I have
always been interested in the bits of history that tend to be overlooked. My
research has shown me that nothing happens in isolation. Learning historical dates in class is
meaningless unless you understand the significance of them, you need to have
something to hang them on.
When I
was at school it never occurred to me that the reason for the first and second
world wars could lie way back, buried in the folds of history.In fact, I think
there is a good argument to say that the wars have been mis-numbered and the
First European War actually took place in 1618 and went by the name of the
Thirty Year War. It was without doubt one of the bloodiest and the cruelest
wars that had ever been fought in the Holy Roman Empire and it took place in
the many feudal states that made up Germany at the time. Every country in
Europe at one stage or other took part in this war including Scotland. It was the first time that thousand strong armies
were employed in battle. It left
marauding soldiers who became mercenaries and were prepared to fight for any
army who would pay them. The war was ignited over religion - the Protestants versus the Roman Catholics
and ended up, as nearly all wars do, being about land.
Whole
swathes of Germany were left abandoned, farms destroyed and crops ruined. Whole
villages and communities were wiped out. The combined effect of the plague and
the war left an estimated 3 million dead. The cruelty that was unleashed then
is hard to take in and once such cruelties had been unleashed it was impossible
to put back in Pandora’s Box.
I was
very fortunate to meet with extraordinary historian, Peter H Wilson, whose book
The Thirty Years War: Europe’s
Tragedy is a
very enlightening read. Unlike him I am
not a historian - my approach to history is to try and make the past come alive
so that it can become relevant to the readers of today. I've done a lot of
research into modern war and have been fortunate enough to meet serving
officers who had returned from Afghanistan and Iraq. All those I talk to said
they had been altered by the experience and found civilian street life hard to
adjust to. One said “you
only know you’re alive when you are dancing on the
edge”.
I
wanted to Tinder to tell a story that
is true to all wars. It matters little
if you are fighting with machetes, knives, muskets, gunpowder, swords or
chemical weapons. The effect is just the same.
