64. Before And After WWI (Part 2)

In this episode we discuss the newer nation-states that participated in the First World War, examining whether they survived the ordeal more effectively than the old empires that fell under the stress of those four years. Ethan Bleskie returns as guest.


3 thoughts on “64. Before And After WWI (Part 2)”

  1. Megan says:

    I just finished both parts, great stuff! I cannot remember which episode mentioned it, but there was a mention of the French countryside being ravaged by the constant war. I wanted to comment that there are war zones that cannot be farmed or occupied to this day because hitting live shells is still a possibility. These zones are called “Zone Rouge” in French or “Red Zones” in English. Like Adam was trying to hit home, a 4-year war wrecked parts of the world that may never fully recover.

    1. Adam says:

      That was fast! Glad you enjoyed them. Trying to convey the devastation of that war is a really frustrating endeavor – there’s always more horror, no matter how much you manage to get across, and the Red Zones are a great example of that. We literally scarred portions of Europe to the point that battlefields can still be seen from the sky a century later. It’s crazy; literally two days ago there was an article about British police disposing of a First World War explosive. It happened a hundred years ago, but we’re a long way away from being affected by it in a very real and direct manner.

  2. Megan says:

    I didn’t even know about the instance in Britian. This is almost too horrific to think that we did this to ourselves. But as horrible as it is, I enjoy seeing how the world changed in those 4-years. Along with all of the human experience, think of the Christmas peace or the use of African soldiers (some historicans believed this helped the ball rolling on the US civil rights movement). It’s really interesting to look at the changes in the world, and the ripples that are still going from the Great War.

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