Aftermath of War

Four years of bitter strife and bloodshed; a backward step in human progress and civilization; a period of inestimable damage all ended with the great climax of the armistice. The figures representing the cost and damage of the world war are appalling and incomprehensible. Millions of lives lost, millions more crippled forever, and billions of dollars wasted to further the needless slaughter. Unforgettable and unforgivable as these lessons seem, they were, as if by magic, blotted out in the joy of the armistice. Allies, and Germans alike, returned home with smiling faces to join loved ones, forgetting those millions whose lifeless bodies still lay in France. For four long years these dead had given every ounce of energy to restore peace. War, with its cruel and ruthless methods had wiped out youth. In the hearts of nations welled a single thought; war must be no more!

 

And so we saw the world, then; and now its former ideals crushed and forgotten, civilization at a low ebb, and nations at large are attempting to reconstruct all that has been so greatly damaged by war. Slowly in the last fourteen years each nation has striven for recovery, building up the lost ideals; but the results have remained unforgivable

 

Today one may pass through France, and see vast stretches of bare earth, which embrace ruined villages, and the devastating ravages of shells. Great reels of barbed wire give mute evidence of the horror of war. Bayonets, guns and helmets may still be found, dug deep in the earth, silent testimonies of death. Again there rises in front of the horrified eyes row upon row of stiff, silent crosses, which mark the last resting place of those who died to promote peace. The feeling on seeing such sights is a hatred for the Germans, and a desire to revenge these losses. Such is human nature.

 

Yet change the scene. Farther eastward in a little German town peasants kneel devoutly in front of a chapel wall. An endless number of names is written on that wall; Germans slaughtered in the war. In the hearts of those Germans burns a hatred towards the French, who they believed were unnecessarily cruel, and killed needless numbers of Germans. Their cry is: revenge the war dead. These people feel that they are the unfortunate, not defeated victims of a terrible wrong.

 

Here we see in two nations the animosity and lust for revenge that the effects of a war create.

 

Measures have been taken to keep the power of Germany down, to equalize the powers of nations. Yet when we stop to think in what a crude and ineffective manner the world has gone about keeping peace we wonder if such a thing is possible.

​

The greed for power seems inextinguishable. Is it not possible for people of the world to live in peace and happiness? Apparently not. Power seems to be the world's idea of greatness. Would it not be better if a nation were to show its power by scorning armaments, and international arguments? Perhaps if one nation were to set this example the rest of the world would follow, and peace would be obtained by common accord. The world says no.

​

The ravaged nations have forgotten those years of suffering and bloodshed. Today we read in the newspapers that Hitler is strengthening his army, and endeavoring to annex Austria. France is planning to build her navy beyond the limitations imposed by the London Conference. The League of Nations, and the Disarmament Conference have made very little progress, and the world in general is breathlessly waiting for a climax. Such things as these make us wonder how great an effect the war has had upon the nations, or what the world has learned from these four years of nightmare. The future welfare of a greedy world lies in the hands of fate. Will it be kind to us, or will it plunge us into darkness and chaos again? A major crisis is still before us, and the world is torn apart by conflicting emotions. Will it be war or peace? Shall we kill our brothers and they us, or shall we live and love? The supplication of a world rises to ask God that those who died to promote world peace may not have died in vain.

​

​

​

This essay was included in the 1934 publication of The Venturer. It was awarded "Best Essay – Upper School" by a panel of student judges.

​

​