Turmoil of the Great War

History

Turmoil of the Great War

A family perspective on both sides, both fronts.

By Graham L. Wilson

Copyright (c) 2012 Graham Wilson.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included at this link: “http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html#TOC1”.

1914 – 1930 CE

July 1914: Austria-Hungary and Serbia declare war on each other, the former sighting the assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand allegedly done by Serbian agents, and the latter declaring its defiance to Austria's repeated claims against its independence. At first glance, one would assume that this would be a quick though probably dirty little war. Serbia was a tiny nation surrounded by giants, and few had the aged prestige of the Hapsburg dynasty. As it happened, this was to be the powder-keg that would launch one of the deadliest wars in history and shape the outlook of the twentieth century and human civilization.

Serbia was backed by the Russian Empire due to their shared Slavic heritage, and Russia had long been allied with France. Austria-Hungary however was not standing alone, backed by the prospering German Empire. Britain looked on nervously, concerned at the potential costs and threats to its already diminishing power, but even more alarmed at Germany's growing naval and military power. The United States also stared out across the ocean, professing its neutrality – which of course did not stop hoards of American businessmen to poise themselves to profit from both sides.

As armies were positioning themselves ready for the slaughter, my family roots were experiencing something of a boon. They were a Ukrainian family living in lands claimed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, though it is now part of modern day Poland. The family history is quite difficult to ascertain before this point, save for a recurring Mongolian blood type indicating at least one of us had an encounter with the Golden Hoard. The only thing for certain is that we were never all that discriminatory, as I have Polish, Swedish, German and several other Central and Eastern European bloodlines from this side.

Relatively successful farmers, my ancestors lived in the the largest house in the area and pledged themselves to the Greek Catholic faith of the up and comers. Their home was such a landmark that forty years later the invading Germans would claim it as their local headquarters. Such tranquility however was not to last, as the Empire began to round up potential soldiers from all of their ethnically diverse subjects. Their status and position meant little compared to Imperial might, and so my great grandfather entered the war on what would become the losing side.

It is always something of an irony today that, upon seeing all the propaganda on Remembrance Day, I can recall that neither of my ancestors fought for the Canadian army. My great grandfather on my father's side did end up drafted in the British army, which I suppose is roughly equivalent. He was captured by the Central Powers and interned, but managed to survive the war – possibly because of his 'misfortune'. Of course, his countryman failed to see it that way, and the ridicule and persecution drove him and his family to emigrate to New Zealand, where my father was born and raised.

All attempts by our current government to rouse war-pride is lost on me with the simple consideration that, in the right circumstances, my progenitors would have been liable to murder each other – all for king and country. A final note, though not exactly relevant, is that the family of my grandmother on my mother's side also ended up in Canada through a rather novel experience. They came after being ran off and injured by the unruly carriage of one Queen Victoria, and no, that is no joke. I suppose our family has always had a rather strange relationship with authority.