On the eve of Armistice Day/Veterans Day

On November 11^th, we will celebrate Armistice Day, or Veteran’s Day as we know it in the United States. On the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month, in a train car in Versailles, France, a peace treaty was signed between the Allies and Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire ending World War 1. This war was known as the “Great War” or the “War to end all wars.” This war introduced modern warfare with all of its horrors to the world. Chemical warfare, the modern machine gun, aerial warfare, the bombings from air of civilian targets in cities, the tank, the submarine, and all other weapons that eventually led to even more destructive weaponry was issued into the world through this war. 

The “Peace treaty” signed on November 11^th dismantled the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. The effects of that treaty led to the proliferation of communism throughout the world, the advancement of fascism in Spain, Italy, and Germany, contributed to the Great Depression, and led the world back into a war even more horrific in 1939. 

The artificial boundaries drawn up by the Allies for the Middle East, following the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire, established Arab kingdoms that never existed prior to the war, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey. This ill thought out dismantling largely contributed to the rise of dictators in those countries, political unrest and persecution, religious sectarian conflicts and wars, and much of the violence from which all of recoil in horror today.

As we look back on history on this Armistice Day, we find that the victims following in the wake of the Versailles Peace treaty, far outnumbers the victims of World War 1. The War to End All Wars, only produced more warfare and does not appear to ever cease, at least in my lifetime.

Pope John Paul II proclaimed on the eve of the United States invasion of Iraq, “War is always a defeat for humanity!” Having lived through World War 1, World War 2, the communist occupation of his nation of Poland, and the Cold War, Pope John Paul II knew of what he spoke. In our arrogance and greed, the United States ignored what the Pope warned and has made the political unrest in the Middle East even more precarious with more lives lost, American and Iraqi, than we would have had, had we just left things alone.

Will there be no end to the circle of violence that seems to perpetuate and infect humanity from generation to generation? Must humanity continue to make the same mistakes over and over again? Must the carnage continue, bodies of the innocent piled into mass graves, the victims of the foolish and powerful? 

We are capable of ending the circle of violence that only continues to grow and spread in all of its ferocity. It is a matter of taking the words of Jesus seriously. It is very simple. Live the great commandment of Jesus. Let us honor all of the victims of war, the veterans, the families of veterans, the untold millions of innocent civilian men, women, and children by ceasing war altogether. Let us truly love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves. No matter what world religion one follows, all point to the same divine mandate. Serve God, and serve God in one another, end war.