Not Entirely Unavoidable

I didn't bring Ferguson's The Pity of War out here with me as I finished it last Sunday, ahead of the Drama Camp. The second half was generally a much easier read than the first with the economic data largely out of the way.

Did Ferguson change my impressions of the war? Not really, though the vague sense I had of the conflict being to some degree inevitable was replaced by a melancholy sense that, given a bit of luck, it might have been avoided. I suppose the most contentious element of his analysis was the idea that quite a number of combatants positively enjoyed the violence and destruction, but I can only see this as being in any way a surprise in academic circles. The dreary truth that a fair number of our species enjoy doing damage to each other wasn't news to me. I'm not at all sure that I would have shown any kind of courage at all if I'd have been in the front lines, or anywhere close, but I'm pretty sure that if I did turn out to have what it takes to stand and fight then I'd have found some pleasure in dealing out harm to those I might have considered as harming my comrades. This is an ugly thought, but I know myself well enough to recognise the potential I harbour for ugly behaviour.

The thing I like most about Ferguson is his way of showing how the neat dates and boundaries we place around historical conflicts are a kind of wishful thinking. The notion that the war didn't really end at all, but continued in the east is painfully accurate, and it made me re-think my attitude to the Russian Civil War which was previously (I'm talking about years since I really thought about it) vaguely romantic. It isn't anymore.