Im Westen nichts Neues - Selbst jetzt

Still photo from Im Westen nichts Neues (2022, Netflix

Maybe it is a subjective feeling and only for me personally, that I feel certain events of the past has some inbuild feeling that comes with them. It is like some ancient reminiscent of the sorrow and pain that still haunts us.

I feel World War I as a gaping wound that has long ceased to bleed. It has turned into a void full of puss and infection. Abject rotten scar on the timeline of 20th century. However, maybe we all should feel like that way and feel that creeping sadness, hopelessness and the feeling that we are attending a long funeral.

Maybe that will stop us going into the madness of world war again. Then it is such a good thing that movies like these are made. You will watch it once... and once is enough.

                                                                          Never forget!

Covid-19 - There has been much worst

Victory Parade in Stockton, California, ca. 1918. Van Covert Martin. Holt-Atherton Special Collections (Western Americana), University of the Pacific Library

 

Covid-19 certainly is a dangerous disease. Status in January 7th 2022, 301 million cases and 5,49 million deaths so far. Modern medicine has adapt quickly to fight against this pandemic, vaccinations against it were developed in record time, so far portion of the fully vaccinated is 49,8% of the world population, with 9,21 billion shots given. Yet in kills people in fast pace, United States leading the statistics, Brazil and India following.

Now imagine a disease much worst with no vaccines available, killing the young and the able, and to make things much worst, at the time of brutal world war.

Just like many influenza (H1N1-virus) epidemics, it was an aviary based disease. There is three possible sources where it came from, first being from the Unites States Army-base at Camp Funston in Kansas at March 1918, rapidly spreading along with military preparing to war. Second possible source might have been the Chinese workers, Chinese Labour Corps (CLC) that had been ported to France by the British to do physical support work of the trench warfare. These first two sources include chickens, Camp Funston raised its own chickens among other animals, Chinese brought their own with them. Third source might have been carrier pigeons that was widely used to carry information, however that is much disputed.

Anyhow it started at spring of 1918, spreading rapidly through forces, reaching the western front in France at mid April and Australia at June, thus travelling as fast as people possibly could in those days. All and all it came at four waves, the second in late 1918 being the deadliest.

As the war itself had been horrible with its industrial way to kill much people as possible, and in horrible conditions such as cold, damp, malnutrition, already diseased with many bacterial infections as dysentery, so was the disease. Imagine of being saved from the artillery barrage, bullets, the gas, being buried or burned alive etc. First wave was often begun with ordinary flu symptoms like soar throat, fever etc. The second wave was so brutal that I quote the words of Laura Spinney de describe it best:

      [...] during the second wave, the disease was much more serious, often complicated by bacterial pneumonia, which was often the cause of death. This more serious type would cause heliotrope cyanosis to develop, whereby the skin would first develop two mahogany spots over the cheekbones which would then over a few hours spread to color the entire face blue, followed by black coloration first in the extremities and then further spreading to the limbs and the torso[...]. 

 Thus if you were saved from the variety of the poisonous gasses that were used as a weapon, you still suffocated to death by the fluids that filled your lungs. 

Naval Training Station, San Francisco, California (Yerba Buena Island), ca. November 1918. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command

However it was not only the armies of the belligerent nations that suffered. It affected the civilian population of any nation, and as it killed the young and able men of the trenches it hit hard on the young and able men everywhere, the stronger the victim the harder the disease killed, it was totally wrestling with humans resistance. It saved much older population, which might have been due to immunity that have been gained from 1889 - 1990 pandemic. Because of the war the economies were low, food was scarce and meagre, all added with other diseases. Fighting nations often choose to censor the news of the disease, fearing it would tear down the morale, thus helping the disease to spread. 

As for the statistics, this epidemic has estimated 500 million suspected cases, death toll being harder to estimate, largest number being up to 100 million deaths. Compare this to statistics of that "great" war which victims being at its largest estimate being 22 million deaths.

Wear a mask or go to jail, 1918. Mill Valley Public Library/Internet Archive

Laura Spinney: Pale Rider

YouTube - Better Than Pile of Books?

 

In these Covid ridden days, when libraries are mainly closed, or one is simply afraid to lend books, we still have craving for fact and fiction. Buying books is one solution, however not very economical. Fiction is easy to obtain, just get Netflix, HBO or Prime Video, etc. Your lifetime won't be enough. Fact is a different matter, especially for history. Yes, there are documentaries, but they tend to contain information you already know, or the very dose of new information is meagre.

Thankfully, there are some historians who have time and effort to share their knowledge and researched information on YouTube. Just to mention some (that I know), if you are interested on WWI, there is The Great War, It followed the war weekly on real time 100 years later (and still does), including specials about economy, weaponry, sanitary, diseases, political atmosphere, etc. You simply won't get this amount of information on any book. It was hosted by Indiana Neidell, the american extrovert Duracell-bunny of history, but was replaced by Jesse Alexander later on. If you are interested of Franco-Prussian war, Real Time History (same makers as on The Great War) makes week by week series of that not so well-known war, exactly 150-years later, and whit same depth as The Great War.

One very productive YouTube channel is Time Ghost Army, which produces WWII, week by week in real time, although 99-years later. That is hosted by Indy Neidell again. It also makes sub-series of WWII, like War Against Humanity, hosted by Spartacus Olson (yes those are real names), it presents the horrors of war with neutrality, with always the same very important ending by Spartacus, ”never forget”. Following the WWII is also Home Front-series, hosted by Anna Dinehart, and war espionage themed Spies and Ties, by Astrid Dinehart. Time Ghost also makes series Between Two Wars, it represents the very Zeitgeist, politics and culture of interwar years. Their series of Suez-crisis explained deeply what that tumult was really about, and that they did to Cuban missile crises as well.

These are only some of You Tube's history channels I know. I have seen some poorly made attempts of history channels, some had spew'd out poorly researched facts or facts we all know, and alas, outrageous lies to whitewash unpleasant history. Sometimes it needs an expert mind to filter out what is the truth and what is not.

When used correctly, YouTube can be a place of effective learning. So if you want to learn about history more faster than you could with any books. Watch those series, subscribe to their channels, and if you can, support their efforts with donations, YouTube is not a goldmine. Maybe after ten episodes you may watch those cat-videos again.

Time Ghost History: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLfMmOriSyPbd5JhHpnj4Ng

Real Time History: https://www.youtube.com/c/realtimehistory

The Geat War:https://www.youtube.com/c/TheGreatWarSeries