In 1914, a whole generation is drawn into the world’s first global conflict. During its four years, the Great War would call upon seventy million men from twenty countries to do their duty. Nine million would die.
In Killing Fields, soldiers from all sides remember the trenches and the tactics, the food, the fleas, the casualties — the terrible nature and scale of the slaughter that shattered the old world order.
Killing Fields opens with scenes of the enthusiasm that greeted the outbreak of war in the capital cities of Europe. Soldiers marched off expecting excitement, adventure, and glory. Each nation had alliances to honor — and old scores to settle. Berlin’s Margarethe Stahl remembers that “everyone was wildly enthusiastic. They were all waving flags. People threw flowers at the soldiers. . . . Everyone was singing.” Norman Tennant of London also remembers: “The atmosphere, it was certainly electric. Almost unbelievable. We were excited about it and all ready to join in, because everything had been too peaceful almost until that time.”
10:52 am on November 21, 2018 Email Charles Burris
