War is an ephemeral pre requisite to long-lasting peace, acting as a winding dusty road leading to the pinnacle of mutual consensus and harmony among diverging ideologies. War is promulgated as nothing but means to peace, advocated in the most righteous manner to ensure the continuity of the human race. However devastating are its effects, and merciless are its spankings on the naked soul of the struggling masses. January 10^th 1920 remains a historic day in the eyes of the world, averting or at the very least cushioning, perhaps the most appalling extreme form of grotesque submission mankind has or ever will witness. The Treaty of Versailles took effect on this blessed day, officially ending the long and arduous World War I.

World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. It involved all the world’s supreme powers. Ultimately more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized and more than 9 million combatants were killed, largely because of great technological advances in firepower without corresponding advances in mobility. This deadly conflict subsequently paved way for political anarchy and economic turbulence cumulating into an array of changes in nations around the world.

Article on the Times on 10th Janurary, 1920

In the 19th Century, the major European powers had gone to great lengths to maintain equilibrium of power throughout Europe, resulting by 1900 in a complex network of political and military alliances throughout the continent. In 1882, the preformed Austria-Hungary alliance was expanded to include Italy in what became the Triple Alliance. The Franco-Russian Alliance was signed to counteract the force of the Triple Alliance. In 1904, the United Kingdom sealed an alliance with France, the Entente Cordiale, and in 1907, the United Kingdom and Russia signed the Anglo-Russian Convention. This system of interlocking bilateral agreements formed the Triple Entente.

The arms race between Britain and Germany eventually extended to the rest of Europe, with all the major powers devoting their industrial base to producing the equipment and weapons necessary for a pan-European conflict.

In 1912 and 1913 the First Balkan War was fought between the Balkan League and the fracturing Ottoman Empire. The 33 day Second Balkan War, further destabilising the region.

Wanting to finally end Serbian interference in Bosnia, Austria-Hungary delivered the July Ultimatum to Serbia, a series of ten demands intentionally made unacceptable, intending to provoke a war with Serbia. When Serbia agreed to only eight of the ten demands, Austria-Hungary declared war on 28 July 1914.  The Russian Empire, unwilling to allow Austria–Hungary to eliminate its influence in the Balkans, and in support of its long time Serb protégés, ordered a partial mobilisation one day later. When the German Empire began to mobilise on 30 July 1914, France, resentful of the German conquest of Alsace-Lorraine during the Franco-Prussian War, ordered French mobilisation on 1 August. Germany declared war on Russia on the same day. The United Kingdom declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, following an “unsatisfactory reply” to the British ultimatum that Belgium must be kept neutral. And hence began the war that transcended all forms of distortion, and left a black hole in the human civilization.

After the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919, between Germany on the one side and France, Italy, Britain and other minor allied powers on the other side, officially ended war between those countries. Other treaties ended the belligerent relationships of the United States and the other Central Powers. Included in the 440 articles of Treaty of Versailles were the demands that Germany officially accept responsibility for starting the war and pay heavy economic reparations. This treaty drastically limited the German military machine: the German troops were reduced to 100,000 and the country was prevented from possessing major military armament such as tanks, warships, and submarines. The treaty left Germany neither pacified or conciliated, nor permanently weakened, probably paving the way for World War II.

The consecrated day, January 10^th: The taking effect of the Treaty of Versailles was an official demarcation of the end of an epoch, a time of peaceful tranquillity and encompassing compassion. Little did they know that the calm that it brought was short lived, it was the calm before the storm, the raging ferocious storm of World War II.

You may be able to explain how a light bulb works, but it’s difficult to explain the misty eyes of a hapless old man on seeing a blub glow in his house for the first time. It’s easy to explain the aerodynamics of an airplane, but it’s challenging to describe the excitement of a villager when he sits in a flight for the first time. It’s easy to make a ravioli dish for yourself, but it’s hard explaining the joy of a mother while feeding roti and dal to her child with her own hands. Anyone can explain the working of the water-cycle to kids, but the joy of actually getting drenched in the first shower, opening yours hands wide open to welcome nature, rolling down in the wet mud under the rain whilst you play a game of soccer with your friends is something words were never meant to describe.  The beauty of the world never lay in the execution of an event as much as in its perception. It’s the realization of this difference that gave birth to a confluence of both aspects, something the English vernacular refers to as a story.

Stories have defined our world. They have been with us since the dawn of communication, from cave walls to the tall tales recounted around fires. They have continued to evolve with their purpose remaining the same; To entertain, to share experiences, to teach, and to feel.

Telling a story might be the simplest and toughest challenge to anyone. A Story is more than just “plot.” You can reduce a story to “What happens between point A and point Z,” but anyone who has read a book, watched a movie, or played a game can tell you that storytelling is far more complex. The interlacing of emotions with facts, to guide the human mind along alleys never discovered before, raising sensations that the heart never realized it was deemed for and making one mindless about the bridge between tangible and in-tangible, a story is best defined as a piece of clay, possessing the capacity to be moulded as per the mind and mood of the creator.

The 21^st century has taught us to communicate a bit differently. The  information we receive is fragmented across various mass-media channels and delivered through ever-changing technology. It has become watered down, cloned, and is churned out quickly in 140-character blurbs. We’ve lost that personal touch where we find an emotional connection that makes us care. Stories help us link these disconnected fragments together.

Life and Time are perhaps the two most talked about elements in the history of mankind. However, the job of translating the punch-power philosophy only grasped by an educated individual to a sweet-coated candy so that it’s well-received irrespective of age and maturity. The words “Once upon a time…..” are those that have recently been taken down as cliche.  Little do we realize that the phrase traverses an infinite gap of education and experience, without so much as blemishing the true essence or moral of the occasion. The importance of stories is best felt than said.

To make you grasp the true essence of a story, have you ever wondered why history classes in school about King Ashoka sound boring whereas grandma’s stories with the same king sound interesting? Get your answers at TEDxBITSGoa……