THE LEGEND OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 82, 31 December 1929, Page 9

THE LEGEND OF THE WAR

WHAT WILL BE ITS CHARACTER?

“One of the most remarkable stories of the nineteenth century is that of the growth of the Napoleonic legend. It may be that the twentieth century will have a yet more remarkable story to present, that of the growth of the legend of the Great War of 1914-1918,” says a contributor to the “Times” Educational Supplements. “What is the character of the legend? It is as yet impossible to say; the forces at work creating it are so diverse in their aims and their methods are in many cases unconscious either of aims or of methods. But one can distinguish in it a growing sense of the horror and waste of war, of the tragic futility of the whole business. There is not a trace of any effort to glorify war, but rather to expose its depths of suffering and degradation.” After referring to the part that will be taken by art and literature in the formation of the legend, the writer suggests that the influence of teachers, applied if only for a few moments in each year upon the most receptive minds, will determine in very large measure the character of the legend of the war that will hold the minds of the people in years to come. “It is right that our legend shall imply the stupidity, the futility, the horror of war,” the correspondent adds. “But we must not forget that war, though in itself debasing and disgraceful, calls forth —and did call forth in abundant measure between 1914 and 1918—the highest and most beautiful qualities in the human race, and calls them forth more urgently than do most of the demands of peace. We cannot forget, ner should our children ever fail to realise, what it means that an almost innumerable host of men and women made the supreme sacrifice by giving their lives for their country. On that we can pause year by year, for therein lies the heart and meaning of our legend. War calls' forth the highest and most beautiful qualities in man, but only to destroy and waste them, for war can be satisfied only by death, and wholesale death. When mankind can learn that it is better to live worthily than to die worthily, that the demands of peace, though less strident than those of war. can be satisfied by no lesser qualities, the object of our legend will be achieved.”