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Poppy symbolism, The opium of the people.
10000maniacs
Posts: 831 Forum Member
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Okay, I have no problem in my head justifying Britain's moral right in to parcipitate in World Wars 1 & 2. Greater good and all that. And of course the families need to find purpose and meaning to the futility of war. But surely turning the poppy into an obligation to anybody appearing on a TV screen is making a mockery of the cruelty and carnage that actually took place. For example, did the boys that were shot by generals for "cowardice" or herded like cattle by the same generals over the trenches only to be mowed down by German machine guns sacrifice their lives for King and country with future generations in mind? No, a lot of these boys lives were snuffed out of existence by idiotic and megalomaniac British generals because it was deemed appropriate for them to die in pain and terror. Maybe a white poppy would be a better choice to remind people that war is sheer murder, and life is too precious to be used in this way.
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It wasn't - it was a war for the vested interests of all the combatant nations.
It is highly ironic that one of the members of the British Establishment responsible for the murder, Butcher Haig, was associated with the British Legion after the war, trying to help the soldiers he had sent to be cut to pieces in the first place.
That sounds like every war that has ever been fought.
War is the biggest waste of human life and resources there is.
Oh dear what a sorry misconception of events and people manipulated to portray your version of history.
Lions led by Donkeys is of course a myth.
No, the reason Great Britain went to war was that we had an agreement with Belgium that if that small country was attacked by Germany and her allies we would go to her aid, If we hadn't gone to help fight for Belgium we would have been turning our backs on a friendly nation.
Britain was one of the last countries of the major European nations to enter into the war and even then it was with a great deal of reluctance.
Imagine going back in time to 1914. How would you have fought the war as a General? What tactics and strategy would you have employed to minimise loss of life while maximising your chance of winning the war?
Do you get your simple minded impression of ww1 through watching the last episode of Blackadder ?
It seems like it.
Perhaps some people need to educate themselves over the complex events in the run up the war and subsequent conflict.
No nation had experience of fighting that type of war before , it was no longer a case of the British Square defeating all comers , it was new weapons gas , machine guns, tanks and aircraft , the tried and tested methods of warfare were gone and new ones had to be found
Exactly. We had new weapons but not new tactics, this led to massive casualties. The new weapons that would bring about mobile warfare (planes, tanks etc) had not been invented yet, and even by the end of the war were still fairly primitive. Generals contact with their front lines was through runners, carrier pigeons and telephones. None could keep up with the pace of advance, especially over broken ground (like, erm, trenches) and so led to battles becoming a confusing mess almost instantly.
Great post by the way OP.
The people I feel for were the millions of combatants who were manipulated by their countries to participate in this tragedy, all told they were fighting for freedom and country.
Yes, that is the school history view, what we were all told.
The fundamental reasons were imperialism, nationalism and the fact that a lot of money was to be made.
Boys games. Just what many of the military leaders of WWI played, in fact.
But with millions of lives.
Fully agree with you.
And the question the post asked? Let me guess, its irrelevant?
So the 'school version' is wrong, while yours is right, because 'reasons'.
Try to keep up.
http://www.ppu.org.uk/whitepoppy/
In relation to the causes of WWI, of course it is.
Noting to do with what we've been discussing.
I think he/she was referring to the red poppy ridden TV shows & sports events. I think he was implicating that they should be replaced with the white poppies for peace instead.
A chronology of events leading up to the outbreak of hostilities is no substitute for a study of the fundamental reasons for the conflict.
What. a. shock.
So facts are no substitute for your opinions. Gotcha.
red poppy ridden?
I have seen no such events.
The red poppy stands for something.
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/events/menin-gate-last-post-ceremony.htm