About the Group Who's who at NEAT Current Projects Past Projects Return to Home	A World War I Kaleidoscope World War I, also known, until 1939, as the Great War, began in 1914 and lasted till the final Armistice on November 11, 1918. It claimed the lives of about 9 million soldiers and a further 9 million civilians, and changed the face of the European continent: as a direct consequence of the war, the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman empires were dismantled, and communism made its first appearance. The most infamous element of World War I was probably trench warfare. All along the Western front, from Belgium to the Swiss border, the opposing armies dug trenches in which to barricade themselves against the enemy. This led to stalemate: neither of the opponents managed to advance significantly, while the no-mans-land between the enemy lines turned into a hellish waste of churned up mud criss-crossed by barbed wire and strewn with dead bodies. In many Anglo-Saxon countries, but particularly in Britain, it is World War I rather than World War II which left a lasting impression. This is partly due to the fact that it was the first conflict on this scale, but partly also to the fact that the course of the war was charted by a generation of gifted soldier poets, including Rupert Brook, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, who conveyed both the patriotic emotions at the beginning of the war and the horror of the ensuing battles. In Britain, November 11th, known as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, is marked each year with memorial services and people wear an artificial poppy on their lapel: the poppy became the symbol of the conflict because it grew in abundance in the fields of Flanders where some of the worst battles took place. Lots more helpful material on World War I is published at http://www.firstworldwar.com. The following material will be presented: War Propaganda Collage Rendezvous by Alan Seeger An Irish Airman Foresees his Death by William Butler Yeats Will you go to Flanders? (Irish traditional song) Letter from the Front - Gunner Bertie Cox Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen The Secret by Woodbine Willy They told all the fine young men by Eric Bogle/John Munro The Wind on the Downs by Marian Allen Anthem for a Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen Many of these texts can be found on the internet. "O'Flaherty V.C." by Bernard Shaw The text of "O'Flaherty V.C." can be found at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3484. Please remember that the play is protected by copyright in Germany! Historical Background "O'Flaherty V.C." is set in the summer of 1915, a year after the outbreak of World War I. At this point in time, Ireland had been part of the United Kingdom for over a hundred years, since the Act of Union of 1800 which abolished the Irish Parliament. Ireland was henceforth governed by the British parliament, which set up a British administration in Ireland headed by the Lord Lieutenant and the Chief Secretary. However, throughout the first half of the 19th century, various groups in Ireland fought for the repeal of the Act of Union, partly by political means but also by means of violent rebellion. During this period, Ireland was also beset with economic troubles, the worst being the Great Famine of 1846 to 1848. In the rural areas of Ireland, most people lived on tiny farms and depended on one main crop: potatoes. In 1846, the potato harvest was almost totally destroyed by potato blight. The liberal British government refused to support the stricken population and this led to catastrophe: out of a total population of about five million, about one million died and another million emigrated. In the wake of the Famine, the Irish Land League was formed to fight for a redistribution of land from the English protestant landlords to the Irish catholic smallholders. One of the leading forces of the Land League was the Irish Republican Brotherhood, also known as "the Fenians", a secret Jesuit society dedicated to armed resistance against the British. One of the most effective weapons of the Land League was the "boycott", a term coined in Ireland at this period. The "Land Wars" were finally settled through the Irish Land Acts, initiated by the British Prime Minister Gladstone, but this did not end Irish nationalism. From 1870 onwards, the Home Rule movement, headed by Charles Stewart Parnell, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, fought for self-government. In response, Gladstone introduced two Home Rule bills into parliament, but both were defeated. The issue also divided Ireland: a significant Protestant minority, particularly in Ulster, opposed Home Rule. In 1892, Parnell was succeeded by John Redmond. In 1912, under Prime Minister Asquith, the Third Home Rule Bill was passed by the House of Commons, but blocked for another two years by the House of Lords. When it was finally due to be implemented, the First World War broke out and the Home Rule Bill was suspended yet again. However, Redmond encouraged Irishmen to volunteer for the British army, because he hoped this would strengthen Ireland's position in negotiations with the British government; at least 30.000 Irishmen died. It is against this historical backdrop that the play opens. Some further important terms that are used in the play: Victoria Cross: most prestigious decoration awarded for bravery to soldiers by the English monarch Cross of Monasterboice: famous Celtic high cross in County Louth Shan Van Vocht: Gaelic term meaning "Little Old Woman" which was used to describe Ireland The Boshes: derogatory name given by the allies to the Germans Horatio Bottomley: Populist MP, started a scheme to collect funds for the war, but was in the end convicted of fraud Malachi: Irish king who defeated the Vikings in AD 980 The Seven Churches: monastic complex in Inishmore, Aran Islands, dating back to the 8th century Glasnevin: cemetery in Dublin where many famous Irishmen are buried Sir Horace Plunkett: Unionist MP who, as a member of the RecessCcommittee, propagated land reform in Ireland Bernard Shaw Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin on July 26, 1856. He moved to London in the 1870s to embark on a literary career. After writing five novels, none of which were published, he became a music critic, and, in 1895, the drama critic of the Saturday Review, his first step towards becoming a dramatist. In 1898 he married an Irish heiress, Charlotte Payne-Townshend. His first successful play, Candida, was produced the same year. In the course of his long life, Shaw wrote more than 50 plays, many of which have become classics (Pygmalion, Arms and the Man, Major Barbara, to name but a few).In 1925 Shaw received the Nobel Prize for Literature. He died in 1950. Throughout his life, Shaw was a deeply political person. He was a noted socialist who took a leading role in the Fabian Society, and championed many causes, such as equality of income, women's rights, spelling reform and vegetarianism. After the Easter Rising in Ireland in 1916, Shaw campaigned against the execution of the rebel leaders and befriended the IRA leader Michael Collins. Shaw was also a staunch pacifist, and published various essays and short plays opposing World War I, which were regarded as unpatriotic and led to a marked decline in his popularity which was not fully reversed until the publication of his masterpiece, Saint Joan, in 1925. "O'Flaherty V.C." is one of these plays. Further helpful biographical material is published at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw.

A World War I Kaleidoscope

World War I, also known, until 1939, as the Great War, began in 1914 and lasted till the final Armistice on November 11, 1918. It claimed the lives of about 9 million soldiers and a further 9 million civilians, and changed the face of the European continent: as a direct consequence of the war, the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman empires were dismantled, and communism made its first appearance.

The most infamous element of World War I was probably trench warfare. All along the Western front, from Belgium to the Swiss border, the opposing armies dug trenches in which to barricade themselves against the enemy. This led to stalemate: neither of the opponents managed to advance significantly, while the no-mans-land between the enemy lines turned into a hellish waste of churned up mud criss-crossed by barbed wire and strewn with dead bodies.

In many Anglo-Saxon countries, but particularly in Britain, it is World War I rather than World War II which left a lasting impression. This is partly due to the fact that it was the first conflict on this scale, but partly also to the fact that the course of the war was charted by a generation of gifted soldier poets, including Rupert Brook, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, who conveyed both the patriotic emotions at the beginning of the war and the horror of the ensuing battles.

In Britain, November 11th, known as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, is marked each year with memorial services and people wear an artificial poppy on their lapel: the poppy became the symbol of the conflict because it grew in abundance in the fields of Flanders where some of the worst battles took place.
Lots more helpful material on World War I is published at http://www.firstworldwar.com.

The following material will be presented:
War Propaganda Collage
Rendezvous by Alan Seeger
An Irish Airman Foresees his Death by William Butler Yeats
Will you go to Flanders? (Irish traditional song)
Letter from the Front - Gunner Bertie Cox
Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen
The Secret by Woodbine Willy
They told all the fine young men by Eric Bogle/John Munro
The Wind on the Downs by Marian Allen
Anthem for a Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen

Many of these texts can be found on the internet.

"O'Flaherty V.C." by Bernard Shaw

The text of "O'Flaherty V.C." can be found at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3484. Please remember that the play is protected by copyright in Germany!

Historical Background

"O'Flaherty V.C." is set in the summer of 1915, a year after the outbreak of World War I. At this point in time, Ireland had been part of the United Kingdom for over a hundred years, since the Act of Union of 1800 which abolished the Irish Parliament. Ireland was henceforth governed by the British parliament, which set up a British administration in Ireland headed by the Lord Lieutenant and the Chief Secretary.

However, throughout the first half of the 19th century, various groups in Ireland fought for the repeal of the Act of Union, partly by political means but also by means of violent rebellion. During this period, Ireland was also beset with economic troubles, the worst being the Great Famine of 1846 to 1848. In the rural areas of Ireland, most people lived on tiny farms and depended on one main crop: potatoes. In 1846, the potato harvest was almost totally destroyed by potato blight. The liberal British government refused to support the stricken population and this led to catastrophe: out of a total population of about five million, about one million died and another million emigrated.

In the wake of the Famine, the Irish Land League was formed to fight for a redistribution of land from the English protestant landlords to the Irish catholic smallholders. One of the leading forces of the Land League was the Irish Republican Brotherhood, also known as "the Fenians", a secret Jesuit society dedicated to armed resistance against the British. One of the most effective weapons of the Land League was the "boycott", a term coined in Ireland at this period. The "Land Wars" were finally settled through the Irish Land Acts, initiated by the British Prime Minister Gladstone, but this did not end Irish nationalism.

From 1870 onwards, the Home Rule movement, headed by Charles Stewart Parnell, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, fought for self-government. In response, Gladstone introduced two Home Rule bills into parliament, but both were defeated. The issue also divided Ireland: a significant Protestant minority, particularly in Ulster, opposed Home Rule.

In 1892, Parnell was succeeded by John Redmond. In 1912, under Prime Minister Asquith, the Third Home Rule Bill was passed by the House of Commons, but blocked for another two years by the House of Lords. When it was finally due to be implemented, the First World War broke out and the Home Rule Bill was suspended yet again. However, Redmond encouraged Irishmen to volunteer for the British army, because he hoped this would strengthen Ireland's position in negotiations with the British government; at least 30.000 Irishmen died. It is against this historical backdrop that the play opens.

Some further important terms that are used in the play:

Victoria Cross: most prestigious decoration awarded for bravery to soldiers by the English monarch

Cross of Monasterboice: famous Celtic high cross in County Louth

Shan Van Vocht: Gaelic term meaning "Little Old Woman" which was used to describe Ireland

The Boshes: derogatory name given by the allies to the Germans

Horatio Bottomley: Populist MP, started a scheme to collect funds for the war, but was in the end convicted of fraud

Malachi: Irish king who defeated the Vikings in AD 980

The Seven Churches: monastic complex in Inishmore, Aran Islands, dating back to the 8th century

Glasnevin: cemetery in Dublin where many famous Irishmen are buried

Sir Horace Plunkett: Unionist MP who, as a member of the RecessCcommittee, propagated land reform in Ireland

Bernard Shaw

Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin on July 26, 1856. He moved to London in the 1870s to embark on a literary career. After writing five novels, none of which were published, he became a music critic, and, in 1895, the drama critic of the Saturday Review, his first step towards becoming a dramatist. In 1898 he married an Irish heiress, Charlotte Payne-Townshend. His first successful play, Candida, was produced the same year. In the course of his long life, Shaw wrote more than 50 plays, many of which have become classics (Pygmalion, Arms and the Man, Major Barbara, to name but a few).In 1925 Shaw received the Nobel Prize for Literature. He died in 1950.

Throughout his life, Shaw was a deeply political person. He was a noted socialist who took a leading role in the Fabian Society, and championed many causes, such as equality of income, women's rights, spelling reform and vegetarianism. After the Easter Rising in Ireland in 1916, Shaw campaigned against the execution of the rebel leaders and befriended the IRA leader Michael Collins.

Shaw was also a staunch pacifist, and published various essays and short plays opposing World War I, which were regarded as unpatriotic and led to a marked decline in his popularity which was not fully reversed until the publication of his masterpiece, Saint Joan, in 1925. "O'Flaherty V.C." is one of these plays.

Further helpful biographical material is published at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw.