Cameron`s attempt to re-write history is a
desperate attempt by a Prime Minister, completely out of touch with the feelings
and beliefs of ordinary people, to score electoral points. As soon as the
initial idea of an official commemoration to mark the centenary of the start of
the war was mooted, the fear was that politicians would compete with each other
to convince voters that their patriotism was greater than that of the others,
and their emotions more sincere, and, typically, the Prime Minister has set the
ball rolling with his description of World War One as "epic". What next? Boris
Johnson dressed in khaki re-enacting a charge across no-man`s land in the
gardens of Buckingham palace?
Cameron also said that a "commemoration,that
like the Diamond Jubilee celebrations this year,says something about who we are
as a people. Remembrance must be the hallmark of our commemorations". Like the
Jubilee celebrations!! I`m surprised he didn`t announce the creation of a First
World War theme park, or a competition to find the best General Haig
impersonator. No doubt there will be celebrities cashing in, too, with
remembrance records, television series and books galore, few written by
historians, and, of course, the ubiquitous commemoration tee shirts, plates and
mugs.
If remembrance is to be the "hallmark", what
exactly is it we should be remembering about World War One? Of course, we should
annually acknowledge those who gave up everything in their firm belief their
country needed them, but if Cameron and co. have their way, the acknowledgement
next year will be more like a national circus of jingoism. Should we be
remembering the huge failure of governments, not all elected by their people, to
prevent a continent drifting into a needless war, or their willingness to send
millions to their deaths.Despite knowing about the likelihood of trench warfare
ensuing, the 1914 British recruitment campaign included the lie that the
conflict would be over by Christmas; how many thousands were tricked by this
deliberate deceit? Is it okay to remember how the army allowed many children to
enlist, knowing full well their true age but encouraging them to "age a little
in the next hour" and "sign on" later. No doubt, governments would not like our
memories to focus on the tactic, an inevitable consequence of the type of
warfare adopted, of ordering the young volunteers and conscripts to walk towards
the enemy`s machine guns! Similarly, as the war dragged on, are we allowed to
recall the fact that for both sides on the western front, the conflict was
allowed to develop into a war of attrition, with the country having the most
soldiers left after the slaughter of millions, winning? Perhaps the private
schooling and military college education of the war`s tacticians wasn`t so hot
after all?
We should certainly remember the role the
press played in confirming the feelings of superiority already engendered by the
so-called "history" taught in British elementary schools at the start of the
century. If the young people didn`t know about the British empire spreading
"civilisation" and all other cultures being "barbaric", they certainly did after
reading the Daily Mail and the rest of the now correctly-labelled "gutter
press"; they knew,too, that Germany was wrong to want Dreadnought-style ships in
their navy, like we did, or to want to conquer other countries because of their
potential to provide cheap labour and raw materials, and to buy the resulting
manufactured goods, like we did. The owner of the Mail, Harmsworth, admitted his
paper stood for the "power, supremacy and the greatness of the British
empire"!
Apparently, one of Cameron`s chief advisors
on the war-fest, Dr Andrew Murrison, has complained that film and TV comedies
like Blackadder have left the British public with little understanding of the
war. Really? It couldn`t have anything to do with more government-inspired
tampering with history, could it, nothing to do with our perception of the
privately-educated, largely clueless, officers, the "donkeys", making mistakes,
repeating failed tactics time and time again, and actually causing thousands of
deaths? Why, it might even reflect badly on our present privately- educated
politicians and officers, who seem as keen as ever to spend billions of
taxpayers` money on preparation for future, needless wars.
Commemoration will transform into
celebration, remembrance into commercialised recollection, and the whole affair
looks like it will, fortunately, be seen for what it is, political
electioneering masquerading as respect for the victims; the public will spot
Cameron`s motives and, thankfully, his attempts to gain kudos from the suffering
of others will backfire, just like Osborne`s efforts to gain popularity at the
Olympics. The Tories are distanced so far from reality, they don`t even realise
that the re-enactment of the Christmas 1914 football match, which epitomised the
war`s futility, will emphasise an aspect of warfare they want to ignore! Labour
leaders need to be wary of falling into this "celebration" trap.
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