Momentous Events with Lasting Consquences

The significance of WW1 tends to blind us to what else was going on at that time. This month we are staying away from the war – almost – and looking at a wider horizon. I also have to confess to being creative with the month. This is because last month I concentrated on the Lloyd George story so missed some important events.

In January 1916 the army Medical Corps carried out the first blood transfusion using blood that had been cooled and stored. Some comfort can be taken that this advance has saved many more lives than were taken by the conflict.

In the USA two entirely contradictory events are still disturbing the nation today. In January Emma Gibson was arrested in New York for lecturing on birth control. Then in October Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic, the forerunner of “Planned Parenthood”.

Still in America, in early March Pancho Villa invaded Columbus New Mexico with 500 followers. They were defeated and retired to Mexico only to be chased by 12,000 American troops, quickly followed by a further two cavalry regiments under the leadership of John J Pershing. (80 years later missiles carried his name). The inevitable outcome of this was the extension d American influence in the Caribbean and South America.

Back in Europe on 1st March the BMW (Bayerischen Motoren Werke) was founded. Their contribution to the war effort has been eclipsed by their success in the commercial and industrial world we now inhabit. It would seem that the military invasion that never materialised morphed into an automobile invasion.

In the Far East Emperor Yuan Shikai of China abdicated. With the removal of the last Emperor the Chinese Republic is re-established. The first step on the road to Chairman Mao and all that follows.

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