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the soldiers mobilised ended up either dead or injured, which is a staggering statistic.

Sometimes, however, statistics fail to hit home the true personal tragedy of warfare. Something that brought home the horror of this war more effectively for me was the record of pupils from my school who had died during the Great War. In our school assembly room, there were memorial boards stretching right around the sides of the hall with names of teenagers who had gone off to fight for their country, only to perish on foreign soil. It covered both wars but nevertheless was a poignant reminder of the sacrifice that my grandfather and great grandfather's generations made on our behalf.

Trench warfare and outdated military leadership:

When we think back to the First World War, it's likely that the images that come to mind are of trench warfare and the poppy fields of the Somme that came to be a symbol of the huge losses that were suffered on the fields of Flanders. The war has been portrayed in countless films, including the powerful All quiet on the western front'. One of the reasons why this war caused so many casualties was that it can be said to have been the first war to have been fought with the ferocity of modern 20th century weapons (including tanks and aeroplanes), with all their deadly consequences. Alongside this, military tactics and leadership were still stuck in the 18th century, symbolised by aristocratic bumbling officers who would give their men the order to go over the top even when it was certain to result in mass slaughter.

More casualties than just the military losses:

As the war drew to a close in 1918, Europe counted the cost of this huge act of folly. A generation of young men had been obliterated and civilian losses had been higher than in previous wars due to the bombing of cities by air. When we look back at the casualties of this war, it's clear that we need to look beyond the bare statistics of deaths and injuries. So many people lost husbands, fathers, sons and suffered huge emotional pain and trauma from the war. The affected European countries also lost people who would have contributed greatly to their countries' economies.

And, finally, there was the Versailles peace settlement. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles declared Germany responsible for the war and forced them to make punitive war reparations that would cripple the German economy. It's understandable why the Allies felt a need to punish Germany but the extent of the punishment indirectly lead to the rise of Hitler to power and the Second World War. It's taken a long time after the end of the Second World War for Europe to return to a peaceful state and let's hope that that never again have to suffer from the kind of wars that shook the world in the twentieth century.

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F irst_world_war#Aftermath

http:/ /www.historylearningsite.co.uk /FWWcasualties.htm

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