Remember, but don't glorify

Driving rain made the poppies they drop through the archway at the ceremony leach their red dye '“ the result was a blood coloured river running down the road in Flanders.

Very poignant, and considering the mass slaughter of World War One, incredibly apt.

Given it's the 90th anniversary of the finish to the Great War, you will have noticed a stack of TV shows, magazine articles and newspaper stories on the subject '“ and rightly so. Such a terrible conflict shouldn't be forgotten and the human race would do well to learn from it.

And this is what worries me.

A few times on TV shows I heard such terms like 'fighting for freedom'.

That's just wrong.

The Second World War, for instance, had a clear moral objective '“ it was a battle against tyranny and persecution (it could be argued, but for the First World War, WWII wouldn't have actually happened of course).

The reasons for the WWI are not clear cut. It would seem sensible to assume however, that an imminent threat from a dictatorial menace was hardly the chief factor. To quote Captain Edmund Blackadder when he's told the cause of the war was to halt expanding German borders: "The British Empire at present covers a quarter of the globe, while the German Empire consists of a small sausage factory in Tanganyika. I hardly think that we can be entirely absolved of blame on the imperialistic front."

Point being, there was no real or necessary purpose behind it. And certainly the arrogance of all the nations involved had a heck of a part to play.

The truly frightening element was, in Britain and elsewhere, going to war had widespread popular support '“ we were all spoiling for a fight for no good reason.

That's why my chief emotion when remembering the 1914 '“ 1918 conflict is anger. Anger that it didn't need to happen more than anything else.

I think then, the real reason for looking back at the war, is to learn a lesson from history and make sure something equally and ridiculously brutal doesn't happen again.

That's not to belittle the sacrifice made by soldiers on both sides in any way. In fact, my great-great grandfather on my mum's side was killed at the Somme.

What they did showed incredible courage. And, for the most part, they were fighting (initially at least) for what they believed in '“ you might even tell me it's wrong to judge history by our standards. And their lives weren't given in vain I guess, if we do learn something from it.

But, by the same token, there is a great difference between remembering and respecting the sacrifices made, and glorifying them.

The First World War is not only a testament to the courage of mankind, but also a shining example of how bloody stupid we can all be.