One radical approach to getting on with others!

20th anniversary, today of our so well-intentioned invasion of Iraq to bring peace and tranquility to Saddam's country.  Unfortunately, our own precious men, women and children were killed in revenge - even in our own UK.

Try nonviolent resistance, non collaboration and making/keeping friends rather than provocation and making enemies!

Simple - don't go to war because it breeds resentment and revenge in the losing side: eg in 1919 with Germany and in Russia in the 1990s at Russia's ending of the Cold War. Triumphanalism instead of magnanimity by the West - and much else.

Just do what Jesus says and did. Simple!!

Britain set a bad example - the sad evidence

This, I think, is a corrective to much prejudice in favour of Britain by Brits and how the West is best - but, minus me!

1. Britain was the first with concentration camps in the Boer War that killed over 20,000 women and children.
2. Our scorched earth policy in that war was not noble and the war itself was nothing about protecting these British islands of ours.
3. Next, Churchill turned our warships from being fueled by coal to being driven by oil.  He then saw the domination of the Middle East for oil as the prize to gain world mastery.  Not Hitler, after world mastery but our own beloved Churchill actually did it and used those two words of intent when Hitler was still a boy!  (Source: 'The Prize' by Daniel Yergin)
4. In 1914, Churchill turned a friend into an enemy; he then persuaded the War Cabinet to initiate an attack on that Ottoman Empire and, after months of bloody war, lost catastrophically.
5. According to Admiral Lord West, in his Radio 4 series, 'Britain at Sea', we Brits attacked Russia from 1917, after their defeat/withdrawal in the world war.  This was to gain their re-entry on our side against Germany so that German troops would have to be moved from fighting us to fighting the Russians on the eastern front, once more!  After the November armistice of 11 Nov 1918, we carried on our war with Russia because of their Bolshevik government - totally unacceptable to us fine British folk!
6. Our premature entry into the 1914 World War before we were attacked or about to be attacked was wrong.  It was simply unethical and contrary to all normal standards of decency, especially at that time of far greater church-going and Christian belief.  We should have known better.  Our declaration of war on the 4 August was not self defence.  Our security was not threatened.  It was really all about not wanting to see the status quo, the balance of power, changed on the mainland of Europe.  The war was sold to the public as us gallant Brits coming to the defence of poor, trampled all over, Belgium and teaching the wicked Germans a lesson.  Yet, we had a history of keeping to alliances and treaties only when it suited us at the time.  On 4 August 1914, we over-reacted to an assassination 37 days earlier and, then, on the side of the assassin against the wronged party, Austria-Hungary!  That doubly wrong decision by Asquith, Churchill and Grey, et al had the unfortunate effect of leading to 'Britain's 100 years of War' (see 9, below).  Then and now, we just could not resist keeping our noses out of other countries businesses.  Well, we did know what was best for them, after all, just as we do now over the need for EU reform.
7. Throughout the mad month of July 1914, our government did absolutely nothing to bang heads together on the mainland of Europe to prevent a continental war.  Our very stupid and far too early entry into the war turned it into a worldwide conflagration by virtue of our huge empire.
8. We controlled/dominated 30% of the world with the largest empire in the history of humanity.  This is not something to be proud of.
9. Nor, was our untold riches gleaned from the abominable trade in our fellow members of the human family - the slave trade.  More pernicious deaths in the human family of which we were responsible.  Still no reparations paid.  We pocketed the immoral earnings from our filthy trade and have no intention of returning even a penny to a single African nation.
10. Britain was as anti-Semitic as many other European countries were for centuries.  Germany took it to a new and disgusting level between 1933 and 1945 yet, we did nothing officially to save the Jews and the many other minorities in Germany.  There were a handful of very brave people who did all they could, throughout the war, to shelter Jews.  Our government did nothing.  Yet, Churchill at least, it seems, knew what was going on from before war was declared.
11. Our total war, our saturation fire bombing of German towns, cities and other settlements in the closing months of the war, when our victory was assured, was a war crime.  No regret has ever been whispered by us upstanding Brits, despite our fine British values of high morality!
12. Our armed forces ended up slaughtering many more Germans than they did of our people.
13. 'Britain's 100 years of War' - the four page spread in the Guardian, 12 Feb 2014, of proof and shameful evidence of aggression and killing of foreigners in every single year since the 4 August 1914, if not earlier, to the present.
14. Germany's non-aggressive foreign policy has been excellent and exemplary since 1945 (somewhat undone by its membership of NATO!).  The Germans are, rightly, the respected leaders of the EU.  Their energy and transport policy is also superb and sensible.  We Brits could learn much from them.  Instead, we want out - and the sooner the better.

This kind of British values/patriotism is totally unnaceptable

Even with the wisdom of hindsight, after 100 years, and with the knowledge that 20 million humans were killed horrifically (perhaps, a total 100 million casualties) to stop Germany controlling Europe, we still all think, it was well worth it to be on the 'winning' side!!  Even, when it was a Pyrrhic victory, too leading onto the 1939 European and global war.

Who has done the most subjugating?

Mr/s B Parsons believes that the EU is subjugating the UK.  We entered into it voluntarily after a referendum and send representatives to its Parliament every five years.
Over hundreds of years, the UK acquired domination and control over fifty countries by force of arms and kept them subjugated by military power.  We also controlled all the major sea lanes of the world.
All this set a very bad example to Germany that was very late in the game of conquering or claiming nations to build an empire.  Yet, remarkably, those fifty countries still fought for us to stop Germany taking our world control off us in 1914 and 1939 (better the devil you know than the devil you don't know).  To this day, the US/UK, with NATO, remain as the world's dominant power bloc.  Germany is the dominant partner in the EU and Angela Merkel of Germany is the highly respected senior partner in the EU - but, by constraint and not coercion.

Such a pity but worth it when we didn't have to die!

We rushed to war on 4 August 1914.
Our intervention was premature, our army too small and, certainly, war was unnecessary when Germany had no intention of attacking Britain - until we attacked them.
The Cabinet knew it would fall, then lose power at the General Election, if it did not declare war on Germany - according to historian, Niall Ferguson.
Our war, much of its prosecution and the way it was resolved in 1919 was utterly stupid, especially the reparations and all the blame laid on Germany alone.
Germany nearly won in 1914, 1916 and, once more in 1918.  The beat Russia in 1917.
Violence, domination and control breeds more of all three, as we have seen off and on in Ireland for 800 years, in Israel/Palestine for 70 years - and, with the UK with our mighty victory minus magnanimity in 1919 that led to the second half of the European/Christian World War - in 1939, according to a former Conservative leader, Ian Duncan Smith.
UK has been engaged in warfare, somewhere in the world, for every single year for the last 100 years. Finally, in 2015 it seems, we may, finally live in peace and non-violence with all our neighbours in the world.
Even with the knowledge that 10 to 20 million people died horrific deaths in 4 years, nearly all Brits today still maintain this was such a pity but very necessary to stop Germany taking over some of our world control in 1914.  In 1914, a Germany far more democratic than the UK, too.
This is not a good example to set to the Muslim extremists/radicals of this day.
Ours is not a fine record.

The Very Necessary War

For me, a very necessary war because:

1. We were the superpower of the day and, therefore, had to intervene as the policeman, judge and jury of the world.
2. In 1914, UK had seen centuries of warfare on the mainland of Europe, anyway.  More war there would not seem unusual.
3. Britain had a culture and tradition of war and, war first and foremost.  Churchill's magnanimity in victory and jaw, jaw came much later.
4. Patriotism, militarism and nationalism were also the norm.
5. Every citizen knew Britain was right and on the side of upholding civilised values throughout the world.
6. It had always been unheard of not to do your patriotic duty to King and Country.
7. Throughout every country in Europe and Russia, every subject of these monarchs believed their kaisers, czars and kings were God's representatives on earth and, therefore, knew best.  When they wanted war, war it had to be.
8. It was widely believed in the readership of the penny dreadfuls and the ever so popular 'Daily Mail' that the Germans were less than human - Gerhuns not Germans.  They were evil and had to be fought when they invaded our fellow industrialised and colonial power of Belgium.
9. We had to honour our alliance with France and Russia.  We always honoured our treaty obligations and we were always men and women of our word.  "Perfidious Albion" was a disgraceful slur on our nation.
10. Better to die gloriously as a hero with your name engraved in stone for ever, than risk being ruled by Germany.
11. Violence was the done thing; non-violence was non-existent in European thinking and absent from the English vocabulary (still to this day)

FOOTNOTE:

Ten million combatants and a further ten million non-combatants were killed in the industrial slaughter that was the 1 WW of four and a quarter years.  This was the price that Max Hastings (in the one hour long documentary on BBC2, 'The Necessary War') and everyone of his interviewees agreed was worth paying and that made this war necessary to stop German hegemony in Europe and to maintain the British Empire.  In addition, each side believed God was on their side.   The poor, deluded Empire soldiers were killing and being killed for the noble and glorious cause of God, King and Country - and to avoid any chance of coming under Berlin's control.  Why God should ever want to have anything to do with such a stupid creation does make me doubt the wisdom of such an all powerful and all knowing God of justice.

Dear Mr Weller,

Thank you for this. 

I agree with some but by no means all of your views. Ultimately, Britain fought the First World War because Germany posed a threat to its security.

Best wishes

Gary Sheffield

Sent from my iPhone

Dear Prof Gary

Thanks so much for reading my piece, that was partly tongue in cheek - and for having the decency to reply.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, I know but, could Britain not have waited until it was obvious that Germany was moving to invade our shores and then launched a pre-emptive attack of self defence?  Our island location should have given us a tremendous advantage in being the last to be invaded (if we ever were) by the Germany of 100 years ago.  Was not Kaiser Bill pre-occupied with conquering certain countries on the European mainland?

Thankfully, that bloodbath and this century's attacks on weak Iraq and Afghanistan have given us such a bloody nose that we have not gone in, with all guns blazing, in Syria or Crimea.

I think, as has the SNP, the UK as a whole would be wise to learn from Norway as regards both energy (North Sea oil and gas) policy and peacemaking.

Best wishes