November 11, 2019, in addition to Singles’ Day and Double Eleven Carnival, is also the 101st anniversary of the end of World War I.
It’s good to watch a special movie on this special day!
—— "They are no longer getting old."
A war documentary directed by Peter Jackson.
Different from previous war documentaries, the production team used modern technology to restore and color images from a century ago, and add sound effects before showing them to the audience.
There are many impressive scenes in the movie, for example, the British soldiers and the captured German soldiers are chatting and laughing.
Some people say that war is a huge game in which ordinary people are trapped by politicians and careerists and continue to lose their lives.
Do not deny!
But not all wars can be like World War I. The enemy and ourselves are enemies when they go on the battlefield, and they are like brothers when they go off the battlefield.
For example, in the Vietnam War, can North Vietnamese soldiers and American soldiers coexist peacefully?
In World War II, could Japanese soldiers treat captured American soldiers well?
In the final analysis, what happened has a lot to do with the nature of this war!
Since this is a war documentary, let’s talk about World War I from a documentary perspective and take stock of the confusing behaviors in World War I.
The bewildering behavior of World War I: the beginning.
Although the history textbook describes in detail the contradictions between various countries before the official outbreak of World War I.
For example: the contradiction between France and Germany, the contradiction between Russia and Austria, and the contradiction between Britain and Germany.
To be honest, as long as there is a country, there will be contradictions, and it is the same to this day.
But is it worth fighting and seeing each other?
On June 28, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Ferdinand and his wife were shot and killed by Serbian nationalists in Sarajevo.
Subsequently, almost all major powers in Europe joined the war.
Before this, no one would have expected a war to occur.
There is such a story in the movie "They Are No Longer Growing Old". When the news of the outbreak of the First World War came, the British and German fighters were still playing football.
Before a normal war comes, it should be "the mountains and the rain are coming and the wind is all over the building."
For example, Japan’s invasion of China, Germany’s expansion, the United States’ participation in the Vietnam War, the Third Civil Revolutionary War, and so on.
The first is the attack by public opinion, the second is the economic blockade, and the last is the declaration of war.
Of these due procedures, World War I only occupies the last item-the direct declaration of war.
So, you can imagine that the day before, everyone was probably friends who met in London, Paris, and Berlin; the next second, they would fight on the battlefield.
In one sentence, World War I was a war caused by the discord between the leaders of several countries.
The bewildering behavior of World War I: End.
The confusion at the beginning of World War I was also confusing at the end.
Almost all major wars in the world have turning points.
The First World War is an exception.
The United States entered the war on the front foot. Seeing that the Allies would be at a disadvantage, Russia soon had a revolution and withdrew from the Allies.
In 1918, the two sides were still on par and still stalemate.
Although many countries of the Allies surrendered one after another, they were all small ones. Germany still has the strength to counter the Allies.
But at this moment, Germany itself collapsed, and the Kiel sailors rebelled.
When Germany announced its surrender, the country did not suffer any harm, it was surrendered on foreign land.
This is really rare in ancient and modern wars.
Confusing behavior of World War I: casualties.
World War I was the war with the largest proportion of soldiers casualties in both ancient and modern times.
Naturally, the number of casualties in World War II was the most, there is no doubt about it.
Because there were a lot of civilian casualties, and the spread of World War II was much greater than that of World War I.
But if it is only in terms of casualties on the battlefield, there are more wars in World War I than in World War II.
The Battle of the Somme caused 1.34 million casualties on both sides. In one day, the British army killed 60,000 soldiers.
The Verdun meat grinder killed more than 250,000 and more than 500,000 were injured.
This level of casualties is really appalling.
Why did so many people die in World War I?
This is related to the era of World War I, which happened to be between ancient wars and modern wars.
In terms of tactics, it is the traditional cavalry infantry attack style; but in terms of technology, artillery, tanks, and gas bombs have appeared one after another.
Therefore, the poor soldier became cannon fodder for the future war!
The bewildering behavior of World War I: spend Christmas together.
What is "talking and laughing"?
Can you imagine how Germans, French, and Scots would spend Christmas together on Christmas Eve during the war?
Just go to see the movie "Merry Christmas"!
But this is not just the plot of the movie, it was not uncommon during the First World War.
This also confirms that this war was only a politician's harassment, and the people on both sides were the biggest victims.
Bewilderment of World War I: The war is slow to move forward.
The line of confrontation between the two sides at the beginning of World War I and the line of confrontation between the two sides at the end of World War I did not change much.
Take the Battle of the Somme as an example.
The two sides fought for more than a hundred days, with more than one million casualties, and the British army only advanced 7 miles at the end of the battle.
After the second industrial revolution, the European powers are all equal in science and technology. You have tanks, I have tanks, you have poisonous gas, and I also have poisonous gas.
At this time, it's time to fight manpower and willpower!
Confusing behavior of World War I: post-war treatment.
The post-war handling of World War I can be said to be a mess.
In order to get revenge, France can't wait to erase Germany from the map. It was this extreme practice that laid the groundwork for the subsequent World War II.
The German sailors probably did not expect that the Entente would treat them the same way after the war. If they knew the result, they would probably have only one bullet left!
Most of the post-war treatments of European countries are truce signings, and the victorious side will not rush to the defeated side.
Even if the anti-French alliance defeated Napoleon, it did not dismember France, but only exiled Napoleon himself.
The handling of Germany by the Allies, especially France, is really puzzling.
"They are no longer getting old", the reflection on the war is naturally the first.
The most basic theme of Hollywood war movies is anti-war, but the degree of anti-war is related to the justice of this war.
The fiercest anti-war was the Vietnam War, because that was an aggressive war against other countries;
The second is the First World War, it is impossible to talk about justice or not, a world war for hegemony;
Finally, World War II, the just anti-fascist war.
I'm thinking, if we can't make movies with anti-war ideas, does it have anything to do with this?
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