There was an article on the First World War in the latest edition of Miniature Wargames that rather caused me to shake my head when I read it. Subsequently I have learned that it was written by Trebian, owner of Wargaming for Grown-Ups, a blog and indeed an approach to life of which I thoroughly approve. There has been much discussion in the comments section of said blog - some by me - as to whether a) he is right in what he writes in the article and b) whether anyone should be allowed to tell him that he doesn't know what he's talking about.
I make no comment on point a) except to quote Voltaire: "Cherish those who seek the truth, but beware those who find it."
Regarding point b) I must once again fall back on the words of others:
"The aim of argument, or discussion, should not be victory, but progress." - Joseph Joubert
"Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
I think the author is being somewhat disingenuous when being surprised that the article is interpreted as right-wing. Whilst I do not doubt his assertion that he had no such intention he cannot have been unaware of the attempt by certain politicians to use the anniversary of the Great War to strengthen the cultural and philosophical hegemony which they already enjoy. Whether some right wing historians such as Alan Clark take a different view or whether left wing historians are themselves at odds (as pointed out vociferously by Keith Flett, he of the Beard Liberation Front and the letters page of any newspaper that one opens) is irrelevant to that point.
As for Henry Hyde, I think the article a mistake. I don't like to be lectured in the pages of a hobby magazine. And the furore has deflected attention from what surely should have been the main talking point of this issue - the Royal Mail's ban on carrying paint. I've signed the petition, have you?
Like the quote from Voltaire. He is always eminantly quotable.
ReplyDeleteI would like to take issue with a couple of points. The debate (which has been conducted not just on the blog comments) is not about whether anyone can tell me I don't know what I'm talking about (feel free to do so, but do address the points I made in the context in which they were made) but the manner and tone in which it was done. The principle critic made a few assumptions about me then piled in with a critique that was along the lines of "I'm a professional historian, so I'm right. You are the dupe of a right wing conspiracy". As hopefully you can see from the blog entry, I'm not a professional historian, but similarly I'm not completely untrained in that field. I am not anyone's dupe or camp follower on this subject. I have read and researched the period for decades. I am one of those thanked in the acknowledgements in Paddy Griffith's ground breaking book on British Army battle tactics.
I am not being disingenuous over the right wing thing. I don't see interpretations of the Great War as left or right wing. The debate isn't that simple, much as Michael Gove would like it to be. Many of our local group and my regular wargaming contacts wouldn't describe themselves as right wing, at least one is a card carrying member of the Labour party amd they hold views broadly similar to my own. We simply don't talk about the subject in these terms.
As for whether Henry made a mistake, - well it wasn't intended to be a lecture although I can see how you might think that. There's others as think he didn't, and as someone who was unemployed when I wrote it, I need the money.
Since war is a result of the failure of politics to resolve the issue, how can one be discussed without the other? A perfect vacuum perhaps.....
ReplyDeleteRespectfully,
Gum-Dunny