Ask anyone who has been divorced, do they celebrate their wedding day. What about Nelson Mandela, did he celebrate the day he was jailed or the day he was released?
We don’t normally celebrate the start of something horrible (apologies if you divorced on amicable grounds). We celebrate bad stuff coming to an end.
Now, I am a big fan of programmes about World War One, WW1 and WW2. This is not morbid curiosity. I was one of the lucky ones who missed WW2 by a few years. I try to understand what those ordinary souls on all sides must have gone through. However, I will never come close. What those people went through defies explanation, defies our comprehension. Most of them came back and said nothing. They never complained they just set about rebuilding their shattered lives. Veterans from WW1 are all gone now. But their contribution remains with us. We are a nation free from oppression and tyrany – or so you may think.
Over the past weeks, we have been treated to a feast of insight and nostalgia with wall to wall coverage of WW1. It all ended in 1918 and now in 2018 we can look back and celebrate the sacrifices of 10 million souls.
Before you start checking your 4 year old calendars, stop, you’re not wrong, it is 2014. This is the centenary of the START of WW1. We are remembering the start of something awful – why would we do that?
Eminent historians tell us that World War 1 actually achieved nothing. Could it be that there are forces who believe it still might?
When I watched the various programmes and testimony from the poor souls caught up in the conflict we are reminded of the camaraderie as English soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder with Scots, Irish and Welsh. This was a united front. This was the British people, united in conflict, believing all the benefits that come from a United Kingdom?
But why not wait until 2018 for the big celebration, there’s nothing really special going on with the United Kingdom in 2014? is there? See where I am going with this. Is this a final insult to the millions who gave their life for freedom that their memory is being tarnished by a hidden agenda to promote a UNITED Kingdom, perhaps for the benefit of the few.
I suspect I am just being cynical, but judge for yourself…
… Britain grew to be the largest empire in history. One by one, the nations of the empire have demanded there freedom, their right of self-determination, their right to be an independent country. Now there are just 4 countries left. Why should it stop there. Perhaps it should continue until England is a separate country in its own right. I suspect the 4 nations of Great Britain would enjoy a much better and free’r relationship as neighbours with a shared history and more in common than divides us, if that was our choice. Scandinavia has managed it, why can’t we?
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