Historian Dan Snow received hate mail for debunking World War I 'myths'
Dan Snow, the television broadcaster, says angry members of the public abused him when he tried to set the record straight
Dan Snow Photo: GEOFF PUGH/THE TELEGRAPH
8:36PM BST 27 Jun 2014
Dan Snow, the historian, has revealed he received hate mail for attempting to
debunk the "myths" about the First World War, as he argues
glorifying its "awfulness and tragedy" belittles the service of
every other British soldier.
Snow, the television broadcaster, said he was abused by angry members of the
public after trying to establish the truth about the conflict.
Speaking at Chalke Valley History Festival, he told an audience that painting
the First World War as the worst conflict in British history could serve to "belittle"
all soldiers serving in other conflicts.
The reality, he said, was "bad enough", adding: "That's why we
need to remember it correctly."
Snow claimed he had received "hate mail" from the public after
publishing a list debunking ten popular "myths" about the First
World War earlier this year.
Among the accepted "facts" he disputes are that notions that
shellshock was ignored, that the Versailles Treaty was unnecessarily harsh
and that troops were "lions led by donkeys".
There was little evidence for the existence of the famous Christmas truce football match, he added, while some soldiers actually "enjoyed" the war.
Snow added much of the hate mail had come from people who had "read their great-grandad's diary", a single source they took to heart but which contradicted the experience of the majority.
He now hopes to convince the public to stop considering the First World War as the biggest wartime tragedy in British history, saying to do so "belittles" the efforts of troops in Afghanistan and other conflicts.
"If we put the First World War on a pedestal of awfulness and
incompetence and tragedy, it ignores the fact that all wars should be looked
at through that lens," he said.
"It can belittle the experience of soldiers throughout the years if you set World War One apart. World War One is part of our military history; elements of it were worse than other wars and elements of it were better."
He added: "What was so interesting about the work I was doing is that people got very angry that I would even challenge these myths.
"I've got people saying for example, the first day of the battle of the Somme 60,000 British soldiers were killed or injured in a day. That's the worst day in the history of the British army.
"People would say to me, emailing tweeting, saying 100,000 people were killed in a day. I'd say actually they weren't, 60,000 were. People would then go 'well 60,000 was bad enough'.
"Yes, 60,000 was bad enough and that's why we need to remember it correctly.
"It's absolutely vital that these myths are challenged and that the true stories can come out."
First World War "myths", by Dan Snow
1. It was the bloodiest war in history to that point
2. Most soldiers died
3. Men lived in the trenches for years on end
4. The upper class got off lightly
5. 'Lions led by donkeys'
6. Gallipoli was fought by Australians and New Zealanders
7. Tactics on the Western Front remained unchanged despite repeated failure
8. No one won
9. The Treaty of Versailles was extremely harsh
10. Everyone hated it
There was little evidence for the existence of the famous Christmas truce football match, he added, while some soldiers actually "enjoyed" the war.
Snow added much of the hate mail had come from people who had "read their great-grandad's diary", a single source they took to heart but which contradicted the experience of the majority.
He now hopes to convince the public to stop considering the First World War as the biggest wartime tragedy in British history, saying to do so "belittles" the efforts of troops in Afghanistan and other conflicts.
"It can belittle the experience of soldiers throughout the years if you set World War One apart. World War One is part of our military history; elements of it were worse than other wars and elements of it were better."
He added: "What was so interesting about the work I was doing is that people got very angry that I would even challenge these myths.
"I've got people saying for example, the first day of the battle of the Somme 60,000 British soldiers were killed or injured in a day. That's the worst day in the history of the British army.
"People would say to me, emailing tweeting, saying 100,000 people were killed in a day. I'd say actually they weren't, 60,000 were. People would then go 'well 60,000 was bad enough'.
"Yes, 60,000 was bad enough and that's why we need to remember it correctly.
"It's absolutely vital that these myths are challenged and that the true stories can come out."
First World War "myths", by Dan Snow
1. It was the bloodiest war in history to that point
2. Most soldiers died
3. Men lived in the trenches for years on end
4. The upper class got off lightly
5. 'Lions led by donkeys'
6. Gallipoli was fought by Australians and New Zealanders
7. Tactics on the Western Front remained unchanged despite repeated failure
8. No one won
9. The Treaty of Versailles was extremely harsh
10. Everyone hated it
No comments:
Post a Comment