Althouse: "The writer H. G. Wells is often credited with coining the description of the conflict as 'the war that will end war'..."

August 12, 2014

"The writer H. G. Wells is often credited with coining the description of the conflict as 'the war that will end war'..."

"... the title of an essay that became a jingoistic catchphrase, 'the war to end all wars.' As the conflict drew to a close, a more cynical view overtook that sentiment when David Lloyd George, the British prime minister at the time, is said to have remarked: 'This war, like the next war, is a war to end war.'"

From "On Centenary of World War I, Europe Sees Modern Parallels."

11 comments:

William said...: Some historian, writing about the Treaty of Versailles, coined the phrase "the peace to end all peace". Something to that observation. They're still fighting wars over the boundary lines drawn in that treaty........The old peacenik saying that "There is no way to peace. Peace is the way" is also a crock. Russia, under Lenin, declared preemptive peace on Germany. The draconian terms of that peace triggered a civil war in Russia. That civil war caused far more casualties than Russia had previously suffered in WWI. Bonus atrocity points because a lot of the casualties were women and children. And none of that was a patch on what came later.; 8/12/14, 11:18 AM
The Drill SGT said...: This brings to mind a great Einstein story.

Reporter: "Dr Einstein, What weapons will be used to fight WWIII?"

Dr Einstein: "I do not know what weapons will be used to fight WWIII, but I do know what will be used in WWIV"

Reporter: "Tell us Doctor"

Dr Einstein: "Rocks"; 8/12/14, 11:24 AM
jono39 said...: On August 1, 1914 Europe committed suicide. The last act is now beginning. It will take up a good part of this century. Hunter gathering in a very different form will return.; 8/12/14, 12:23 PM
Heartless Aztec said...: Was just there a couple of months ago. They take WWI seriously - especially Belgium.; 8/12/14, 12:25 PM
Lucien said...: War seems to be on the wane, and certainly deaths from war as a proportion of population have plummeted. Anecdotally it seems that there may be a trend toward warfare carried out by non-state actors, which might no be an un-alloyed evil if it is an artifact of increasing unwillingness of actual states to go to war with each other.

Now watch Putin prove me wrong.; 8/12/14, 1:19 PM
Larry J said...: "I launched the phrase 'The war to end war'--and that was not the least of my crimes."

--H.G. Wells

He didn't actually say "the war to end all wars." Regardless, he was wrong. The Great War, AKA WWI, not only laid the foundation for WWII but for the fighting going on in the Middle East today.; 8/12/14, 1:28 PM
Bilwick said...: Wells is also supposed to have coined the phrase "liberal fascism." Useful then, even more useful now. (And remember, fellow serfs, Wells thought it was a GOOD thing.); 8/12/14, 1:42 PM
Fen said...: War and Peace are cyclical. You might as well try to keep the Sun propped up or the moon pushed down.; 8/12/14, 6:26 PM
cubanbob said...: In some sense WW1 hasn't really ended. So much of the turmoil in the world today is the result of that war.; 8/12/14, 6:49 PM
The Godfather said...: I hold no brief for H. G. Wells' political thinking, but . . . .

For 99 years (since Waterloo), Europe had enjoyed unprecedented peace and prosperity. The only serious European war was the Franco-Prussian (and, yes, the memory of that defeat did make the French over-ready for war in 1914). International trade had expanded, and everyone knew that sellers don't go to war against customers. Imperialism was (or seemed to be) benefiting both the colonialists and the colonized. Liberalism was on the march, even in most of the Empires (the Tsar had freed the serfs, etc.). Wasn't the era of big wars over, a relic of an earlier era?

To claim that the World War was to be the last War didn't seem as foolish as it now seems to us.

Would the world have been better off if the Germans had won quickly? Much lower casualties. No Hitler. No Russian Revolution. No WWII.; 8/12/14, 9:24 PM
Brando said...: Consider the experiences of the men who led their countries and militaries during that war--they had been born in the middle of the 19th Century, and the only wars among European countries they were familiar with were short, localized conflicts. The Napoleonic wars were a century ago, the American Civil War had little impact on them, and modern weapons and transportation systems made them believe that war would be one of movement and quick capitulation.

Of course, a lot of other factors caused WWI to be what it became--weapons more suited for defense than offense, a tangle of alliances and grievances that turned a Balkan conflict into major combat across the continent and even action in Africa and the Far East, and losses becoming so great that any peace that would be imposed at the end would be punitive (and leading to a sequel twenty years later).

There are a lot of what ifs--what if the Germans had reined in Austria, so as not to antagonize Russia; what if France had kept Russia from mobilizing; what if Britain hadn't taken back the two naval vessels they'd built for Turkey and kept Turkey from joining the Central Powers; what if the U.S. had actually stayed out of it and let the two sides come to a more equal peace.; 8/13/14, 7:49 AM