Without screaming or weeping these people undressed were walking to their last port. A father was holding the hand of a boy about 10 years old and speaking to him softly; the boy was fighting his tears. Nearby there was a tremendous grave. People were wedge closely and laying on top of each other so that only their heads were visible. Nearly all had blood running over their shoulders from their heads…I estimated that it contained a thousand people. I looked for the man who did the shooting. He was an SS man, who sat at the edge of the narrow end of the pit; his feet dangling into the pit. He had a Tommy gun on his knees and was smoking a cigarettes
jueves, 24 de julio de 2008
How I enlisted in the army:
I was only fifteen and every time I’ve tried to join up in it was no good, they wouldn’t have me. So I went by rail to another town, on a penny platform ticket. I went into a recruiting office there and I told them I was seventeen. The sergeant said, “why don’t you go out and have something to eat? When you come back you might be older”. I told him I had no money and he gave me two bob. When I came back he spoke to me as if he had never seen me before. I said I was eighteen and, this time, I got in all right.
miércoles, 23 de julio de 2008
Now, I have a ….
Now I have a question or you to think… but think!
Why did the Black Hand kill Archduke Ferdinand? And the last question that comes to my mind… can you explain how the assassination led to the European war?
Black Hand is officially known as Unification or Death, was a secret society founded in Serbia in May 1911, as part of the Pan-Slavism nationalist movement, with the intention of uniting all of the territories containing South Slav populations (Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, Slovenes, etc) annexed by Austria-Hungary. This society's possible connections to the June 28, 1914 assassination in Sarajevo of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria is considered to have been the main catalyst to the start of World War I. The political objective of the assassination was to break Austria-Hungary's south-Slav provinces off so they could be combined into a Greater Serbia or a Yugoslavia. The assassins' motives were consistent with the movement that later became known as Young Bosnia. Serbian military officers are believed to have played a part in organizing the attack. The bombing and murders of June 28 led to the outbreak of World War I a month later. And the map clearly shows how the countries were in a way “obliged” to act as they did because of their strategically geographical positions.
Now I have a question or you to think… but think!
Why did the Black Hand kill Archduke Ferdinand? And the last question that comes to my mind… can you explain how the assassination led to the European war?
Black Hand is officially known as Unification or Death, was a secret society founded in Serbia in May 1911, as part of the Pan-Slavism nationalist movement, with the intention of uniting all of the territories containing South Slav populations (Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, Slovenes, etc) annexed by Austria-Hungary. This society's possible connections to the June 28, 1914 assassination in Sarajevo of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria is considered to have been the main catalyst to the start of World War I. The political objective of the assassination was to break Austria-Hungary's south-Slav provinces off so they could be combined into a Greater Serbia or a Yugoslavia. The assassins' motives were consistent with the movement that later became known as Young Bosnia. Serbian military officers are believed to have played a part in organizing the attack. The bombing and murders of June 28 led to the outbreak of World War I a month later. And the map clearly shows how the countries were in a way “obliged” to act as they did because of their strategically geographical positions.
The out break of the First World War.
The war began when the heir to the Russian Austrian-Hungarian Empire was shot dead by Bosnian Serb, in Sarajevo, in 1914. Why did a quarrel between the Austrians and the Serbs cause a world war?
Bosnia has a mixed population, which includes many Serbs. In 1908, the Austrians marched into Bosnia. The Bosnian Serbs wanted them to leave. In June 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were visiting the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. A group of Bosnian terrorists, The Black Hand, gunned them down. The assassin was a schoolboy called Gavrilo Princip; his gun came from Serbia.
The Austrian government decided the time had come to crush Serbia once and for all. The Austrians demanded that Serbia should apologize for the archduke’s murder and allow the Austrian police into Serbia to hunt down the culprits, Serbia had forty-eight hours to agree r there would be war. The Serbs offered to help find the assassins but Austria was not satisfied. On the 28 July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Both sides turned to their allies for help.
Bosnia has a mixed population, which includes many Serbs. In 1908, the Austrians marched into Bosnia. The Bosnian Serbs wanted them to leave. In June 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were visiting the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. A group of Bosnian terrorists, The Black Hand, gunned them down. The assassin was a schoolboy called Gavrilo Princip; his gun came from Serbia.
The Austrian government decided the time had come to crush Serbia once and for all. The Austrians demanded that Serbia should apologize for the archduke’s murder and allow the Austrian police into Serbia to hunt down the culprits, Serbia had forty-eight hours to agree r there would be war. The Serbs offered to help find the assassins but Austria was not satisfied. On the 28 July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Both sides turned to their allies for help.
The world in 1900
The world in 1900
Many historians ask how the World was in 1900. The answer is quite simple. The world was coming to an end… better to say to the beginning of the end of monstrous political scenery. But was it only political? No. Let’s remember what it was going on during this period. Mainly, there have been both political and ideological metamorphoses among the new men in power during these days. These new ideologies had inevitable consequences; let’s consider some of the political or ideological causes and the social consequences of the period.
On the one hand, it has to be beard in mind that by that time the world was dominated by rulers of Europe. And many of them were related to each other. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and the Tsar Nicholas II of Russia were cousins. And King Edward VII of Great Britain was their uncle.
On the other hand the expansionist idea of the empires have being in a continuous growth. Vast areas of Africa and Asia had been colonized by Europeans. Europeans obtained raw materials for industries from these colonies in exchange of the constructions of schools and railways for the people they ruled. These empires made Europe rich, but also caused the European countries to be suspicious of each other. This let their defenses down in such a sense that there appear many spies working for each ruler so as to know what the other were about to do or not.
All this thirst for more and more power was reinforced by the social class differences. Europe in 1900 was divided by class. The upper class owned the land; the middle class controlled industry or shops and offices; the working class worked in factories or in the fields. They also worked as servants for richer people. Many working-class people lived in dreadful poverty. It is in that time when most children died because they couldn’t resist the dreadful and inhumane working conditions.
“A change, a chance” was the logo of many revolutionaries in the principal cities of Europe. There were many revolutionary groups in Europe who wanted to bring down governments by force. Russian revolutionaries had blown up the tsar Alexander II in 18881, and in 1911 they shot the Russian prime minister. In 1914, a Bosnian revolutionary was to assassinate the son of the Austrian emperor in Sarajevo. This act sparked off the First World War.
Many historians ask how the World was in 1900. The answer is quite simple. The world was coming to an end… better to say to the beginning of the end of monstrous political scenery. But was it only political? No. Let’s remember what it was going on during this period. Mainly, there have been both political and ideological metamorphoses among the new men in power during these days. These new ideologies had inevitable consequences; let’s consider some of the political or ideological causes and the social consequences of the period.
On the one hand, it has to be beard in mind that by that time the world was dominated by rulers of Europe. And many of them were related to each other. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and the Tsar Nicholas II of Russia were cousins. And King Edward VII of Great Britain was their uncle.
On the other hand the expansionist idea of the empires have being in a continuous growth. Vast areas of Africa and Asia had been colonized by Europeans. Europeans obtained raw materials for industries from these colonies in exchange of the constructions of schools and railways for the people they ruled. These empires made Europe rich, but also caused the European countries to be suspicious of each other. This let their defenses down in such a sense that there appear many spies working for each ruler so as to know what the other were about to do or not.
All this thirst for more and more power was reinforced by the social class differences. Europe in 1900 was divided by class. The upper class owned the land; the middle class controlled industry or shops and offices; the working class worked in factories or in the fields. They also worked as servants for richer people. Many working-class people lived in dreadful poverty. It is in that time when most children died because they couldn’t resist the dreadful and inhumane working conditions.
“A change, a chance” was the logo of many revolutionaries in the principal cities of Europe. There were many revolutionary groups in Europe who wanted to bring down governments by force. Russian revolutionaries had blown up the tsar Alexander II in 18881, and in 1911 they shot the Russian prime minister. In 1914, a Bosnian revolutionary was to assassinate the son of the Austrian emperor in Sarajevo. This act sparked off the First World War.
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