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% |
|