British obsession with WWI and WWII ?

Question

Why are British people obsessed with WWI and WWII ? They show lots of old war movies on tv all the time and even people whose parents were not even born in WW II are still showing some weird sort of "anger" against Germans, hidden under some sarcastic shield of jokes, as if they experienced the war themselves....

I also can not imagine the UK was hit that heavily in those wars anyway- as otherwise they would have had to rebuilt the towns...but look at London - a terrible traffic problem. If the city had been completely bombed, they would have a had the chance to build a better road system....and design it from scratch - or was London bombed completely? Can not imagine that....and I think other cities were hardly affected....

Who cares about WWII anyway? I dont even care about wars that are going on right now....why should anyone care about a war that was 70 years ago? Apart from that. countries like German learned their lesson that war is never a solution...the USA and UK haven't

Answer 1

We are obsessed with the wars because we won them! You can bet you're life that if we had lost we would never mention it

Answer 2

1. I also noticed seeing lots of black and white war films on tv in the UK....and most of them are not suited for educational purposes. They will not teach you anything...it is just about people shooting each other ... only good for imagining how it could have looked like. But still not even that as people were definitely not looking as clean and people didnt die so quick...in those films they are shot any just fall down.
I think movies such as "Schindler's list" or "Life is beautiful" are better suited then those useless films..and they have a deeper meaning .
tv channels dont have to pay much licensing fees and there is always someone watching...thats why they show them....at least 5 films per month...on the 5 channels the last time I was in the UK.

2. Although most of us are innocent as they didnt live at that time - and even those who lived then were mainly innocent - I still think we should care about our past - but not become obssessed with it and not point with fingers at each other. "2 world wars and the world cup" is meant to be funny...but it is not very intelligent. ( i dont care about football btw)

3. about 13,000 people died in London during WWII. This is a lot of people - but compared to other cities London could have been off a lot worse. Big Ben, Tower Bridge, the Parliament .... and a lot of buildings still exist. If the attacks had been more heavily, none of the sights as we know them today would still exist the way we know them.

The were "only" 2 attacks in 1941 and 1942 through aeroplanes. Then a V1 and V2 attack in 1944 and 1945. Most other towns in the UK were not attacked..apart from the southern region..especially near the ports (Southampton).

London was almost only attacked in the Eastern part (Docklands).

I also think London had less problems with the traffic if London had been completely destoyed...as London grew gradually and the streets could not be designed before...as in other towns such as Paris, Karlsruhe or Berlin for example. Therefore there are not many "main" roads and just lots of tiny roads with the need of lots of traffic lights and round abouts..which always causes jams of course...but this should be a different topic maybe as it has nothing to do with the alleged obssession of the British with the world wars?

Answer 3

I don't really know what you're talking about to be honest. Sure, older people who were involved in it still talk about it but younger people and teenagers especially wouldn't be able to tell you the dates of the two wars and some might not even be able to tell you who did what. It's not something that's taught in schools (ie. i spent terms learning about JFK's murder but not a single minute on either war). London and the South-East was very badly damaged in the war. Maybe do a little research on that instead of surmising it based on the fact that London has 'a terrible traffic problem'. I don't recall seeing that many war films and if i did my reaction would be to switch it over to the Simpsons. I don't know any people who dislike the Germans or even joke about them.

The only point I will agree with you on is that the politicians of the USA and UK don't appear to have learnt their lesson but it's the politicians here in the UK who are conducting current wars. Most of the public is anti-war.

Answer 4

I think it's terrible that you "don't even care about wars that are going on right now". Many people died in WWI, and it was a main cause of WWII, which killed even more people. I also think it's awful how you imply that a complete bombing of London would be a good thing because of their bad traffic system. Do you have any idea what you're saying? That milllions of people should die and it doesn't matter? And I think every war matters. Everyone should care about every war, because only by learning about the mistakes made in the past can we ever have peace in the future!

Answer 5

I'm not sure I know anyone who fits the profile you just described. If anything the general feeling (especially looking at more recent movies) is that America wants to pretend it won the wars.

Old movies were made about the war, because back in the good old days this was considered exciting cinema (remember, cinema was also in its infancy compared to today).

As for London, which was largely bombed and destroyed in the wars, how could this have sorted the traffic problems? Traffic problems didn't exist during war and soon-after-war years, as there were hardly any people who could afford cars, so there was no concept of the problems to come. There are even bomb holes in the woods around where I live, about 30 miles out of London.

The fact so many people care about the war in the context you mention in your final paragraph is just as you said - no-one seems to have learnt a lesson. In the words of Metallica, to secure peace is to prepare for war. No country seems to be happy with what they've got, someone always wants something that someone else has. The current war in Iraq, whilst largely agreed to be misguided and unjust, is at least under the banner of "war on terrorism" and, considering the attrocities that New York and London have dealt with in recent years, we certainly are at war.

Answer 6

It was a big historical event, it certainly DID affect Britain. It's also maybe because it brought the country together, as in "we're all in the same boat, so let's help each other" even if that's not exactly true. And also the tradition of honouring those who died in the wars is continued today, probably because it's been passed along. There are many statues up around the UK commemorating the fallen soldiers, so people always have a visual reminder of what people went through to protect the people of the UK, and other countries.

Answer 7

"Lest we forget ..." and all that ...
its not about wars, its about the CAUSES of wars .. BELIEFS.
People, mostly men, are 'culled' in wars by politicians and religious leaders; its a form of social genocide.
WW1 was about control; capitalism v socialism, different empires [Russia Britain USA Germany Austria Hungary] fighting to control the world. The USA won. The working classes lost.
WW11 was about ... yes, more control; capitalists, fascists, socialists, communists; still the same old empires, still the same old ideas of 'total domination'. The USA won again. This time the Eastern Block lost and went on to lose everything through The Cold War.
Wars since then have rid us of communism [as Karl Marx knew it]. Capitalism dominates, socialism and fascism still challenge.
Today the real battles are RELIGIOUS. Religion breeds division and hatred ... and FEAR. Evangelists v Muslims.
Who will win the battle for hearts and minds ?
The future is about new pseudo-religions ... ETHNIC and GREEN nonsense, again, breeding division, hatred ... and fear.
Future wars will be greens v capitalists.
'Lest we forget ...' we've heard it all before. But do we pay attention ?

Answer 8

Guess it has a lot to do wit the preservation of freedom and the celebration of people power/community against a common enemy whats the problem with that? I'm not a violent person but if my little Island (UK) was in danger of invasion by a oppressive regime like in WW2 I would resist with everything I could give. As for WW1 it almost wiped out a whole male generation for reasons good or bad. We owe them quite a lot over here. Consider myself damn lucky to have never had to bear arms so respect to the ones before that made that possible. Whats going now isn't a World War it's a conflict, big difference. To be stuck next to you in a trench wouldn't fill me with confidence that I could be sure of. In your Q you said you can't imagine, intelligence is required for that.....

Answer 9

I think you are wrong, there is no obsession with the wars per se, but many of us lost relatives and also there is an interest in old equipment and UK developments, I guess due to the failing, once great industrial heritage. As for the Germans, I have detected no anti German feeling for people and in fact the opposite seems to be the case.
I personally think it is more a case of people realising how futile war is.
Most people are interested in their heritage, therefore I bet that your history is not that of the UK.

Answer 10

Well its glaringly obvious you don't know many British people. I never see any old war movies on TV except for the average amount they show on any country. I have no anger against Germans lol. The UK had to rebuild plenty of towns and even my parent who lived in Glasgow, Scotland had to be evacuated as children it was not safe to live in the city. Your question is totally redundant and not true in any shape or form.

Answer 11

By remembering the wars, we should also remeber those who
gave the supreme sacrifice, so that we enjoy a reasonable
life today. Hopefuly also. it can be a deterant that make one
think twice before taking that road again!
Unfortunately, when one hitler goes, there is always another
waiting to take his place, with a view to world dictatorship!