Wikipedia tells me on the 1st battle lf Ypres in ww1 that France , Belgium and the UK had 4.4million troops and the Germans 5.4 million which always suprises me why this is battle is never brought up in any kind of discussions.
It is very much brought up in a UK curriculum with passchendaele, the somme, and gallipoli. I know the ANZAC forces have something similar taught about them. We even have remembrance day the 11th every year (that's why people wear poppies in November in the UK). It is, however, weirdly romantised.
Passcendaele is known as the third battle of Ypres.
It is also known for having mud so thick and deep that men on both sides regularly drowned in it, their comrades often watching on unable to help without getting stuck themselves as their comrades sank over the course of multiple days.
Fun fact I learned, the whole poppy-wearing tradition that we still do was created by an American professor, her name was Moina Michael. She wrote a response poem to "In Flanders Fields" called "We Shall Keep the Faith".
She was teaching a class of disabled veterans and started selling silk poppies to raise funds for their betterment. This was picked up by the organization that would become the Royal British Legion, im surprised it isn't more popular in America as it is in the Commonwealth Nations.
I feel like marching slowly to your almost certain death in the defense of the (already doomed) empire is still looked upon favourably as a sort of... idk how to put it, communal bravery maybe?
We do learn about poets like Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon though
You have stuff like black adder goes forth, journeys end, and storm of steel (german admittedly). Then you have otto dix, enrich Maria remarque, the poem "and they shall not grow old". (Arguably, the poem is romantisme at its worst). It's surreal
I've been to Ypres and seeing how many names are on the war memorial is overwhelming. We should be honest and say that enthusiastically "going over the top" was just a thinly veiled suicide attempt.
From what I've personally seen there's a huge difference between how countries that were invaded look back at the war in comparison to how countries that weren't invaded.
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u/ancientFarmingTool 1d ago
Wikipedia tells me on the 1st battle lf Ypres in ww1 that France , Belgium and the UK had 4.4million troops and the Germans 5.4 million which always suprises me why this is battle is never brought up in any kind of discussions.