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Dan D · 07-02-08, 01:17 PM

Side-note:
Some interesting facts and thoughts with regard to the American Civil war I found here: http://usaerklaert.wordpress.com/200...rauma-der-usa/
It is a blog run an American expat in Germany. I would have simply quoted the whole piece but it is not written in English, so I tried to roughly sum up some of the many points the author makes:

A popular claim: “Europeans and Americans have drawn different conclusions from WWI and WW II. Because American civilians never suffered the consequences of the horrors of war on their own soil, they have no idea what war really means. This explains the different attitudes of America and Europe towards using military forces to solve conflicts”.

The author tries to put things into perspective and points out that such statements tend to irritate Americans. If there is a national trauma of the USA, it is not Vietnam but the Civil war.
The most costly war in the history of the USA was the Civil war which took place in …well, America. More than 550.000 soldiers died. 23.000 Americans alone died in the 12 hours lasting battle of Antietam..That is more than the combined American, British, Canadian and German casualties during the Normandy landing 1944.

The Civil war marks the beginning of “modern”, industrialised warfare. In the face of advanced weapons technology the old infantry tactics of Napoleon times which still were used in the beginning turned out to be obsolete.

A consequence: trench war in Virginia
http://712educators.about.com/cs/his...blcwphcas7.htm

It was also the beginning of “total war”, Sherman’s “march to the sea”, where you do not only try to beat the enemy armies on the field but also directly aim to destroy the enemies economic resources and infrastructure. Heavy suffering amongst the civilian population is the consequence.

Sherman: “Until we can repopulate Georgia, it is useless to occupy it, but the utter destruction of its roads, houses and people will cripple their military resources…I can make the march and make Georgia howl”.

“Sherman’s neckties”:
http://ngeorgia.com/ang/Sherman's_Neckties

Richmond destroyed:
http://www.archives.gov/research/civ...il-war-118.jpg

So, you could say at least that when WW1 broke out, it was the Europeans who were sticking flowers to their guns and had naïve and romantic misconceptions of war while Americans probably knew better what this war would ”feel“ like because of the experiences they had made in the Civil war and therefore they were not so eager to join in the fight.

07-02-08, 01:17 PM	#13
Dan D Grey Wolf Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: 9th Flotilla Posts: 839 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Side-note: Some interesting facts and thoughts with regard to the American Civil war I found here: http://usaerklaert.wordpress.com/200...rauma-der-usa/ It is a blog run an American expat in Germany. I would have simply quoted the whole piece but it is not written in English, so I tried to roughly sum up some of the many points the author makes: A popular claim: “Europeans and Americans have drawn different conclusions from WWI and WW II. Because American civilians never suffered the consequences of the horrors of war on their own soil, they have no idea what war really means. This explains the different attitudes of America and Europe towards using military forces to solve conflicts”. The author tries to put things into perspective and points out that such statements tend to irritate Americans. If there is a national trauma of the USA, it is not Vietnam but the Civil war. The most costly war in the history of the USA was the Civil war which took place in …well, America. More than 550.000 soldiers died. 23.000 Americans alone died in the 12 hours lasting battle of Antietam..That is more than the combined American, British, Canadian and German casualties during the Normandy landing 1944. The Civil war marks the beginning of “modern”, industrialised warfare. In the face of advanced weapons technology the old infantry tactics of Napoleon times which still were used in the beginning turned out to be obsolete. A consequence: trench war in Virginia http://712educators.about.com/cs/his...blcwphcas7.htm It was also the beginning of “total war”, Sherman’s “march to the sea”, where you do not only try to beat the enemy armies on the field but also directly aim to destroy the enemies economic resources and infrastructure. Heavy suffering amongst the civilian population is the consequence. Sherman: “Until we can repopulate Georgia, it is useless to occupy it, but the utter destruction of its roads, houses and people will cripple their military resources…I can make the march and make Georgia howl”. “Sherman’s neckties”: http://ngeorgia.com/ang/Sherman's_Neckties Richmond destroyed: http://www.archives.gov/research/civ...il-war-118.jpg So, you could say at least that when WW1 broke out, it was the Europeans who were sticking flowers to their guns and had naïve and romantic misconceptions of war while Americans probably knew better what this war would ”feel“ like because of the experiences they had made in the Civil war and therefore they were not so eager to join in the fight.