Thank God for the real men who founded this country,
and for the real men who continue to sustain it
Please join the 300 by donating $100
Posted on 08/03/2014 3:08:58 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
The French and German presidents have commemorated the 100th anniversary of Germany's declaration of war on France on 3 August 1914.
Francois Hollande and his German counterpart, Joachim Gauck, made a joint tribute in Alsace to soldiers killed during World War One.
They were to lay the first stone for a memorial at Vieil Armand cemetery.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Any Americans invited? My grandfather fought that war, too.
Germany, France, Britain, Russia and Italy will never recover from the irreplacable genetic losses they incurred between 1914-1945. It was the beginning of the end of European civilization.
The ceremony is commemorating the initiation of hostilities in 1914.
The U.S. anniversary would be in April since we didn't get into the war until April 6, 1917.
On average, roughly 10000 men per day, seven days a week, 52 weeks per year, for over four years.
And the men they were losing weren’t “the halt and the lame”.
There approximately 10 million military deaths during WW1.
Just under 117k were Americans.
British Empire ~1M
German Empire ~2M
Russian Empire ~2M
France ~1.4M
Italy ~0.5M
Ottoman Empire ~0.5M
I understand. But the war started on the 14th but of course this may be a special date I’m unaware of. And I didn’t mean to forget our British brothers who suffered so much.
2017 would be an appropriate time to show up for the American tribute to WWI, madam. 2014 is for the Europeans only.
If they’d ask why we’re late, you can say “Retreat? Hell, we just got here!”.
One hundred years ago this evening, Sir Edward Grey remarked “The lamps are going out all over Europe, and we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”
The next morning Germany invaded Belgium on their way to France, thus drawing England into the war.
Sir Edward was right, in a limited way.
Not only were the lamps not re-lit in his lifetime, they will not be relit in his grandchildren’s grandchildren’s lifetime.
And it’s said that the wine crops were wonderful in the years after the war because of the fertilization of the blood and body of so many men. We often forget what the French went through - which tired them out for WWII.
Ah, such beautiful and intriguing words. Now I know why we’re commemorating this sad day in history. Do our children and grandchildren even give a damn? Have we taught them?
Even proportionately, Germany suffered more than France.
Didn’t seem to tire them out for Round II.
Mine too—but it was almost three years before we started. Our part in the offensive was relatively short—but the casualties were horrific. I cannot imagine that kind of loss today.
Thank God for the real men who founded this country,
and for the real men who continue to sustain it
Please join the 300 by donating $100
Nope—just pissed them off.
Actually it was France that was bled white, particularly at Verdun. The French Army mutinied twice during the war. In 1915 and 1917. The loss of so many soldiers was the prime reason France built the Maginot Line.
I wonder who many of us here at FR had relatives who fought? My grandfather enlisted at 15 - he lied about his age and no one at that time gave a damn.
A great deal of the war was fought on French territory if my memory serves correct - wrecking the infrastructure, lives, farms and the mental health of the poor people who endured it. Check out Grand Illusion if you don’t believe me.
The Germans instigated the war in my opinion (the Kaiser) and they suffered the same way they suffered in WWII. You don’t feel sorry for the Krauts, do you?
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