WE are now most of the way through the commemoration of the centenary of the First World War. We have been treated for almost four years, in articles in the press and television, and in battlefield and other public commemorations, to examples of the bravery and sacrifice of our troops, about the selfless contributions on the Home Front – and even to discussions about the role of animals, donkeys, pigeons and so on, which, unasked, took part in the great slaughter which cost between 10 and 15 million human lives. What we have not seen in all this time is any mention of the activities of those people who opposed the war, and risked their livelihoods, freedom and even their lives for their stance. This is especially galling in the case of Glasgow, which for a long time was only only place in the British Empire where anti-war activists were able, due to popular support, to make a public stand against the slaughter. The city should be proud of this, instead the silence is deafening.
This was a war for world domination, for colonies, for trade, for areas of investment and raw materials, between Britain and Germany. Both lost, and the late entrant the United States became the world's dominant power. Whatever cause they may have thought they were fighting for, that is what the millions slaughtered in the trenches died for, a cause that was not their own, against people who were not their enemies, and with whom they had no quarrel. As the murdered German anti-war socialist Karl Liebknecht stated, "Der Feind steht in eigenem Land" – the enemy is in your own country.
In our own city people like Helen Crawfurd, Willie Gallacher and John Maclean voiced their opposition to the conflict. When sentenced to hard labour for his anti-war activities in 1918 Maclean retorted with: "I am here not as the accused but the accuser of capitalism, dripping with blood from head to foot." Maclean's anti-war fight has been commemorated only by being ignored a century later. In May 1917 a demonstration of 80,000 on Glasgow Green expressed solidarity with the Russian revolution and demanded an en d to the war. What commemoration was made of this? The strike of 100,000 Clydeside workers against the continuation of the war on May Day 1918 has been similarly airbrushed from the narrative.
These points are not made as some kind of historical point scoring; the kind of lies and misinformation that brought about war in 1914 were used again to justify the more recent invasion of Iraq in the name of democracy, but in reality in pursuit of control of the world's oil supplies. Patriotism has been truly said to be the last refuge of the scoundrel, and the real heroes, if we want to use such a term, from that conflict a century ago were those who understood what they were fighting for, and extended the hand of friendship to the armies and people of the countries they were at war with. Their example stands as an inspiration to us today. Let us not allow them to be forgotten.
Ian R Mitchell,
21 Woodside Terrace, Glasgow.
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