The Great War, Etc.
Today is Wednesday, 28 June 2006.
It is said that the third emperor of Rome, Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, known to history as Caligula, wept, that all humanity had not but one head upon one neck, that with a single blow he might separate the one from the other.
On this date in 1914, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, member of a group dedicated to unification of the South Slav peoples and complete independence from Austria-Hungary. On 28 July, Austria declared war on Serbia; by 4 August Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Russia were all at war.
The best estimates are that the Great War produced some 9 million military deaths and 13 million civilian deaths, approximately 1.5% of the world’s population.
Also on this date, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, formally ending hostilities, but imposing financial reparation burdens on Germany which would help lead to World War II.
The best estimates are that World War II produced some 62 million deaths, roughly 60% of them civilian, approximately 2% of the world’s population.
Who says the Great War destroyed the idea of inevitable human progress?
World War I was the first truly industrial war, the application of the heavy industrial process to mass murder, the war of the crew-served machine gun, the first war to put massive killing power in the hands of one or two males. The killing which in previous gunpowder wars had required sustained volley fire by large numbers of soldiers, could now be accomplished by one gunner and one ammunition belt-handler at the tip of the spear.
World War II was the first modern industrial war, in which the heavy industrial process was applied to airborne delivery of conventional munitions, the war of the B-17, the B-24, the B-29, when a crew numbering scarcely more than a baseball team, in a single plane, could deliver enough firebombs to burn out several city blocks, when an armada of a few hundred planes could set fire to an entire city, and kill a hundred thousand or more in one night.
The culmination of World War II was the first post-modern industrial act of war, in which the heavy industrial process was applied to airborne delivery of atomic munitions, when a crew the number of a football team, in a single plane, could destroy an entire city, and kill a hundred thousand or more in a split-second.
A preview of World War III.
Currently, a single MIRVed (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle) ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile), fired by two missileers at the command of one president, can deliver 3 to 10 nuclear warheads, each with the potential to exterminate at least a million human beings.
Who says Hiroshima killed the idea of inevitable human progress?
Albert Einstein said that he did not know with what weapons World War III might be fought, but that he knew with what weapons World War IV would be fought: sticks and stones.
_______________________________
Today is also the anniversary in 1969 of the Stonewall Rebellion. The Stonewall Inn was a bar and grill on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village in Manhattan popular with gay males, many African-American and Hispanic. For decades, New York City police had enjoyed a free hand in raiding such establishments, making arrests, frequently extorting patrons, and recording names, which were often reported in newspapers.
On this day in 1969, a police raid on the Stonewall Inn led to three days of violent resistance. The next month, the Gay Liberation Front was founded. Stonewall was the birth of the modern gay rights movement.
It is said that the third emperor of Rome, Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, known to history as Caligula, wept, that all humanity had not but one head upon one neck, that with a single blow he might separate the one from the other.
On this date in 1914, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, member of a group dedicated to unification of the South Slav peoples and complete independence from Austria-Hungary. On 28 July, Austria declared war on Serbia; by 4 August Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Russia were all at war.
The best estimates are that the Great War produced some 9 million military deaths and 13 million civilian deaths, approximately 1.5% of the world’s population.
Also on this date, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, formally ending hostilities, but imposing financial reparation burdens on Germany which would help lead to World War II.
The best estimates are that World War II produced some 62 million deaths, roughly 60% of them civilian, approximately 2% of the world’s population.
Who says the Great War destroyed the idea of inevitable human progress?
World War I was the first truly industrial war, the application of the heavy industrial process to mass murder, the war of the crew-served machine gun, the first war to put massive killing power in the hands of one or two males. The killing which in previous gunpowder wars had required sustained volley fire by large numbers of soldiers, could now be accomplished by one gunner and one ammunition belt-handler at the tip of the spear.
World War II was the first modern industrial war, in which the heavy industrial process was applied to airborne delivery of conventional munitions, the war of the B-17, the B-24, the B-29, when a crew numbering scarcely more than a baseball team, in a single plane, could deliver enough firebombs to burn out several city blocks, when an armada of a few hundred planes could set fire to an entire city, and kill a hundred thousand or more in one night.
The culmination of World War II was the first post-modern industrial act of war, in which the heavy industrial process was applied to airborne delivery of atomic munitions, when a crew the number of a football team, in a single plane, could destroy an entire city, and kill a hundred thousand or more in a split-second.
A preview of World War III.
Currently, a single MIRVed (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle) ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile), fired by two missileers at the command of one president, can deliver 3 to 10 nuclear warheads, each with the potential to exterminate at least a million human beings.
Who says Hiroshima killed the idea of inevitable human progress?
Albert Einstein said that he did not know with what weapons World War III might be fought, but that he knew with what weapons World War IV would be fought: sticks and stones.
_______________________________
Today is also the anniversary in 1969 of the Stonewall Rebellion. The Stonewall Inn was a bar and grill on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village in Manhattan popular with gay males, many African-American and Hispanic. For decades, New York City police had enjoyed a free hand in raiding such establishments, making arrests, frequently extorting patrons, and recording names, which were often reported in newspapers.
On this day in 1969, a police raid on the Stonewall Inn led to three days of violent resistance. The next month, the Gay Liberation Front was founded. Stonewall was the birth of the modern gay rights movement.
posted by HH at 11:34 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home