Post B quarter three week seven

This post will be a rant on indecision and how very important decisions are made. In this chapter, on both sides of the war, people who had the right idea and who were better qualified for advice were ignored and the wrong decisions were made. For example, the German mobilization to take control of the Belgium railroads was in the middle of happening, due to the person who knew what they were talking about was listened too. However, the person who wasn't as qualified had more favor with the ultimate decider and told Germany to stop mobilization for a foolish reason. That reason was that Britain had not answered back to German's plea that they stay neutral in the war, when all the odds said that Britain would fight. However, the point I'm trying to make is that the people who are elected for office that are going to make really important decisions are elected not based on who is the best leader, but rather who has the support of their party and of the people, which means they say and do things that aren't necessarily what is needed to benefit everyone.

Theme quarter 3 week seven

The theme for these chapters was that every nation's government must carefully consider how they are going to deal with nation crisis that will ultimately lead to people dieing.

Quote quarter 3 week seven

"Of the 2501 persons listed in the Carnet B, 80 per cent were ultmately to volunteer for military service" (87). This quote is important because it shows how foolish the beliefs that all foreigners are spies.

figurative language quarter 3 week 7

1. "At that moment," his memoirs say, "I thought my heart would break" (81). This quote is important to the story because it is referring to Germans cancelling their mobilization plans into Belgium, despite the fact that it was a critical area for the German offensive. This is figurative language because it is foreshadowing a part of the war.

2. "In France appreciation was keener than he knew" (83). This is figurative language because the book because it is a major foreshadow for the future plot.

3. "The event, pregnant with possible civil strife, stunned the Cabinet. Street barricades, riot, even revolt became a prospect on the threshold of war" (87). This quote was important to the book because it illustrates what a predictiment France was in right before it decided to mobilize for World War I.

Vocab quarter 3 week 7

aide-de-camp (81): A subordinate military or naval officer acting as a confidential assistant to a superior, usually to a general officer or admiral.

casus belli (81): An event or political occurrence that brings about a declaration of war.

Post B quarter three week six

This post is going to be about how some leaders in World War I believed that war wasn't a big deal, that with new technology that lead to greater weapons would barely effect how many people would die. It is so foolish to think that because well... this war was a disaster in the sense that people underestimated everything from the time frame to how deadly and horrible the war was going to be. I don't blame those who didn't know that chemical warfare would happen because how would you have known what Germany had up its sleeves? The thing that gets me though is how on earth did they believe the war would only last 2 weeks! Some major battles have lasted that long and that was between two nations only. This was between 7 nations at the minimum on multiple fronts with every nation prepared for combat. No nation was taken by surprise when war was finally declared, but people believed that the war would only take a week or two. Such uncompetence that I can not fathom.

Post A quarter 3 week 6 theme

The major theme in this chapter of the book is that some people believe that starting a war hesitantly is comparable to hesitantly deciding what ice cream flavor you want.

Post A quarter 3 week 6 quote

"More cosmopolitan and more timid than the archetype Prussian, he had never actually wanted a general war. He wanted greater power, greater prestige, above all more authority in the world's affairs for Germany but he preferred to obtain them by frightening rather than by fighting other nations" (75). This quote is very important because one of the main people who caused the war was the German Kaiser, who this quote is describing. It shows how some people's pride allow themselevs to believe they are more powerful than the common man, so they will kill millions of them for something they don't necessarily want to do, but do it in the name of pride anyway.

Post A quarter 3 week 6 figurative language

1. "No tenacious offensive but a slow retreat as in 1812" (74). This is foreshadowing how Russia might play a major role in defeating Germany because Germany still remains incompetent of Russia's capabilities.

2. "Face to face no longer with the specter but the reality of a two-front war, the Kaiser was close to a "sick Tom-Cat"(75). This is an example of a metaphor because its is comparing the theory of a two-front war with a specter.

3. "One army corps alone-out of the total of 40 in the German forces-required 170 railway cars for officers, 969 for infantry, 2960 for cavalry, 1915 fro artillery and supply wagons, 6010 in all, grouped in 140 trains and an equal number again for their supplies"(75). This is an example of imagery because you get an idea of what it took to get a fraction of the German army mobilized.

Post A quarter 3 week 6 vocab

1. Ultimatum (73): A final proposal.

2. Socialism (74): a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution.

post B quarter three week five

This post is going to be a rant on the Russian government during World War I. It is truly sad in my mind that the Russian Czars had to be sooooo stupid concerning war. Perhaps I don't necessarily believe that a dictatorship is exactly how a nation should be run, but honestly, the guy stopped military research that would have saved Russian lives and would have prevented Germany from defeating Russian forces despite being outnumbered by a ridiculous amount of people. It would be understandable if guns and artillery weren't proved extremely deadly and accurate, but they had! The guy believed that despite multiple wars that were being fought with rapid fire guns and not rifles, the bayonet was the only way to win a war. Their main strategy in combat was to flat out charge the enemy positions with large sums of troops. The machine gun made those charges utterly futile with barely any enemy losses. But had Russia developed machine guns and refused to use tactics that would kill masses of their men, they would have easily defeated Germany because of the shear number of well equipped troops.

post A quarter 3 week 5 theme

The theme in this chapter of the book is that a governments duty to its nation is to be properly prepared to do what its going to do, or else it will hurt many more people then what is truely necessary.

post A quarter 3 week 5 Quote

"This insane regime [...] this tangle of cowardice, blindness, craftiness, and stupidity" (59). This quote does a very good job at summing up how the Russia's government thought. This is important to the book because I think that Russia is going to lose many, many more lives then are necessary to win the war because of how incometent their leaders are.

Post A quarter 3 week 5 figurative language

1. "It was envisaged as a gigantic mass, initially lethargic, but once thoroughly roused into motion, rolling forward inexorably with, not matter how many losses, endless waves of manpower to fill the places fallen" (57). This is an example of imagery because you get the idea of how massive the Russian army was.
2. "Anxious to restore glory to their tarnished arms, and leaving details of planning to look after themselves, the Russians agreed, with more valor than discretion, to launch an offensive simultaneously with France" (57). This is an example of foreshadowing because "with more valor than discretion" indicates that maybe the Russians might not be quite as prepared for this war as they should be.
3. "To send an army into modern battle on enemy territory, especially under the disadvantage of different railway gauges, is a hazardous and complicated undertaking requiring prodigies of careful orgainization. Systematic attention to detail was not a notable characteristic of the Russian Army" (59). Yet another example of foreshadowing (the author certainly likes to do this) because its hinting at in order to pull this off smoothly, the Russians need to think extremely hard on details, but the Russian army doesn't really do that at all.

Post A quarter 3 week 5 Vocab

stud (66): an object protruding from the surface of an object.

mujiks (57): A Russian peasant.

post B quarter three week four

It seems that the war isn't going to start for the next few chapters yet because it went from German, to French, to British perspective. The next chapter is called the "Russian steam roller" which undoubtly is about the Russian perspective on the war. But despite the every looming war just out of reach, the book is proving extremely interesting. For example, I never quite understood how everyone got involved in this war. I knew Britain, France, and Russia where all fighting Germany, however I didn't know that Britain was orginally neutral. They were to take the side of however broke the treaty of going through Belgium, so had that been France, Germany would have gotten backing. The other thing I find interesting is how winston churchill was orginally in a lower ranking government position, even though his leading mind was so aparent and even being used.

post A quarter 3 week 4 theme

The major theme in this chapter is that in times of war, every little decision must be carefully considered, or else a mistake could cost thousands of people their lives.

post A quarter 3 week 4 Quote

"A single British soldier- and we will see to it that he is killed"(49). This quote is extremely important to this chapter because it shows how the French view on how commited the British are at the time of this quote. Britain doesn't really want to help the French in this war despite the fact that they have promised to help should Germany break the peace treaty. This quote is in response to a representative of Britain asking a representative from France what is the minimum amount of soldiers necessary. Well what the quote means is that Britain should be fully part of this war, not merely sending the minimum amount of troops.

post A quarter 3 week 4 Figurative language

1. " [...] And the Home Secretary, a young man of thirty-seven, impossible to ignore, who from his inappropriate post, had pelted the Prime Minister during the crisis with ideas on naval and military strategy, all of them quite sound, had produced an astonishingly accurate prediction of the future course of the fighting, and who had no doubts whatever about what needed to be done"(51). This is figurative language because it is imagery. Even though it barely describes the man physically, you get an idea of how mentally savoy this person is concerning how to run a nation.

2. "Like a rapier flash came Fouch's reply" (49). This is a simile, hence an example of figurative language.

3. "[...] They might destroy the lovely loseness of the Entente" (46). This is an example of figurative language because it clearly describes how Richard Haldane feels about the relations of France.

post A quarter 3 week 4 vocab

1. Pacifist (52): A person who is apposed to war or violence.

2. quid pro quo (53): Its latin for "one thing in return for another".