Tammy’s Reviews > A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-1918 > Status Update

Clergy transformed it into a holy crusade. Secular goals mixed with religious beliefs. Nationalism moved to the front and religion supported it as their destiny. Clergy sanctified the modern state. The Church of England was misguided in this effort. The demonic foe also believed in a just cause “Gott mitt uns” due to the influence of Protestants. Ministers in France and the USA promoted the idea of a just war.

Neither man wanted to be martyrs nor win martial glory. They probably saw it as their duty to preserve Western heritage and order in Europe trhough the supremacy of the UK. Britains believed in preserving the institutions for human flourishing. They were sticking to their treaty with Belgium and fighting for principles. WWI became a modern crusade through British clergy promoting the doctrine of just war.

The martial spirit at these schools was cultivated through sports, which were seen as the closest thing to training fighting spirit and leadership. Sports represented sportsmanship (chivalry) and championships (conquests). Lewis was uncoordinated and preferred haunting the halls of the library and became absorbed in literary pursuits, mostly the classics and Latin and Greek. Tollers was captain of the rugby team.

Religious was drawn into WWI immediately, in spite of Westphalia. The Church of England put its stamp of approval on the war as a fight for religious freedom. Bishops were quick to point out that soldiers were taking a stand for honor, chivalry, and right. The justness of the world warranted the carnage. The young officers in the trenches had been educated in boys schools where patriotism and religion merged.

The treaty elevated state above church and tried to set up international mechanisms to resolve conflict. They believed they had put an end to religious conflict in Europe. The 30YW became a measuring stick for the worst of the worst war. That fear never left Europe. Soldiers in the trenches of WWI wondered if the 30YW had returned. This generation of soldiers had been raised on the Victorian virtue of duty.

Ch. 2 The Thirty Years War occurred three hundred years before WWI and there are parallels. Both started in an obscure corner of Europe and quickly escalated and drew in the major powers. Both featured incredible slaughter and caused major economic upheaval. The Thirty Years War was driven by religious differences. The Treaty of Westphalia aimed to end that source of squabble, but the pope refused to sign it.

After the war, their literary output resulted from what happened in the trenches. They worked mightily against the ideas that put them there. Even though the war shattered this myth for some, it did not do so for all. "The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time", remarked Edward Grey to a friend on the eve of his country’s entry into WWI.

At first, the elites saw it as a way to relieve farmers and workers from their boredom and reinvigorate the nation. None imagined the savagery that was coming. All over Europe, in the smallest remote villages, men were buried and monuments built to remember the fallen. The false myth of progress caused this butchery and horror. Two men in the trenches were facing life or death situations that resulted from this myth.

Every power was supremely confident that they would win. Machines were invented to meet the demand of war, and yet nobody calculated the human cost that resulted from those machines. Shocking numbers of men could be hit from long distances without them even seeing what hit them. This quickly led to the building of trenches. The war was described as devoured men and machines.

One example is the railway system, built across Europe, which then could be used to move troops and supplies quickly. Improved health meant that a large population of young males were available for military service. After the assassin’s bullet killed the archduke, men were quickly mobilized by five powers. Each one could calculate with precision how many men could be shipped to given spots.