The aftermath is not all bad – plus unintended consequences

How often as we look back on those dark days do we see echoes that reverberate down to the present day. Two events in that October immediately come to mind. Bulgaria entered the war and its reason for doing so was the perceived threat from Serbia. In similar vein Masaryk used the conflict to claim independence for Czechoslovakia. Thus the seeds of the Balkan conflict were sown and anger over the Sudetenland became a step on the way to the 2nd world war.

We look back too on personal tragedies. This was the month when Edith Cavell, in spite of international protest, was executed by firing squad in Belgium. Her crime? Aiding the escape of allied prisoners. Perhaps we can take some solace from the fact that she is remembered and revered, her executioners forgotten,

There are however other events that still resonate today. The first transatlantic radio/telephone call went from Arlington to Paris. A small piece of history you might think. Think again, without this step would we have the instant world wide communication we now take for granted. Like it or not this small event was the great grandparent of Facebook, Instagram, smart phones and the iPad.

Over in America there was another milestone. The 1 millionth Tin Lizzie (model T Ford) rolled off the production lines. If ever there was a paradigm for avoiding war it is surely this. What it represented was the rise and rise of American power whilst Europe bankrupted itself over a few yards of mud. On October 19th US Bankers agreed a $500 million loan to Britain and France. That’s several billion dollars in today’s money. Do politicians never learn? Apparently not, they went on to repeat the mistake a mere 25 years later.

Happily humour, sport and music still held sway. The month marked the first international horse shoe throwing contest. That’s humour and sport rolled up in one. And to end on a high note, if you’ll forgive the pun Strauss’s “Alpensymfonie” had its Premiere in Berlin.

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