One Monday, my fourth grade teacher asked us to share something we’d learned over the weekend. My hand shot up into the air, “World War I was originally called The Great War because no one knew World War II was coming.” The teacher looked confused. Probably because it was obvious that people in 1914 could not have known a world war would break out in the 1930s. But it had not been obvious to me. I'd never considered them separately. When I learned that World War II modified the name of World War I, something shifted in me. The shift made room for a new kind of fear. I’d always thought that truth remained true. But in this case, it hadn’t.
Conquest, war, famine + death
Conquest, war, famine + death
Conquest, war, famine + death
One Monday, my fourth grade teacher asked us to share something we’d learned over the weekend. My hand shot up into the air, “World War I was originally called The Great War because no one knew World War II was coming.” The teacher looked confused. Probably because it was obvious that people in 1914 could not have known a world war would break out in the 1930s. But it had not been obvious to me. I'd never considered them separately. When I learned that World War II modified the name of World War I, something shifted in me. The shift made room for a new kind of fear. I’d always thought that truth remained true. But in this case, it hadn’t.