Historical wars

This rant also appears in the Touching The Untouchables section as Touching The Untouchables #6: Vimy Ridge. It appears here as well for anyone who thinks they might like history but feels afraid, or at least a little nervous, when it comes to touching any sort of untouchables.

Vimy Ridge Vimy Ridge Vimy Ridge, all this drama over Vimy Ridge. If you live in Canada then you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, then I should tell you that this weekend has been the 90th anniversary of the Canadian victory over the Germans at Vimy Ridge during World War I. Yes, 3,600 Canadian soldiers died and more than 7,000 were wounded during the four-day assault (while 20,000 German soldiers were killed or injured), but why all the glorifying of a battle in such a meaningless war, I ask?

Vimy Ridge Vimy Ridge Vimy Ridge, all this drama over Vimy Ridge. If you live in Canada then you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, then I should tell you that this weekend has been the 90th anniversary of the Canadian victory over the Germans at Vimy Ridge during World War I. Yes, 3,600 Canadian soldiers died and more than 7,000 were wounded during the four-day assault (while 20,000 German soldiers were killed or injured), but why all the glorifying of a battle in such a meaningless war, I ask?

Recently the BBC aired something they called "Great Britons", a series of shows featuring a contest in which viewers could vote for their own "Greatest Briton of All Time". The winner, as you might have guessed: Winston Churchill. I suppose it all comes down to how you define "great", because he certainly could be called a great big this and that, but the BBC couldn't really come right out and use language like that, now could they? Personally, I just want to know for which reasons exactly he was chosen.