Centennial Of WWI Armistice Comes At A Crucial Time And Should Serve As A Warning To World Leaders

Updated Dec 1, 2019 7:09 AM EST

The gathering for the Centennial Of The Armistice Of World War I that is occurring in France this weekend couldn’t have come at a better time. The globe is slipping closer toward two new Cold Wars and the potential for a conflict among the world’s most powerful nations in rising with each passing day. In all the excitement surrounding these accelerating geopolitical shifts, we lose sight of just how terrible the situation really can become. The prosperity of huge numbers of lives and the health of this shared spaceship we call Earth literally hangs in the balance.

The rhetoric surrounding tensions between the U.S. and Russia, as well as China, has become far more cavalier than it was in the past. A fresh nuclear arms buildup is also emerging, which act as a very costly, and potentially hazardous, adventure in strategic doctrine. Suspicions run deep between the major players and the rulebook that seemed to have even been in place even during the Cold War appears to be disintegrating before our very eyes. What’s more concerning is that the political equilibrium is swinging away from freedom and liberty and toward authoritarianism and nationalism. The very cooperative spirit that built the alliances that kept the world out of a cataclysmic conflict for the better part of a century is showing signs of fracture.

There is no doubt we are in far more perilous times than we have been for nearly three decades. So the fact that a collection of American and European leaders, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, sat together today and were given a vivid refresher on the massive losses and suffering that World War I brought to this planet—a clear reminder of how truly un-romantic war actually is and how, above all else, it is best at dehumanizing the individual and destroying the human soul en masse.

World War I, the “war to end all wars,” featured human destruction on an industrial level. It was bloody, muddy, diseased, and largely futile. Human flesh became systematic fodder for machine gun fire and gas attacks brought about death in man from the inside out. All the while, the underpinnings of mechanized warfare as we know it today emerged from this conflict.

For better or worse, war is the ultimate catalyst of technological innovation.

US Army 37-mm gun crew manning their weapon on September 26, 1918 during the World War I Meuse-Argonne (Maas-Argonne) Allied offensive, France., US National Archives

The Great War also gave birth to the circumstances that brought about another world conflict twenty years later, World War II. Life as we know it today was largely shaped by that crisis, and the things human’s did during it have blighted mankind for eternity.

Yet World War I was so brutal that it doesn’t even get the romance treatment by Hollywood that World War II receives. Movies like Gallipoli and All Quiet On The Western Front left us sitting in shock. In essence, World War I has played as a giant blood stained warning to mankind regarding its own uncanny ability to self-destruct.

With all this in mind, getting leaders together from countries that had a direct hand in this horrific waste of human life 100 years ago to collectively face such a glaring and terrible past together provides a sober reminder of what the future could potentially hold. They can sit there and hear the nauseating descriptions of what their predecessors presided over and think to themselves “can I really allow anything like this to really happen on my watch?”

Mother and child wearing gas masks, French countryside, 1918., Bibliotheque nationale de France

Thankfully, World War I occurred in an era before nuclear weaponry was viable, but today that isn’t the case. World War I was a horrendous affair, but no contraption available then had the ability to unilaterally vaporize an entire city in an instant and gunpowder and gas didn’t have the cumulative ability to end all human life on earth.

So yes, this somber gathering in France has far more meaning than a memorial alone. Hopefully, this message sunk in with those sitting in the front row.

As we focus our gratitude on those Americans who served their country in uniform, and especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice , it’s most important to remember that if you truly respect and appreciate our service people, then demand that they only be sent to fight conflicts that absolutely couldn’t be avoided and ones with clear objectives where there is truly a steadfast will to win and a realistic path to victory.

I hope, for all our sake, and especially those of our soldiers, airman, sailors, and marines, that the specters of World War I visit each VIP seated at that Armistice Day anniversary ceremony in Paris today to remind them of just what’s at stake and how small missteps can turn into a tragedy of global proportions. Above all else, they should be reminded that each name on a military roster has friends, a family, hopes, dreams, talents, and something to give to society in addition to their military service if they so wish to take that route. They could be their sons or daughters. They are not replaceable and they are not forgettable.

A shattered church in the ruins of Neuvilly becomes a temporary shelter for American wounded being treated by the 110th Sanitary Train, 4th Ambulance Corps. France, on September 20, 1918., NARA / Sgt. J. A. Marshall / U.S. Army

Thank you to all who have served or are serving in America’s armed services and those who serve or have served with the militaries of our friends and allies. And here’s to the brave souls who faced the horrors of World War I, you are remembered and loved.

Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com

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更新于美国东部时间2019年12月1日上午7:09

本周末在法国举行的第一次世界大战停战百年纪念活动可谓恰逢其时。全球正滑向两场新的冷战，世界强国之间爆发冲突的可能性与日俱增。在围绕着这些加速发展的地缘政治格局的种种激动之中，我们往往忽略了局势可能变得多么糟糕。无数人的福祉以及我们共同的地球家园的健康都岌岌可危。

围绕美俄以及中美之间紧张关系的言论，如今远比以往更加轻率。新的核军备竞赛也在酝酿之中，这无疑是一场代价高昂且可能带来巨大风险的战略冒险。主要参与者之间猜忌根深蒂固，而冷战时期看似有效的规则体系，如今却在我们眼前土崩瓦解。更令人担忧的是，政治平衡正从自由和民主向威权主义和民族主义倾斜。过去近一个世纪以来维系世界免于灾难性冲突的合作精神，如今也显露出裂痕。

毫无疑问，我们正处于比近三十年来任何时候都更加危险的时期。因此，今天包括俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京在内的一批美国和欧洲领导人齐聚一堂，重温第一次世界大战给地球带来的巨大损失和苦难——这清楚地提醒我们，战争究竟有多么不浪漫，以及它最擅长的是如何使个人丧失人性，并大规模地摧毁人类的灵魂。

第一次世界大战，这场“结束所有战争的战争”，造成了工业规模的人类毁灭。它血腥、泥泞、疾病肆虐，而且大多徒劳无功。人类的血肉沦为机枪扫射的活靶子，毒气攻击从内部摧毁着人类的生命。与此同时，我们今天所知的机械化战争的雏形也正是在这场冲突中逐渐形成的。

无论好坏，战争都是技术创新的最终催化剂。

1918年9月26日，第一次世界大战期间，美军37毫米炮组人员在法国默兹-阿尔贡（马斯-阿尔贡）战役中操作火炮。（图片来源：美国国家档案馆）

第一次世界大战也为二十年后爆发的另一场世界冲突——第二次世界大战——埋下了伏笔。我们今天所知的世界很大程度上是由那场危机塑造的，而人类在战争期间的所作所为也给人类带来了永世的祸患。

然而，第一次世界大战的残酷程度，甚至连好莱坞对第二次世界大战的浪漫化处理都做不到。像《加里波利》和《西线无战事》这样的电影，只会让我们感到震惊。从本质上讲，第一次世界大战就像是一记血淋淋的巨大警示，告诫人类自身具有不可思议的自我毁灭能力。

考虑到这一切，让100年前直接参与这场骇人听闻的人类生命浪费的国家领导人齐聚一堂，共同面对如此触目惊心、惨绝人寰的过去，无疑是对他们未来可能面临的严峻警示。他们可以坐在那里，聆听前任领导人令人作呕的罪行描述，并扪心自问：“我真的能允许这样的事情在我的任期内再次发生吗？”

1918年，法国乡村，一位母亲和孩子戴着防毒面具。（法国国家图书馆藏）

值得庆幸的是，第一次世界大战发生在核武器尚未普及的时代，但如今情况已截然不同。第一次世界大战是一场惨绝人寰的战争，但当时没有任何装置能够瞬间将一座城市夷为平地，火药和毒气也不具备毁灭地球上所有人类的累积威力。

所以，这场在法国举行的肃穆集会，其意义远不止是一场追悼会。希望坐在前排的人们能够真正领会到这一点。

当我们向那些身穿军装为国效力的美国人，特别是那些做出最终牺牲的人表达感激之情时，最重要的是要记住，如果你真的尊重和感激我们的军人，那么就应该要求只将他们派往那些绝对无法避免的冲突中作战，并且这些冲突必须有明确的目标，有坚定的取胜意志和切实可行的胜利途径。

我衷心希望，为了我们所有人，尤其是为了我们的陆军、空军、海军和海军陆战队官兵，第一次世界大战的阴影能够萦绕在今天巴黎停战纪念仪式上每一位贵宾的耳畔，提醒他们我们面临的风险有多么巨大，以及微小的失误如何可能演变成一场全球性的悲剧。最重要的是，他们应该记住，军人名册上的每一个名字背后都有朋友、家人、希望、梦想、才华，以及除了服役之外，如果他们愿意，还可以为社会做出贡献。他们可能是他们的子女。他们是不可替代的，也是不可遗忘的。

1918年9月20日，在法国讷维利，一座残破的教堂成为美国陆军第4救护队第110卫生列车救治伤员的临时避难所。（图片来源：美国国家档案馆/美国陆军中士JA Marshall）

感谢所有曾在或正在美国武装部队服役的人员，以及所有曾在或正在我们盟友军队服役的人员。谨以此文缅怀那些在第一次世界大战的残酷中浴血奋战的勇士们，你们将被永远铭记，永远被爱戴。

联系作者：Tyler@thedrive.com

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