1918 Yearbook
Source URL
Title
1918 Yearbook
Description
The Veterans Story
By Harold J. Ott
"The Great War"
IT WAS many years ago, but I remember it all as if it had been
only yesterday. In the beginning the great war appealed to
me purely as a great sporting event that crowded the columns of our daily papers.
To me, a Frenchman was a funny, excitable, jumping-
jack of a man, with an upturned, black mustache and a tiny
goatee. A German was a fat, grouchy keeper of a corner shop, with a
droopy, blond mustache, and a limberger breath. An Englishman was a
thin-bodied, sickly fop who drank tea and couldn't see a joke. As for a
Russian, he was a bristle-haired brute with a black beard, an unpronounceable name, and a bomb in each hand.
America's actual embroilment in the war was as absurd to me as a
debate as to whether the sun should rise on the morrow. But events were
far more serious across the sea, as later happenings proved, and I was destined to learn much concerning the war I so greatly despised.
"Germany Prepares"
For weeks German troops had been massing on the Belgian frontier.
Their movements had been attended with the utmost secrecy, and had
lacked the usual pomp and bustle that was characteristic of the German
military system. The German staff had planned as far back as 1904 to
traverse Belgium in order to invade northern France. Ten long years had
been spent in elaborating plans for the great strife which they knew was
unavoidable.
Late in June of the year 1914 came word of Archduke Ferdinand's
assassination in Cervia. With the realization that a worthy pretext for
hostilities had arrived, German troops were immediately ordered towards
the Belgian frontier, and England's demand that the Germans respect the
neutrality of Belgium was answered by the invasion of Belgium by three
gigantic Teutonic armies. The Belgians placed a large army in the field,
By Harold J. Ott
"The Great War"
IT WAS many years ago, but I remember it all as if it had been
only yesterday. In the beginning the great war appealed to
me purely as a great sporting event that crowded the columns of our daily papers.
To me, a Frenchman was a funny, excitable, jumping-
jack of a man, with an upturned, black mustache and a tiny
goatee. A German was a fat, grouchy keeper of a corner shop, with a
droopy, blond mustache, and a limberger breath. An Englishman was a
thin-bodied, sickly fop who drank tea and couldn't see a joke. As for a
Russian, he was a bristle-haired brute with a black beard, an unpronounceable name, and a bomb in each hand.
America's actual embroilment in the war was as absurd to me as a
debate as to whether the sun should rise on the morrow. But events were
far more serious across the sea, as later happenings proved, and I was destined to learn much concerning the war I so greatly despised.
"Germany Prepares"
For weeks German troops had been massing on the Belgian frontier.
Their movements had been attended with the utmost secrecy, and had
lacked the usual pomp and bustle that was characteristic of the German
military system. The German staff had planned as far back as 1904 to
traverse Belgium in order to invade northern France. Ten long years had
been spent in elaborating plans for the great strife which they knew was
unavoidable.
Late in June of the year 1914 came word of Archduke Ferdinand's
assassination in Cervia. With the realization that a worthy pretext for
hostilities had arrived, German troops were immediately ordered towards
the Belgian frontier, and England's demand that the Germans respect the
neutrality of Belgium was answered by the invasion of Belgium by three
gigantic Teutonic armies. The Belgians placed a large army in the field,
Publisher
Wagner's Printery
Date
1918
Rights
St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St., Davenport, IA 52803
Identifier
http://cdm16810.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16810coll2/id/6675