Today marks the anniversary of the Armistice, the end of the misnamed Great War (World War I is the better term). The poem depicted above by John McCrae has become symbolic for this mass-slaughter. I post it here against a background of poppies shot by myself.
It is strange how little we learned in Holland about this war. In our history lessons we never got further than the 19th century, and my main knowledge as a kid came from reading some of the older Biggles novels. Funnily enough it was a sitcom that really enhanced my understanding of this tragedy. The fourth installment in the brilliant Blackadder series, Blackadder goes forth, is set in the trenches of the British army around 1917. The final episode, Goodbyeee..., sees the officers and soldiers being ordered to advance and meet an almost certain death. In one of the most striking scenes in the history of television, the four main characters captured in the mud fade into a beautiful, tranquil field of symbolic poppies to end the series.
Living in France for two and a half years further enhanced my grasp of the enormity of the suffering of this war. France alone saw a death toll of close to two million, or 5% of the total population. Every small village remembers their fallen sons in monuments - and it is chilling to see that even in the smallest hamlets, dozens of names are hewn in marble.
It is strange how little we learned in Holland about this war. In our history lessons we never got further than the 19th century, and my main knowledge as a kid came from reading some of the older Biggles novels. Funnily enough it was a sitcom that really enhanced my understanding of this tragedy. The fourth installment in the brilliant Blackadder series, Blackadder goes forth, is set in the trenches of the British army around 1917. The final episode, Goodbyeee..., sees the officers and soldiers being ordered to advance and meet an almost certain death. In one of the most striking scenes in the history of television, the four main characters captured in the mud fade into a beautiful, tranquil field of symbolic poppies to end the series.
Living in France for two and a half years further enhanced my grasp of the enormity of the suffering of this war. France alone saw a death toll of close to two million, or 5% of the total population. Every small village remembers their fallen sons in monuments - and it is chilling to see that even in the smallest hamlets, dozens of names are hewn in marble.
Nothing prepared me though for the enormities revealed in a BBC documentary The last days of World War One. With the Germans and their allies on the verge of collapse, an armistice was finally negotiated and for symbolic reasons, it was decided to let the war end at 11 AM on 11/11. That did not stop the power-mad generals from sending their men into the battle even in the dying hours of the war. That morning alone saw 11000 of them killed, sacrificed by uniformed war criminals who never have been brought to justice.
All in al, 20 million people died in this war, which was triggered in a domino effect started off by the assassination of one single man. Tragically, Rowan Atkinson's line from Blackadder goes Forth was uncomfortably close to the truth: "The real reason for the whole thing was that it was too much effort not to have a war."
The art world suffered from the war as well, with many promising or already brilliant artists dying because of the fighting. Below I'm giving a short overview (texts usually copied from their Wikipedia entries).
Albéric Magnard († 3 September 1914, aged 49)
Albéric Magnard (1865 - 1914) was a French composer, still held in high esteem for works like his four symphonies. In 1914, at the beginning of World War I, Magnard sent his wife and two daughters to a safe hiding place while he stayed behind to guard the estate of "Manoir de Fontaines" at Baron, Oise. When German soldiers trespassed on the property, Magnard fired at them, killing one soldier, and they fired back before setting the house on fire. It is believed that Magnard died in the fire, although his body could not be identified in the ruins.
August Macke († 26 September 1914, aged 27)
August Macke (1887 - 1914) was a German Expressionist painter. He was one of the leading members of the German Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). Macke's career was cut short by his early death in the second month of the First World War at the front in Champagne, France.
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska († 5 June 1915, aged 23)
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (1891 - 1915) was a French artist and sculptor who developed a rough-hewn, primitive style of direct carving. At the start of the First World War, Gaudier-Brzeska enlisted with the French army. He appears to have fought with little regard for his own safety, receiving a decoration for bravery before being killed in the trenches at Neuville-St.-Vaast.
Rudi Stephan († 29 September 1915, aged 28)
Rudi Stephan (1887 - 1915) was a German composer of great promise who was considered one of the leading talents among his generation. He as drafted into the German Army in March 1915, and was killed in action by a Russian sharpshooter, at Chodaczków Wielki near Tarnopol on the Galician Front.
Franz Marc († 4 March 1916, aged 36)
Franz Marc (1880 - 1916) was a German painter and printmaker, one of the key figures of German Expressionism. He was a founding member of Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), a journal whose name later became synonymous with the circle of artists collaborating in it. He was drafted to serve in the German Army at the beginning of World War I, and died two years later at the Battle of Verdun.
Enrique Granados († 24 March 1916, aged 48)
Enrique Granados (1867 - 1916) was a composer of classical music, and concert pianist. He is generally seen as one of Spain's greatest composers. He was one of the civilian casualties of the war. Together with his wife, he boarded ta e passenger ferry from England to France. On the way across the English Channel, the ferry was torpedoed by a German U-boat. His wife ended up in the water, and Granados died in a failed attempt to save her.
George Butterworth († 5 August 1916, aged 31)
George Butterworth (1885 - 1916) was an English composer who was best known for the orchestral idyll The Banks of Green Willow and his song settings of A. E. Housman's poems from A Shropshire Lad. At the outbreak of the First World War, Butterworth, joined the British Army. He distinguished himself in various battles and was awarded the Military Cross. At the Battle of the Somme, Butterworth was shot through the head by a sniper.
Umberto Boccioni († 17 August 1916, aged 33)
Umberto Boccioni (1882 - 1916) was an influential Italian painter and sculptor. He helped shape the revolutionary aesthetic of the Futurism movement as one of its principal figures. Despite his short life, his approach to the dynamism of form and the deconstruction of solid mass guided artists long after his death. In May 1916 Boccioni was drafted into the Italian Army, and was assigned to an artillery regiment. A few months later he was thrown from his horse during a cavalry training exercise and was trampled. He died the following day.
Antonio Sant'Elia († 10 October 1916, aged 28)
Antonio Sant'Elia (1888 - 1916) was an Italian architect and a key member of the Futurist movement in architecture. He left behind almost no completed works of architecture and is primarily remembered for his bold sketches and influence on modern architecture. He joined the Italian army as Italy entered World War I in 1915, and was killed during the Eighth Battle of the Isonzo, near Gorizia.
Cecil Coles († 26 April 1918, aged 29)
Cecil Coles (1888 - 1918) was a Scottish composer, whose works have been revived in the past decade. In 1915 he was sent to the trenches in France. Coles was killed near the Somme on 26 April 1918 during a heroic attempt to rescue some wounded comrades.
Ernest Farrar († 18 September 1918. aged 33)
Ernest Farrar (1885 - 1918) was an English composer, pianist, organist, and teacher. Today, Farrar is perhaps best known as the teacher of Gerald Finzi. He enlisted in the Grenadier Guards in 1915 and was killed on the Western Front at the Battle of Epehy Ronssoy in the Somme Valley. He had been at the front for two days.
The Unknown Talents Smothered in the War (1914-1918)
Given the young age of many of the casualties, the actual loss to the art world is probably much higher - many talents that never even got the chance to shine. A terrible waste. A terrible war.
This public domain image is by luxstorm from Pixabay.
Copyright statement: all images are in the public domain.
