Every Man A Soldier Reading Response

 What did Keegan mean when he said, "For the truth of twentieth-century European civilization was that the world it dominated was pregnant with war."

With this quote Keegan comments how the first world war had not left Europe completely defenseless or broke, yet still thirsty and ready for another war. With the Industrial Revolution helping Europe's economy many European nations depended on the production of weaponry and military goods to sustain their economies and keep their population employed. Similar to the idea of war in the book 1984, Europe was ready for another war, for it was helping  nations economically and bringing citizens together in a common effort to beat the enemy. The idea of war was contagious in Europe, so to say. The Industrial Revolution also brought technological advancements that nations and armies were eager to use, as Keegan states, " The technology that built the railways also furnished the weapons with which the soldiers of the new armies would inflict mass casualties on each other" (16). Scientists were finding dual purposes for resources, and those dual purposes were uses in wartime; thus, making Europe more than ready and willing for another war. Also, Germany is a prime example of Keegan's quote; after the Treaty of Versailles Germany was eagerly plotting and waiting for a chance to prove its strength as a nation. Germany was extremely pregnant with war; it was infatuated with the idea of revenge and cleaning its reputation of disgrace and embarrassment  caused by the Treaty. Keegan's idea that European civilization was pregnant with war is very accurate as it saw some economic advantages and technological advancements that were products of the first world war and were curious to see what new things could harbor from another war.