Al do keep up, there's a good chap!

The Muppets wished to claim that between being appointed as Secretary of Stae for War the day after war was declared until the end of 1915 (Why they selected that date I have no idea - possibly something to do with the 1915 "Shell Scandal") Lord Kitchener had done nothing apart from bungling things. Then on 5th June 1916 when he was killed it took them one month to appoint a successor so on the 6th July David Lloyd George became Secretary of State for War and as Kitchener had done nothing but mess things up until then it must have been David Lloyd George who between the 6th July 1916 and the 1st August 1916 single-handedly recruited 1.8 million men, equipped them, trained them and transported them over to France to partake in the Somme Offensive of that year. As well as manufacture the British Army's new Heavy Artillery and manufacture all the shells required - My, my he must have been a busy boy eh?

"how much equipment and training does it take to get mowed down by a machine gun?"

Not very much at all. Now how much training does it take to successfully get past it? How much training does it take to successfully destroy it? Because that is what that Army that Kitchener raised did between August 1916 and November 1918 and they did it in steps against what was considered to be the largest, most powerful and best trained army in the world.

"for god's sake THINK! THINK FOR YOURSELF! NEVER MIND WHAT 'HISTORIANS' SAY."

Don't know about you Al but if I am going to think about something and form an opinion, then the first thing I need is information. If what I am thinking about is something that occurred in the past (In this case 100 years ago) then where do I get this information from and how should I qualify the sources giving me the information I need? Are you seriously suggesting that the considered work of qualified scholars should be ignored?? If so then you Sir are mad, barking mad.

Politicians took the country to war Al not Careerist Generals

South Africa in the 100 years after the Boer War?

1902 to 1910 - The British until the passing of the 1909 South Africa Act.

1910 to 1948 - The Dominion of South Africa was ruled by elected South African Governments. In 1931 the country was fully sovereign from the United Kingdom. In 1934 the South Africa Party and the National Party merged to form the Union Party. This unification came to sticky end in 1939 when the Union Party voted to enter the Second World War on the side of the United Kingdom and the predominantly Boer National Party set up shop again. They won the election in 1948 and the system of apartheid was introduced.

1948 to 1994 - The National Party. In 1961 South Africa became a Republic.

1994 to Present - The ANC.

"Which is the richest industrialised nation in |Europe?"

Now I think that that would be Germany, partly through their own efforts but also due to them having been brought to ruin by two world wars (that they started) and then given massive assistance. The destruction in 1945 was almost total and after their defeat they were granted a "clean sheet" on condition that their entire social and industrial sectors were "constructed" for them under extremely tight guidelines and that the country be occupied and divided into US, British, French and Russian Sectors. The Germans sensibly spent their "Marshall Plan" money on rebuilding their industry where they were only allowed five trades Unions and there could not be any "wildcat strikes" (Japan by the way was only allowed three trades unions in their rigidly supervised reconstruction). The United Kingdom, under a Labour Administration, on the other hand stupidly spent it's "Marshall plan" money on funding and building our Welfare System. Germany ended up with a labour force and means to create wealth by which it created a sustainable welfare system, we ended up creating a culture of benefits dependency.

The Hague Convention of 1948 helped Germany as did the 1952 creation of the European Coal and Steel Community linking Belgium, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and West Germany - a cosy little club dominated by France and Germany that guaranteed their financial and industrial well being. This grew with the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957 to become what was formerly known as the European Economic Community. This cosy little club still exists today although it is a great deal larger. It is still dominated by France and Germany who do whatever suits them best. Germany may well be the richest industrialised country in Europe but she was given a great deal of help to secure that position.