Here in France, November 11 is a legal holiday that celebrates the
end of World War I, and commemorates all these people who died for
France. Their names are printed on monuments in every French
village. More than 1.5 million people died in a country which
population was around 40 or 50 million.
This is precisely why we should read today what Anatole France
wrote once:
On croit mourir pour la patrie, et on meurt pour des
industriels (We think we die for our country, and we die for
industrialists).
World War I was a criminal act. It would be the most evil thing the
Europeans have ever made if they had not done worse before
and after.
Its peak was the battle of Verdun, where 500,000 to 1,000,000 people
died. Imagine one September 11 per day during 6 months, and imagine
that everybody thinks it's perfectly legitimate to die for
nothing. The general who won the battle, instead of being sent to
prison for mass murdering, became a national hero, which gave him the
possibility to commit other crimes 25 years later: his name was
Philippe Pétain.
My grandfather, who was studying to become an accountant, had to
come back to his father's farm because all of his elder brothers had
died or had been wounded at the war. This is a very banal story.
Today, the United States are repeating the errors and crimes of
Europe one century ago. Dumb and dumber. Their citizens should read this:
We think we die for our country, and we die for
industrialists.