Posted by
JAMES T. KANE on Tuesday, May 05, 2009 6:14:04 PM
On the BBC today, there is a report from France about a project to disinter fallen Australian solders from unmarked graves and move the remains to new marked graves. The fallen soldiers died in World War I. A clip from the commencement ceremony includes a prayer from an English priest. The priest prayed to the Lord with respect to those “who fought and died in the hope of bringing peace to this land and the world beyond.”
Unfortunately, the men who fought and died did not fight to bring peace to the world. I am sure that every single day of the war, Australian soldiers prayed for peace, dreamed of peace and longed for peace, but, they did not fight for peace.
Australia was a democracy at peace before WWI and the conflicts that brought about WWI did not directly affect Australia. It did not matter to Australia if Bosnia was joined to Serbia or remained a part of the Austrian Empire. The Australian people chose war over peace because the people of Australia were not willing to live in a world dominated by the totalitarian German and Austrian Empires. In other words, the Australians fought and died in order to make the world safe for democracy. The radical Serbs who wanted war in order to be free of the Austrian empire achieved that goal at the end of the war. The peace treaty created a new country called Yugo-Slavia, including both Serbia and Bosnia but dominated by Serbia with the capital in Serbia.Of course the last European war of the twentieth century was fought in Bosnia and Serbia when Bosnia sought to become independent from Serbia dominated Yugoslavia.
I remember what Patrick Henry said at the beginning of our republic: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?" I wonder if this priest really believes what he said or is he uncomfortable with a democratic power that voluntarily decides to fight against totalitarian regimes halfway around the world?