Vimy Ridge.