1914 -- The West Starts Dying

American Thinker ^ | 3/6/2014 | Mike Konrad

[Sioux-san]

Most competent historians can trace the decline of the West to World War I, which started 100 years ago. The slaughter on the fields of Flanders, the subsequent influenza epidemic, the dissolution of centuries-old European monarchies and empires, and a global depression, led to a sort of cultural post traumatic stress syndrome after the war.

All the more amazing is that the West had totally won the war. All the retrograde powers had been defeated. The victors were America, France, and Britain, the very core of the Western ideal. They were uncontested and unbeatable.

But the victory was Pyrrhic. It had come at such a fearsome price that victory had not proved a vindication of Western ideals, but had caused many to question their merit. The resulting lack of confidence caused the West to lack the resolve to put down extremism in Russia, though it could have done so easily in 1918. European forces would abandon a hard won Constantinople -- an historic Christian seat -- and let the Turkish Muslims retake it in 1923.

Islam, which had been brought to the edge of collapse, was given a breather to recover. Peoples of color would lose all respect for the white man when their volunteer soldiers came home from the bloodbath. White claims of superiority were shown to be a lie after Africans, Asians, and Arabs had seen whites slaughter each other by the millions.

Atheism came into vogue in Europe after World War I, and never left. The clergy of each particular nation had supported the war, and encouraged men off to their deaths. To the Europeans, God had died on Flanders' fields. Europe is now post-Christian....

[Sioux-san]

WW1 was so horrific that none of us can even begin to imagine. I had no idea the depths of depravity our Govts. had our young men go to - WW2, more unfinished business - WW3, will that be the End Game - For what, I ask???? We simply must stop cooperating.

In Germany, by law, if you are Christian who attends church, you are taxed 10% more as your involuntary tithe to that church. That must have had an impact on attendance, I am guessing.

[PapaNew]

I would trace the beginning of the end of western society to the late 1800’s with the rise of the godless Fabian Society and the Progressive movement which continued to built up steam in the 1900’s as the whole world turned from God to their own devices.

[skinkinthegrass]

hmm..the Muslims and Marxism took hold.

[staytrue]

“In Germany, by law, if you are Christian who attends church, you are taxed 10% more as your involuntary tithe to that church.”

In the US, you usually pay less in tax.

[SIRTRIS]

Oh geeeee!! Watch the JWs come out of the wood work!!

[SMARTY]

That’s accurate. The French revolution is where it started... it’s all been downhill since.

[skinkinthegrass]

"own devices"pretty much..humanism political movement arises,
"we're much, much better than G*D"..hubris abounds.

[Doctor 2Brains]

For later

[Graewoulf]

Thanks for this thread.

[Sam Gamgee]

I don’t know. Seems to me “Great” Britain is basically a Sharia state these days.

[GraceG]

The “Progressive Era” and it’s innane policies along with the acceptence of FIAT based currencies was the Poison pill western society gladly swallowed like the kool-aide at a Jim Jones gathering...

[ex-snook]

A MUST read for all Freepers who place America’s future first.

[nathanbedford]

Here is a worthy piece that everyone should read. We are to this very day suffering the consequences of World War I.

I would like to state a quibble: the first world war undoubtedly brought wholesale disillusionment, especially in Europe, which the author describes as a disillusionment of race that is, a disillusionment with the purported superiority of the white race because people of color observed white people killing each other under horrific conditions. I agree there was a mass disillusionment but I don't think it was on racial lines. I think the disillusionment was on class lines.

Racial disillusionment about the purported superiority of the white race came in World War II when Nehru says he saw the great British Empire being humiliated by their defeat of Singapore at the hands of the yellow race. World War I saw the Turks defeat the British at Gallipoli but there was compensating victories against the Ottoman Empire led by Lawrence and victories by regular British units in the holy land. Moreover, England prevailed ultimately in Iraq.

The author does not address the anomaly of the Germans having recovered their elan to the point where they were perhaps the most effective fighting units, man for man, in World War II. They suffered as badly as had the French and worse than the British yet their unit cohesion was remarkable even against overwhelming Soviet odds.

If the Germans lost their belief in God, it was evidently replaced by the pseudo-religion of the crazy Nazi belief system. Interestingly, at the siege of Moscow when everything was on the line for Stalin he lifted restrictions against the Orthodox Religion and brought in the clergy to fortify the troops.

Apart from these quibbles, it is a pity that study of World War I, indeed this study of history as a whole has been replaced with a left wing dialectic designed to aportion guilt rather than tell the story of the ascent of man.

[Lake Living]

I sometimes wonder if it wasn’t the U. S. Civil War (at least for America). It seems to me that Lincoln preserved the Union and ended slavery (which needed ending, don’t misunderstand me) but at the expense of our form of government. Federalism and the office of the presidency was greatly empowered empowered afterwards. In a lot of ways Lincoln was a very mixed bag.

[JimSEA]

Most analysis of the decline of the West leave out the important fact that the seeds of its destruction were nurtured within Western Civilization itself. Marx didn’t emerge from the jungles of Borneo, he was part in parcel of 19th century Europe and the Industrial Revolution. Mao sprang more from the West than from Chinese culture which he worked diligently to destroy. Pol Pot adsorbed communism in Paris, not in Siam Reap.

[alexander_busek]

In Germany, by law, if you are Christian who attends church, you are taxed 10% more as your involuntary tithe to that church. That must have had an impact on attendance, I am guessing.

Incorrect:

Der Kirchensteuersatz beträgt derzeit (2011) in Bayern und Baden-Württemberg 8%, in den übrigen Bundesländern 9% der Einkommensteuer.

- Wikipedia

(http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirchensteuer_(Deutschland))

Jewish communities in Germany likewise levy Kirchensteuer, though at a lower rate.

Regards,

[Sioux-san]

Excellent comment - so who benefits by keeping Western civilization under constant assault? Who benefits from a continouous state of chaos since WW1? It sure isn’t We the Peasants. What if we all said ‘No more will we run head long into the machine guns with nothing but our horses and bayonets’??? Will the Oligarchs continue to win by provoking enough of us to wage their wars that enrich them so much?

[jimmyray]

QUOTE: "In a lot of ways Lincoln was a very mixed bag."

I concur.

[Sioux-san]

My information is old - 1990s - so it’s 8-9% now - the point is the State has no business forcing this on Christians by law. A tithe is supposed to be voluntary. The churches and synagogues obviously suffered the repercussions of allowing the Govt. to do their job. N’est ce pas?