ranger_syntax 3,715 Posted December 30, 2020 Author Share Posted December 30, 2020 2 hours ago, ChelseaBoy said: Don't think anything obliged Britain to get involved. We had signed the Triple Entente with France and Belgium but this did not explicitly compel us to go to war. Yes, the Entente, with France and Russia, was not an obligation. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster. 4,808 Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 (edited) 9 hours ago, Gonzo79 said: Another interesting subject, that may be linked to age and circle(s) of friends/associates. People my age, who grew up in the 80s and 90s seems to be quite anti-war (generally), in my experience. Most people who grew up in the 1890's would become very anti-war and for very good reason. To this day, the exploitation of patriotism over no or little good reason is very often the trump card played to overcome an anti-war feeling. I'd call it partly a survival instinct or just common sense when contemplating having folk put their life on the line for what ? How many wars have actually been unavoidable and 'worthy' ? Not many. As for the general anti-war feeling of a generation close to you. It's hardly surprising and if it were based on learning lessons, then it's better late than never. Edited December 30, 2020 by buster. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo79 13,349 Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 I suspect the two world wars extinguished a lot of the patriotic sentiment that lead young men to fight for their country. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster. 4,808 Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said: I suspect the two world wars extinguished a lot of the patriotic sentiment that lead young men to fight for their country. I think it's more to do with a growing and healthy scepticism, allied to a plain and warranted distrust of those who push for war and the lack of personal good reason to identify with it. Edited December 30, 2020 by buster. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger_syntax 3,715 Posted December 30, 2020 Author Share Posted December 30, 2020 As mentioned in the O.P. Britain has never recovered from involvement in World War 1. Anti-war sentiment is only a small part of that. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill 13,687 Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 (edited) 9 hours ago, Gonzo79 said: I suspect the two world wars extinguished a lot of the patriotic sentiment that lead young men to fight for their country. The two world wars should never be considered as two sides of the same coin. They were fought for entirely different reasons and had entirely different consequences for Britain and its empire. Also, I've seen no evidence that patriotism was diminished by the first world war, except in some very limited sense among left-leaning elites. Nor am I convinced by the popular myth that Britons emerged from the second world war any less patriotic than before. More cynical towards the political elite perhaps but not less patriotic. Any decline in patriotism in this country grew out of post-war social and cultural changes, not as a direct response to fighting the war. WW2 was no Vietnam. Nor would I underestimate the deliberate undermining of patriotism that was and still is engineered by certain ideological movements. It wasn't defeating the Nazis that cause Churchill's statue to be defaced and boarded up. Edited December 30, 2020 by Bill 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo79 13,349 Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 (edited) I think you've maybe misinterpreted my post a bit, Bill. Edited December 30, 2020 by Gonzo79 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo 5,952 Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 I dont think there's been a day in the past 100 years without some kind of war going on somewhere, buy shares in an ammunition factory 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill 13,687 Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 54 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said: I think you've maybe misinterpreted my post a bit, Bill. I’ll never know unless you explain how I might have misinterpreted. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo79 13,349 Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 I was referring to the type of patriotic sentiment that would lead a man to want to go to war, for the love of his country - not general patriotism. I referred to the two world wars together because of the sheer scale of the bloodshed, no other reason. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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