Why is WWII remembered more than WWI?

[puglover]

WWII is more interesting to people because it is easier to see it as a global conflict between Good and Evil. The Axis were perhaps the greatest alliance of sadistic dictators the world has ever known, and were responsible for the deaths of millions of civilians in death camps. Thus the Allies and the Axis are two wholly opposite sides of morality. Just like a movie.

WWI's nations were not as dramatically different, and the cause of the war was not the threat of facist takeover, but a triggering of alliances and pacts.

 

[YNCS]

Between 1815 and 1914 there was no general war in Europe. The Franco-Prussian War lasted six weeks and other, minor wars were over equally quickly. In 1914, because an Austrian was killed in Bosnia, Germany was at war with France, Russia and Britain. This war lasted for four years, killing more people than any war except its continuation, World War II.

At the end of the war France and Austria were no longer world powers (Austria wasn't even a European power) and serious attempts were made to keep Germany from regaining her status as a world power. The United States became a world power.

 

[salty mud]

WWII truly affected our way of life. My uncles were in the war but my Grandmother, my grandmother worked in the shipyards in San Francisco. WWII didn't just affect soldiers and their families, it affected the civilian population as well. Resources, food, gas etc, were fed to the war machine and the leftovers were divided up amongst the civilians. These were the people raised listening to WWI stories. When they raised us, they had their own story to tell.

Incorrect. Gas was not used. It was used in WWI. Civilians were affected in WWI. Rationing was imposed. Also, the French, German, Belgium etc etc civilians were caught in the struggle.

 

[YNCS]

salty mud,

I believe 3 EMS was referring to gasoline rationing during WWII, not the use of poison gas.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

@OP: You said the reasons yourself. All that stuff, planes, new types of machineguns, tanks, subs were just the start ... in WW2 they were used on a massive scale.
Plus WW2 has that "spice": the holocaust, nazis, commies, atrocities, mysticism ... etc. with all the glamour that these things have ... and they have plenty.

 

[Plotinus]

I agree that it's partly the "good vs evil" ideology of WWII. It's got all the good villains (and heroes) while WWI seems to lack both. Also, as I said elsewhere, WWII is the last time when Britain made a big difference on the global scene, which is why the British remain obsessed with it. I think something similar might apply to America, since it's the last time the US was involved in a major war where they can reasonably claim to have been on the "right" side.

I posted it on the other thread, but I just have to post it here too - Georges Brassens' song about the Great War (really an attack on the kind of mentality that enjoys warfare, of course). Looks like not everyone thought WWII to be "better"...

Depuis que l'homme écrit l'Histoire
Depuis qu'il bataille à cœur joie
Entre mille et une guerr' notoires
Si j'étais t'nu de faire un choix
A l'encontre du vieil Homère
Je déclarerais tout de suite:
"Moi, mon colon, cell' que j'préfère,
C'est la guerr' de quatorz'-dix-huit!"

Est-ce à dire que je méprise
Les nobles guerres de jadis
Que je m'soucie comm' d'un'cerise
De celle de soixante-dix?
Au contrair', je la révère
Et lui donne un satisfecit
Mais, mon colon, celle que j'préfère
C'est la guerr' de quatorz'-dix-huit

Je sais que les guerriers de Sparte
Plantaient pas leurs epées dans l'eau
Que les grognards de Bonaparte
Tiraient pas leur poudre aux moineaux
Leurs faits d'armes sont légendaires
Au garde-à-vous, je les félicite
Mais, mon colon, celle que j'préfère
C'est la guerr' de quatorz'-dix-huit

Bien sûr, celle de l'an quarante
Ne m'as pas tout à fait déçu
Elle fut longue et massacrante
Et je ne crache pas dessus
Mais à mon sens, elle ne vaut guère
Guèr' plus qu'un premier accessit
Moi, mon colon, celle que j' préfère
C'est la guerr' de quatorz'-dix-huit

Mon but n'est pas de chercher noise
Au guérillas, non, fichtre, non
Guerres saintes, guerres sournoises
Qui n'osent pas dire leur nom,
Chacune a quelque chos' pour plaire
Chacune a son petit mérite
Mais, mon colon, celle que j'préfère
C'est la guerr' de quatorz'-dix-huit

Du fond de son sac à malices
Mars va sans doute, à l'occasion,
En sortir une, un vrai délice
Qui me fera grosse impression
En attendant je persévère
A dir' que ma guerr' favorite
Cell', mon colon, que j'voudrais faire
C'est la guerr' de quatorz'-dix-huit

Michael Flanders translated it loosely but brilliantly, although unfortunately he didn't come up with any translation for "massacrante":

War has had its apologians,
Ever since history began,
From the times of the Greeks and Trojans, when they sang of arms and the man.
But if you asked me to name the best, Sir,
I'd tell you the one I mean,
Head and shoulders above the rest, Sir, was the War of 14-18,
Head and shoulders above the rest, Sir, stands the War of 14-18.

There were the wars against all those Louis,
There were Caesar's wars in Gaul,
There was Britain's war in Suez, which wasn't a war at all.
There was the war of the Spanish succession,
Many other wars in between,
But they none of them made an impression like the war of 14-18,
They didn't make the same impression as the war of 14-18.

The war of American independence,
That was enjoyable, by and large,
Watching England's free descendants busy defeating German garge.
But the Boer war was a poor war, And I'm still inclined to lean,
Though Sir, it possibly isn't your war like the war of 14-18,
Though, it probably isn't your war, Sir, the war of 14-18.

There are certainly plenty of wars to choose from, you pick whichever one you please.
Like the one we've had all the news from, liberating the Vietnamese,
Or those wars for God and country, be it Korean or Philippine.
Sir, if you'll pardon my affrontry, give me the war of 14-18,
If you'll pardon my affrontry, Sir, the war of 14-18,

Every war has its own attraction from total war to border raid,
Call it rebellion, police action,
War of containment or crusade.
I don't underrate the late war we see so often on the screen,
But that wasn't a really great war like the war of 14-18,
No, the late war wasn't the great war like the war of 14-18.

No doubt Mars among his chattels has got some really splendid war,
Full of bigger and bloodier battles that we've ever seen before.
But until that time comes, Sir, when that greater war comes on the scene,
The one that I on the whole prefer, Sir, is the war of 14-18,
Yes, the one that I still prefer, Sir, is the war of 14-18.

 

[Spartan117]

better publicity, holocaust..?

however most people, i know, dont know too many details about either one

but less about WWI

 

[3 EMS]

Incorrect. Gas was not used. It was used in WWI. Civilians were affected in WWI. Rationing was imposed. Also, the French, German, Belgium etc etc civilians were caught in the struggle.

I apologise, Salty Mud, I meant gasolene.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

In Canada, the opposite is true. WWI is generally talked about more than WWII and appears more in literature and so forth.

 

[Captain2]

It is tragic that history in the education system here has to be 'exciting' in order for it to be taught.

not true, my class spent three weeks on the depression and only a week on WW2

 

[CaptainF]

WWII is more interesting to people because it is easier to see it as a global conflict between Good and Evil. The Axis were perhaps the greatest alliance of sadistic dictators the world has ever known, and were responsible for the deaths of millions of civilians in death camps. Thus the Allies and the Axis are two wholly opposite sides of morality. Just like a movie.

WWI's nations were not as dramatically different, and the cause of the war was not the threat of facist takeover, but a triggering of alliances and pacts.

I disagree. Both sides were equally ruthless, and killed enormous amounts of civilians.

I am glad that the Allies won, however.

 

[Plotinus]

The cause of WWI wasn't just a "triggering" of alliances. Who "triggered" them? The combatants chose to go to war. For example, Austria chose to declare war on Serbia because they wanted to increase their hegemony in the Balkans. And when Russia declared war on Austria to defend Serbia, Germany chose to go to war against them, even though the terms of their alliance with Austria did not demand it. Now the system of alliances may have largely determined precisely who went to war against whom - for example, France's alliance with Russia meant that, once Germany had decided to go to war against Russia, they began by attacking France. However, the decision of the German government to go to war in the first place was not determined by the alliances. On the contrary, they seem to have been quite keen to have a war, partly out of a desire to stoke up nationalist sentiment and reduce the threat (as they perceived it) of communism among German workers.

 

[AxiomUk]

not true, my class spent three weeks on the depression and only a week on WW2

Think of your initial basic history education. They will tell you the big basic exciting facts, where possible, that will stick in your mind. World War 2 wins over the Great War any day.

 

[Captain2]

hoooray, big long depression

 

[Keshik]

I have nothing to add in the discussion that hasn't already been said, but if you're ever in Kansas City, take the opportunity to see the WW1 memorial downtown. Built around 1920, it is striking and awesome. It gives you a feel for how people looked at The Great War prior to the next war.

 

[Verbose]

I have nothing to add in the discussion that hasn't already been said, but if you're ever in Kansas City, take the opportunity to see the WW1 memorial downtown. Built around 1920, it is striking and awesome. It gives you a feel for how people looked at The Great War prior to the next war.

And if in France, and you happen to end up in some one-cow village in the countryside, be sure to look up the gigantic war memorial over the village's war dead 1914-1918.

It doesn't matter which rotten little French village it is, it will have a huge monument. Usually a WWI soldier and some angelic figure etc. They mass-produced these things in the 1920's.

These monuments are pretty much all pathetic considered as artworks. But the real shocker here is the relation betwee the size of the village, the size of the monument and the length of the list of dead young men.

 

[YNCS]

In almost every town in Belgium and the northern part of France occupied by Germany you can find grave stones with the inscription "fusillé par les Allemands" or "shot by the Germans." Usually the dates are 1914-18, but occasionally you'll find the dates 1940 to 1945.

 

[cincybearsfan]

For the US, there is no comparison. Same thing with Japan (who joined the allies in WWI to seize German colonies). I'd also assume that the same holds for the Poles.

But, what about France? While Britain had the feeling of a lost generation, France really did have a lost generation and drop in population after the war. The refusal of the French army to advance at the end, and the scared landscapes. How does this compare for the French to the swift defeat and occupation by Germany during WWII? It seems that Charles de Gaule is the biggest hero of the two wars, is this accurate?

It seems to me, from studying British history, that there existed two generations of war children that grew up hearing about the horrors, except the second generation didn't have to go through a WWIII, and I wonder how great of a role that played in the 60's.

 

[Gladi]

Bright day
WWI is well remembered in Czechia, many troops fought on both sides and we got our independance from it. Also we have myth of Czechoslovak Legions.

 

[onejayhawk]

Everyone seems to be forgetting one other significant factor. News coverage. WW I was fought when news from Europe came a month after the fact, in papers, with no photos. WW II was famous for live radio broadcasts, daily print stories, and weekly newsreels. Not only has the memory of the fighting survived, but the more distant memory of the home front.

However, consider the landmark film The Best Years of our Lives. It was about the vets coming home, and what their problems were. But it was released before the fighting was actually over, in 1945, shot the previous year, and writen the year before that. It is in many ways a movie about 1919, with newer cars. Now that I think about it, cinema had a much bigger impact on our current recollection than even the living memory. Hollywood made what were then current events, or updated memories of the first war to the new names and equipment.

J

J