WORLD WAR I AS COLLECTIVE SUICIDE

It is painful and difficult to acknowledge the truth: that the First World War was a massive episode of collective suicide. Instead, historians offer fatuous, bizarre explanations like, “They underestimated the power of the machine gun.”

British General Douglas Haig planned and executed the Battle of the Somme, which began on July 1, 1916. Visiting the battlefield on March 31, 1917, Haig reflected (De Groot, 1989) upon the hundreds of thousands of British casualties: “Credit must be paid to the splendid young officers who were able time and time again to attack these tremendous positions…. To many it meant certain death, and all must have known that before they started.”

CERTAIN DEATH: Haig planned and executed a series of massive suicide attacks.

John Buchan described the first day of the Somme offensive: “The British moved forward in line after line, dressed as if on parade; not a man wavered or broke ranks; but minute by minute the ordered lines melted away under the deluge of high explosives, shrapnel, rifle, and machine-gun fire. The troops shed their blood like water for the liberty of the world.”

Contemplating the nature of “heroic death,” Haig cited a speech by the Moghul Emperor Babur to his troops on March 16, 1527 (De Groot, 1989) which, he said, was “curiously appropriate” now: “The most high God has been propitious to us: If we fall in the field, we die the death of martyrs. If we survive, we rise victorious the avengers of the cause of God.”

What is the difference between what Islamic leaders ask suicide bombers to do, and what Douglas Haig asked British soldiers to do: The number of casualties (see table, First World War Casualties directly below).

First World War Casualties

Country Men mobilised Killed Wounded POW’s + missing Total casualties casualties in % of men mobilised
Russia 12 mill 1.7 mill 4.9 mill 2.5 mill 9.15 mill 76.3
France 8.4 mill 1.3 mill 4.2 mill 537,000 6.1 mill 73.3
GB + Empire 8.9 mill 908,000 2 mill 191,000 3.1 mill 35.8
Italy 5.5 mill 650,000 947,000 600,000 2.1 mill 39
USA 4.3 mill 126,000 234,000 4,500 350,000 8
Japan 800,000 300 900 3 1210 0.2
Romania 750,000 335,000 120,000 80,000 535,000 71
Serbia 700,000 45,000 133,000 153,000 331,000 47
Belgium 267,000 13,800 45,000 34,500 93,000 35
Greece 230,000 5000 21,000 1000 27,000 12
Portugal 100,000 7222 13,700 12,000 33,000 33
Total Allies 42 mill 5 mill 13 mill 4 mill 22 mill 52%
             
Germany 11 mill 1.7 mill 4.2 mill 1.1 mill 7.1 mill 65
Austria 7.8 mill 1.2 mill 3.6 mill 2.2 mill 7 mill 90
Turkey 2.8 mill 325,000 400,000 250,000 975,000 34
Bulgaria 1.2 mill 87,000 152,000 27,000 266,000 22
Total Central Powers 22.8 mill 3.3 mill 8.3 mill 3.6 mill 15 mill 67
             
Grand Total 65 mill 8.5 mill 21 mill 7.7 mill 37 mill 57%