>On Fri, 2010-12-24 at 20:05 +1100, Geoffrey Heard wrote:
>>  >I wish everybody a very happy Christmas, and 
>>I wish to us all a constructive
>>  >2011. A year when we shall have a 1.1.11 and a 11.11.11.
>>  >In German Switzerland, the Carnival fans 
>>start preparing for the Carnival on
>>  >11.11. at 11.11, it's an impressive moment. 
>>So next year, it's going to happen
>>  >on 11.11.11., 11.11 ;ñ))
>>  >Greetings!
>>  >Anne
>>
>>  Hmmm -- on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the
>>  11th month, we in Oz have Remembrance Day ...
>>  marking the end of WWI, a war in whcih between
>>  50,000 and 60,000 Australians (well, Australian
>>  residents, a lot of them were immigrants) died.
>>  In fact, more than twice as many Australian died
>>  in WWI than in WWII. Amazing carnage in WWI.
>>
>>  Cheers (or something), geoff
>
>Embarrassingly, what I know of WWI I know from the appendices of the
>Lord of the Rings Extended DVDs (because of Tolkien's involvement in the
>war, which they went over fairly extensively). The level of carnage
>doesn't surprise me at all. Anybody here up on what REALLY started that
>one?

It was the last Feudal family dispute -- the 
sovereigns of all the principal nations when the 
war started were cousins. Of course, underlying 
that was the treasure generated by power over 
less developed lands that could be sucked dry.

All the allies claim victory but in reality, the 
war ended because of the "Spanish flu" -- both 
sides were too sick to fight.

Actually, the "Spanish flu" entered the human 
world, not from Spain, but in the usual way, via 
migratory water birds from the swamps of northern 
Russia (and perhaps China). In this case, the 
birds went to the USA, where the flu jumped to 
pigs then to people and into the army very early 
on (in Idaho if my memory serves me correctly -- 
which it often doesn't these days!), and it was 
transported to Europe by US troops (an American 
general practice doctor with an obsession finally 
tracked this down and nailed it a relatively few 
years ago when he was in his 80s. A great piece 
of detective work). So both Russia and the USA 
(which entered the war in only the last year) can 
be said to share the privilege of ending WWI !

Cheers, geoff