On this day

On February 29th, 1916 - two entirely unrelated events. Hardly noted at the time, the first event was one of those unheeded warnings that lead on to ultimate disaster, the second so small scale that it would have been noticed by a handful of colleagues and perhaps a proud mum.

Firstly - on this day a hundred years ago, Hollweg, the German Chancellor, warned the Kaiser that pursuing a policy of unrestricted UBoat warfare would run the risk of dragging the US into the conflict. Thirteen months later, Woodrow Wilson stood before the US Congress to ask for their support, and Hollweg was proved right. War, as Wilson put it, had been "thrust upon the United States". For many months the greatest economic power in the world had resisted the call to get involved "over here", but the U Boat campaign was a disastrous misjudgement. Despite the defeat of Russia later in 1917, and the consequent freeing of a million troops that could bolster their numbers on the Western Front, the tide was turning against Germany. Pretty soon, in a war of attrition, the generals knew that the fresh faced "Doughboys" streaming into Europe would tip the balance.

The second event that occurred exactly a hundred years ago today - a keen soldier was promoted to the rank of Corporal. His name - Benito Mussolini. Like his future ally Adolf Hitler, so much of his thinking was forged by the conflict. I find myself wondering what on earth the comrades of both men made of their elevation to power in the 1930's, and of the fact that they were, despite these experiences, so determined to take their countries back to the battlefield.