A memorial to those who campaigned against the Great War more than a century ago has been unveiled in Glasgow. The commemorative black granite stone has been placed near the People's Palace. It also acknowledges the role that opponents of the war played in promoting social justice in the city and beyond. Glasgow Lord Provost Sadie Docherty said: "They are a part of our history." The inscription on the memorial reads: "In memory of those who opposed WW1 in order to challenge the purpose of the war and the waste of lives. They also campaigned for social and economic justice and against the exploitation of those who lived in the city during the war." As a BBC iWonder guide on the city and the Great War explains, the Independent Labour Party (ILP), which relied on Glasgow for the focus of its support, and other left-wing parties such as the British Socialist Party were among the voices of discontent in the city in 1914. On 9 August 1914 - five days after Britain declared war on Germany - the ILP organised a peace demonstration of 5,000 people on Glasgow Green, and meetings like this gathering occurred throughout the war but were largely ignored by the mainstream patriotic press. Aye fantastic, let's praise the shirkers who stayed at home while Joe Sixpack died in the trenches. I've no problem with Conscientious Objectors but I think it's gone a bit too far when we start putting up memorials for them.
Back in those days it was far from cowardly to a stand against the establishment. Bottom line is, millions of ordinary people were slaughtered because the Royal families of Europe had a row.
Dev = typical brainless cannon fodder The ruling classes would've loved his unthinking willingness to sacrifice his life for their benefit.
To be fair, the Scottish and the Welsh were indeed cannon fodder. We took it in good spirit as the banter it obviously was.
The argument: BRITAIN: We're the bestest. GERMANY: No, we're the bestest. RUSSIA: Well we're the biggest. FRANCE: Let's kill 10 million and find out!
We should have known something was wrong when, for the first time in 1000 years, we found ourselves lining up on the same side as the French.
