Geez Louise! First the Punitive Expedition, then all these 1916 newspapers, then the Easter Rebellion, and now the first Anzac Day, what the heck is up?
Well, as we've explained from time to time, this blog focuses on this time period and is really the reason the blog exists. And, as odd as it may seem, the recent 1916 entries have a lot to do with our focus on the Punitive Expedition.
The reason that we've been posting the old newspapers is to put the Punitive Expedition in context, and by that we mean the context of the average person as they would have received the news every day. But in receiving that news, they wouldn't have received it in a vacuum, even while they also wouldn't have received all of it instantly as it occurred. And the entire picture of what they received is important.
In looking back on history, we tend to view big events as if they were the only events, and as if everyone was involved in them. But that's just not the way life works. Even as major events occur, most people keep on with their day to day lives, worries, and concerns, unless they live in an area immediately impacted by the big events. This is true even if they had family members involved in them, whom they worried about, just as its true for us today.
So, while we've been looking at the Punitive Expedition, we've been filling in what else was going on, in an attempt to present the overall picture, both as it was, and as it would have been received at the time.
And what a picture it was. 1916, quite frankly, was awful. War in Europe, near war with Mexico, rebellion in Ireland. It was bad.
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