Today’s British Life and Culture class focused on London at war. Bob Craig is an interesting lecturer, and sometimes when I am sitting in class it amazes me that I am actually sitting in London, learning about London, from a Londoner who actually has family history here, and great knowledge about the history and culture of London to boot.
Talking about World War I and II definitely takes a lot of time, and there is a lot of ground to cover. I thought it was interesting just learning about all the things that London endured during these years, and how they not only coped but thrived. At the end of the wars, over 20,000 people h ad been killed and nearly 300,000 homes had been destroyed. Thousands of children were also relocated and separated from their families, shipped out from London via tube out to the rural countryside where, if they were lucky (or maybe in some cases not to so lucky) they would be chosen by a family.
During this period, new technologies were also being introduced. V1 bombs cascaded upon London, and later towards the end of the German war machine (on its last leg and as revenge) V2 bombs did as well. As Craig put it, the First World War began with cavalry and the second war ended with the Atomic bomb. That’s quite a leap, within thirty one years. It is fascinating and scary how technology can change so much in such a small amount of time.
Something that I really took away from lecture today was a bigger appreciation for London (and maybe the world in general…) and its resilience and history. A city may just be a bunch of people grouped together, but their identity as a whole makes them. Walking through these streets, passing through St. Paul’s cathedral, and even going on the tube every day is a bit more meaningful after hearing about the role they played to the city during wartime.
No comments:
Post a Comment