Friday, 28 February 2014
BLOOD, FIRE AND STEEL , 150 years of European History; PREFACE CHAPTER ONE
August 1, 2014 will mark the Centenary or 100 years since World War 1
began. Back then it was known as the Great War. As students of history
and political scientists will disclose after a thorough perusal of past
events in the world in the last 100 years, 1914 marked a watershed in
the political evolution of the contemporary world, because World War 2,
which was to ensue barely 21 years post WW1 was simply a postscript of
events thrown up by WW1. In the words of then French Prime Minister
Georges Clemenceau
the peace of 1918 was simply a 'truce' pre-dating the next great conflict.
Then he was regarded as a pessimistic prophet of doom , but his prediction uncannily proved to be true barely 21 years later. 100 years after the events of that era we still live in a simmering world tethering on the edge of conflicts some generated by events that predated the beginning of the Great War. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-5 obviously gave birth to the island acquisitions that are at the root of the present conflict between China and Japan over the Shenyang Islands.
Similarly issues of land settlements that spawned the creation of new nations in Eastern Europe following the treaty of Versailles are still brewing conflicts and tensions that require settlement till date. In my own nation Nigeria, even the very legitimacy of the 1914 amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates are still a subject of dispute till date with the British Government still reassuring the Nigerian people that the amalgamation still serves the very best interest of Nigeria.
One hundred years have since passed since the events of August 1914, several generations have since grown up and moved on, and hundreds of books and publications have since been written about these events but the dawn of the digital age and the revolutionary technological changes spawned by this information technologies have raised the case for the revisiting of these events particularly for many young people in this digital age who find it difficult to devote time and attention to reading the large volumes required in the traditional books to have a knowledgeable grasp of the events that have helped to shape the world we live in today.
For instance many young people particularly in the developing world cannot understand why only five particular countries sit as permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations and why this group of countries individually possess the veto power, able to overrule a resolution of the Security Council even when it is endorsed by the General Assembly. More baffling to them is why the combination of these five countries remain inexplicably unchangeable and no new permanent members regardless of the changing World order has been added since 1945.
While this writings encapsulated in the ensuing blog is not offering any final answers to these posers it simply will attempt to enlighten the average blog reader who will make the effort to remain committed to these pages in the upcoming days as to the trend of events beginning from 1850 in Europe in particular. that began the dawn of the industrial age and the modern era of nation states, nationalism, alliances and power blocs that have shapened the world to what it is today.
The face of the modern world began to take shape in Europe in the 19th century and by the middle of the 19th century quickened in pace and the fate of the modern world began to be decided then. For the sake of brevity and clarity , to save time and space we decided to begin in the middle of the 19th Century when the pace of events really took a quick turn. Remain on Board as we commence the journey.
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the peace of 1918 was simply a 'truce' pre-dating the next great conflict.
Then he was regarded as a pessimistic prophet of doom , but his prediction uncannily proved to be true barely 21 years later. 100 years after the events of that era we still live in a simmering world tethering on the edge of conflicts some generated by events that predated the beginning of the Great War. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-5 obviously gave birth to the island acquisitions that are at the root of the present conflict between China and Japan over the Shenyang Islands.
Similarly issues of land settlements that spawned the creation of new nations in Eastern Europe following the treaty of Versailles are still brewing conflicts and tensions that require settlement till date. In my own nation Nigeria, even the very legitimacy of the 1914 amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates are still a subject of dispute till date with the British Government still reassuring the Nigerian people that the amalgamation still serves the very best interest of Nigeria.
One hundred years have since passed since the events of August 1914, several generations have since grown up and moved on, and hundreds of books and publications have since been written about these events but the dawn of the digital age and the revolutionary technological changes spawned by this information technologies have raised the case for the revisiting of these events particularly for many young people in this digital age who find it difficult to devote time and attention to reading the large volumes required in the traditional books to have a knowledgeable grasp of the events that have helped to shape the world we live in today.
For instance many young people particularly in the developing world cannot understand why only five particular countries sit as permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations and why this group of countries individually possess the veto power, able to overrule a resolution of the Security Council even when it is endorsed by the General Assembly. More baffling to them is why the combination of these five countries remain inexplicably unchangeable and no new permanent members regardless of the changing World order has been added since 1945.
While this writings encapsulated in the ensuing blog is not offering any final answers to these posers it simply will attempt to enlighten the average blog reader who will make the effort to remain committed to these pages in the upcoming days as to the trend of events beginning from 1850 in Europe in particular. that began the dawn of the industrial age and the modern era of nation states, nationalism, alliances and power blocs that have shapened the world to what it is today.
The face of the modern world began to take shape in Europe in the 19th century and by the middle of the 19th century quickened in pace and the fate of the modern world began to be decided then. For the sake of brevity and clarity , to save time and space we decided to begin in the middle of the 19th Century when the pace of events really took a quick turn. Remain on Board as we commence the journey.
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