fandomhigh | World Wars in the Media, Tuesday

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wars in media

World Wars in the Media, Tuesday

"War," Mitchell started, once everyone had pooled into the class. "This week, we're not going to get to any of the good bits just yet, so buckle up. Rather, we're going to talk about the First World War, or as it was known in the early 20th century, the Great War, which began the cycle of conflicts that ravaged the century. It started rather inauspiciously with alliances, an attempt to keep nations from war. Except tied into these alliances was a growing sense of pride in countries that were finally solid, and united. A powderkeg, as historians like to call it. I prefer 'massive executive bollocksing', myself." He pulled a face, like it had been a personal slight to himself, but brushed that off quickly. "A massive cobweb of alliances was formed during the late 19th century. Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia on one end, although Russia dropped out, and Italy took its place. Italy, for their part, secretly got involved with France in case Austria-Hungary decided to throw a fit about some territorial issues."

He took a breath. "Are you following this so far? Good. It gets a little complicated." He gestured in two directions to get that point across. "France also allied themselves with Russia, and Britain, only just emerging out of isolation, decided it wanted more assurance against the giant that had become Germany - so they sought alliances with France, and with Japan. These were the major lines in the web, but there were any number of smaller ones as well: Serbia, for example, found themselves under Russia's protection..."

He mimed a gun with one hand. "All that tension, all those alliances, everyone fearing each other's growth while praising their own, nations looking for revenge or a reason to reassert the dominance of a fading empire-- it was a miracle they had as few war as it was-- all that was needed in the end was one bullet, shattering that peace - and two poor heads." He pressed a button on the laptop in front of him, playing a short video. "Archduke Franz Ferdinand was visiting Serbia with his wife for a formal visit of state. Probably glad to get away from the tensions of home, the poor bastard, he hadn't made the other rulers back home very happy with any of his plans. He's sitting there, in his car, minding his own business, when suddenly his wife collapses on him. Turns out he's bleeding from the mouth, a messy, slow death - his friend von Harrach said he kept talking as he died. A political assassination on Serbian ground, by a Serbian nationalist, pissed off that the Austrians had been barging all over Serbia as of recently."

He was gesturing as he talked. "You can see where this is going," he said, "Austria-Hungary decided to attack Serbia to reassert their dominance, using Ferdinand's death as a pretext. Russia jumped in to defend Serbia, Germany decided to take that as an assault on Austria-Hungary, France decided to take that as an assault on Russia, Britain went in to help France and save Belgium, which had just been invaded by the Germans, which meant the British colonies got involved..." He mimed a collapsing cardhouse. "It's actually kind of beautiful in its simplicity and its complication - like tipping dominoes of history." ...But anyway. "The United States declared neutrality until the Germans pushed their luck, and the Italians kept their bottoms to themselves by claiming they had only ever signed up for a defensive war - and then promptly dropped the ball by joining the opposite side instead."

His mouth curled up. "And while the British were involved in the war, the Irish toiled away on their independence," he said, "Although that didn't keep some of us from enlisting anyway. We had our own regiments in the New British Army... Like most parts of the First World War, that wound up being a letdown and altogether dirtier and less glorious than anyone had anticipated..." He looked thoughtful. "But we'll be talking about that last week. Anyway, I've been talking more than enough," he segued. "Here, you'll find a handout of who declared war on whom. There's been lots of speculation of how far back the roots of this war went, and I couldn't tell you for certain if I tried. Instead, I'd like you to look at how the war was reported in the British newspapers at the time. What kind of slant do you see? What kind of information do they pick up on? What seemed to be the British approach to the First World War when they went to pick up arms?" He tapped the couch under his feet. "Pair up!"

[[ and OCD is a go! ]]

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British Newspapers. What kind of slant do you see? What kind of information do they pick up on? What seemed to be the British approach to the First World War when they went to pick up arms? Discuss!

Or... discuss what you expect the British slant was to be, ~~if you're not as much of a massive nerd as the mun is~~.

Ino read the handout. Then... read it again, brow furrowing.

Okay.

She looked around for a partner.

Well, Dinah didn't have really strong feelings on this subject. And it would have to be interesting to get Ino's take on it.

"Hey, Ino. Want to talk over the headlines?"

"Hey," she said, wrinkling her nose cheerfully. "I think we might get in trouble if we didn't talk 'bout the headlines, don't you agree?"

Dinah grinned. "Too true. Although Mitchell's pretty laid back. We should at least mention them?" She grinned. "Well, one thing that I noticed that was weird wasn't so much the headlines, but in the articles. The writer was calling Germany and Great Britain 'she' like they were people. Really personalizing it."

She tugged at her hair.

"Aren't they, in a way?" Ino asked. "I mean, it's a little weird personifying countries, but they're the 'motherland' and all of that so, I don't know, calling them 'she' makes good sense? And would foster a stronger connection."

"Hunh. Hmmm. I guess they are. I haven't seen them talked about like that before," Dinah said, thinking aloud. "But the war we're in now isn't so personal? Well, we're not under attack, you know? Not since 9/11." She frowned. "But I guess it seems obvious now, maybe that's why they don't write like that any more." She tilted her head. "Does your press write stuff like this, when there's a war or an attack back home?"

"...we're in a war?" Bravo, Ino, way to pay attention to things. "Oh! That's that War on Terrorism thing, right?"

A pause.

"And--uh, I guess or newspapers aren't that great at stuff like that." She tugged her hair. "The civilian lords only know bare facts 'bout stuff, and papers get not much more. If you want to know what's going on you'd best be a ninja, or related to one--and even then everything's got different levels of classified."

"Yeah, that one," Dinah said, lips quirking sideways. "In Iraq and Afghanistan. So, yeah, if you don't watch the news, you mostly wouldn't know."

She had to ask. "Do you pull on your hair when you're thinking hard? You do that when we're talking serious stuff." Back on the subject, she looked thoughtful. "That sounds more like some countries in Europe, and South America. It's not a totally free press there, although I know some people--" Hello, Priestly. "--who'd argue we don't have one here, either."

Ino was epic at avoiding the television, really.

She blinked, and shrugged. "I guess I do," she admitted. "It's like, a thing--focus on the subject at hand, sort of thing, you know? And, well, it's only with the military stuff that we really bother interfering with the news. Otherwise, it's free game."

"'Less it's a mission that spills over to the news, 'cause then they get a story fed to them, or the mission is swung in such a way that shinobi involvement ain't noticeable."

"I just wondered." Dinah nodded, thinking. "So that's like the black-outs of info during World War I, or even now, sometimes, overseas. So the other side doesn't know what's going on. Do you guys have editorials too? People second-guessing the military leaders?"

"Nooot that I know of?" Ino said, bemused at that idea. "Seriously? People write down their thoughts and stuff?"

"A lot. A lot a lot," Dinah said, sounding weary. "Or you can watch them on FOX news or CNN or MSNBC. It gets confusing. But you can hear more sides of the issue than you ever imagined existed that way. Not that all of them make sense."

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