At approximately 7AM, I woke up and began driving to Kansas City, MO. The first stop in Kansas City was the WW1 Memorial and Museum. It was an interesting tour, and what was most interesting/disturbing is that there wasn’t a definitive cause/reason that caused the war. It seems that there was a lack of communication, egotistical/untrusting leaders, relatively small matters which were handled irresponsibly, abruptly leading to the First World War.
What were the events/circumstances leading up to WW1? All or some of the following reasons simultaneously (along with other factors):
- Assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife
- Assassinated by a Serbian citizen named Gavrilo Princip
- Imperialism
- Countries wanting to expand their land
- Arms Race
- Britain, Germany, and other countries were producing warships, advanced combat weapons, and other weapons, and they were all paranoid/concerned about each other
- Divide Between Poor and Rich
- The industrial revolution led to a huge amount of wealth being concentrated in the hands of a few. The vast majority of people weren’t achieving high levels of success, which led to resentment of the established upper class, and a desire for more equality and in some cases, even socialism in some cases. This led to there being fear of socialist ideologies spreading in countries
Interesting/sad facts about WW1:
- The war was originally planned to be under six months maximum (“Back home by Christmas”) but ended up taking several years
- 1 in 3 men between the age of 18 and 30 in France perished in the war
- 5,000,000 civilians were killed during the war
- Approximately 17 million total people were killed during the war
- At the end of the war, Russia was $4 billion in debt (1917 dollars)
- The total daily cost of the war for European nations (in 1918 dollars) was $96 million
Important quote about World War 1 that can be applied to disputes in general:
- “Both sides believed that their cause was just, that they were defending their homelands and way of life. Most imagined the war would be a glorious adventure, filled with colorful flags, flashing sabers, and heroic deeds. They thought the conflict would be decisive and short and that they would all be home for Christmas.”
After a couple hours at the WW1 Memorial, I was hungry and decided to go to Joe’s Kansas City BBQ for lunch. The line was about 30 minutes long but the atmosphere and experience were well worth it. The restaurant has a very passionate following, but from the outside one would have no idea. The restaurant is part of an existing gas station which makes it an even more unique experience. I left the restaurant having eaten a “not too unhealthy” Reuben sandwich with a side vegetable salad.
After a brief Starbucks break, I headed to the Nelson Atkins Art Museum. The museum could easily be an all-day activity and was a world-class museum. Here are some of my favorite works:
After the museum, I briefly visited Papa Keno’s Pizza and ate two huge slices of pizza, one of which was a Greek Pizza. Definitely one of the top 5 pizza slices I’ve had so far.
Here are a few songs I enjoyed listening to:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6lTU_bhISI]
Even though people won’t admit it directly, deeply emotional/sexual relationships sometimes have a deep, lasting effects. In this song, an ex-girlfriend is singing about her now-married ex-boyfriend using lyrics such as:
- “I got the boy and she got the man.”
- “I got the first kiss and she’ll get the last. We each got something the other will never have.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNJwu-YkQlc]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqV7DB8Iwg]
