tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26437387.post3109458029605699912..comments2023-10-19T08:49:35.405-05:00Comments on Aún Estamos Vivos: Same Old, Same Old... As the 'Lost Generation' Passes OnJeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10754406706300818849noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26437387.post-15307903650722276032008-03-28T12:44:00.000-05:002008-03-28T12:44:00.000-05:00Hi William,How are things?You know, I've been inte...Hi William,<BR/><BR/>How are things?<BR/><BR/>You know, I've been interested in that Hobsbawm book ever since I noticed you were reading it. I'd like to take a run at that. I've been reading a book by Michael Burleigh, which also deals with big 20th century themes, and Burleigh is very conservative. I'd like to see the contrast between his take on things and Hobsbawm's.<BR/><BR/>As for the percentage of casualties in France, yes, it was huge. In <I>14-18</I>, it says the mortality rate was slightly less than 1 out of every 5 men in uniform. For officers, it was higher than that. Yeah, I suppose they can say that the pacifism embraced by the British after that war had a lot to do with their unpreparedness in 1939. On the other hand, the militarism in Germany had a lot to do with their humiliation at Versailles and the ensuing suffering caused by the hyper-inflation that it created, despite the fact that their borders had never been breached in the war. The German shock troops of WWI became some of the very first fascists... Desensitized men who kept living the values (or lack therof) of the war, looking down on the "decadent" values of the weak Wiemar Republic. Mussolini's men in Italy were of the same background and mindset.<BR/><BR/><I>Did you ever read The Peace To End All Peace? Did we talk about that before?</I><BR/><BR/>Yes. A good description of how we got to where we are in the Middle East. When I heard the Republican candidates in the debates claiming to have read a bit of Qutb's writings, saying that "they hate us for what we are, and not for what we do", I remember thinking that they might want to read Fromkin's book to get a better perspective on that.Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10754406706300818849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26437387.post-56452023973780206822008-03-27T19:37:00.000-05:002008-03-27T19:37:00.000-05:00Jeff,Excellent post on a tough subject.I didn't kn...Jeff,<BR/><BR/>Excellent post on a tough subject.<BR/><BR/>I didn't know any of that about Sassoon and Graves, so thanks.<BR/><BR/>Interesting you mention the numbers from WWI. While you're reading that, I'm reading the Hobsbawm book, which, for the first time in my life, really drives home how terrible that war was. The numbers are staggering. I don't have any in front of me, but I know in France there was an incredible % of that generation of men that were wiped out.<BR/><BR/>And, though I never considered it before, Hobsbawn argues that it was the devastation of WWI that led to such unpreparedness for WWII on the part of France and many in England. People simply didn't want to go through something like that again.<BR/><BR/>Very interesting time period.<BR/><BR/>Did you ever read The Peace To End All Peace? Did we talk about that before?cowboyangelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13452987299073540171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26437387.post-55772544528244129312008-03-26T19:29:00.000-05:002008-03-26T19:29:00.000-05:00I didn't know he lost a brother. It may very well...I didn't know he lost a brother. It may very well have shaped him.<BR/><BR/>Great poet. Thanks for the link!Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10754406706300818849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26437387.post-46082267414529918932008-03-26T18:52:00.000-05:002008-03-26T18:52:00.000-05:00He's an interesting guy. I've read some of his po...He's an interesting guy. I've read some of <A HREF="http://www.poetiv.com/sassoon-siegfried/index.html" REL="nofollow">his poetry</A> and it's really moving. I think I read that his brother was killed at the Battle of Gallipoli - I wonder if that had an effect on his feelings about war.crystalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05681674503952991492noreply@blogger.com