Why was World War I called The Great War?

World War I, hence not all leaders in attendance are European. But I'm probably putting too much thought into this.

i thought this was one correct lesson to the very high % of usa that don't understand it this way

1. It can't be underlined enough how important the First World War is to France's national self-conception. Trump's failure to attend the memorial is a huge diplomatic insult.

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) November 10, 2018

well, i didn't mean the "insult" part, i meant the scale of ww1 relative to ww2 in popular perceptions

I was somewhat astonished to read casualty numbers in WWI vs those in WWII: overall the total number killed in the latter dwarfs the former but France was fully engaged in battle for all of WWI vs their swift surrender in WWII. Once people also understand what France went through the first time it becomes easier to understand why there was not as much drive to fight Germany to the death again (a nation that remained in the throes of a violent nationalistic sickness that one defeat wasn’t enough to cast away.)

I doubt trump knows a single thing about that war

i remember my dad at a memorial day parade in the 70s trying to explain to 5 or 6 y/o me why the (very few) wwi veterans were so important and notable because of the immensity of the great war in world history.

His wife is Slovenian yet he still blamed the Baltic states for the crimes they committed in Yugoslavia. 'Cause it sounds just like the Balkans, duh!

xp

I've heard it said before that the failure of The Maginot Line and surrender of France was much more down to a widespread fatalistic malaise amongst the French military than any stroke of genius from Manstein. It might not tell the full story, but I think there is some substance to that.

And in France they still have 1200 square kilometres of land that is still a century later, an uninhabitable toxic wasteland. Tho I'd have let it slide if they had invaded England and done the same to Middlesbrough.

And in France they still have 1200 square kilometres of land that is still a century later, an uninhabitable toxic wasteland.

Remember learning about this some years back. Like a pre-nuclear Chernobyl.

the only difference is that Chernobyl has become quite a nature reserve in some parts and you read stories of people moving back there recently. Zone Rouge is still lifeless and deadly, it's quite mindblowing really!

"According to the Sécurité Civile agency in charge, at the current rate no fewer than 700 more years will be needed to clean the area completely."

So why is Theresa May in London today?

Putin RSVP'd first is my punt tbh

"Remembrance Day: In pictures"

meh, no decent Up The Arse Corner contenders this year.

I'd have let it slide if they had invaded England and done the same to Middlesbrough

how would we tell?

no such thing as "uninhabitable toxic wasteland" in Real England!

so this Peter Jackson doc is on bbc2 tonight and its just mindblowing seeing all this footage in high-ish def colour.

how is that P-Jax doc? I saw a trailer and it is really something else seeing the film transformed in this manner, hoping it's worth a view and isn't just a gimmick on which to hinge a thinly sketched statement.

I thought it was very bland + heavily sentimentalised Our Boys type claptrap, and aside from the old movie stock tarted up by CGI - with absolutely nothing interesting to say and with no coherent narrative. Although I'm sure it made Tommy Robinson cry into his beer. Just basically the type of shite you'd see playing on one of the screens at the imperial war museum.

Saw most of The Long Shadow repeated on BBC4 the last few weeks. That was interesting and challenging even when I was sceptical of some of the interpretations he made.

I want a full book about this story.

I want a movie too. I want the whole damn thing.

a gay love story of the 1st world war’s year.

[thread by @guillemclua im just a translator]. pic.twitter.com/I3CkgKd1EO

— maaayyy. (@brendonsexual) December 7, 2018

Well, the chances are probably quite high..

https://guillemclua.com/comunicado-sobre-el-hilo-de-twitter-emilyxaver/

Rather!