Here's an interestingquote from this site: . http://geocities.com/avwxman/
It touches on the seminal event of 1914 that supposedly makes it a marked year from the WTS viewpoint, namely war. Here some evidence is presented showing why the events of that yr, though major for the events in the 20th century, are not all that significant when compared to events earlier in history viewed with an objective eye.
In fact, many historians consider the French Revolution to be a more significant "turning point" in history than either World War I or II. Nor can WWI be considered the first "world war". Historians point out that both the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) and the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) were the first "world wars" since they involved all four continents of the world and greatly shaped the course of human history, while World War I was largely limited to Europe.ONE.....World War I is estimated to have killed 10-12 million people. If it was "seven times greater" than all the previous major wars in 2,400 years of history combined, then that would mean only about 1.5 million had died in those wars. To realize the absurdity of such a claim one has only to examine several wars from the centuries that immediately preceded 1914:
The Thirty Years War (1618-1648), an international conflict with about 10 nations involved, estimated to have killed 2-3 million soldiers. Civilian fatalities were much higher. Most experts believe that 30-40% of the total German population, or 7-8 million civilians died due to the war. Historian R. R. Palmer observes that "even the Second World War, in sheer depopulation, was not as devastating for Germany as was the Thirty Years War. It is quite possible for human beings to die like flies without benefit of scientific destruction. The horrors of modern war are not wholly different from horrors that men and women have experienced in the past."
The Manchu-Chinese War. In 1644 China was invaded by the Manchus from Manchuria in a lengthy war that is estimated to have claimed 25 million lives, about twice as many as were killed militarily in World War I.
The Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815) involved the same number of nations as World War I. France lost 2 million. The total death figure for the period 1792-1815 is set at 5-6 million.
The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864), "perhaps the most destructive war of the entire 19th century," (Dupuy & Dupuy, page 864). This was a civil war in China that usually is stated to have claimed 20-30 million lives. The Awake in March 22, 1982 apparently overlooked its previous claim about World War I being seven times worse than previous wars. In an article highlighting the involvement of religion in war, stated that the number of victims in the Taiping Rebellion was "possibly as many as 40 million."
Genghis Kahn's conquests in the 13th century probably surpassed World War I also. His conquest of Northern China in 1211-1218, for instance, is said to have cost 18 million Chinese lives.
These are just a few examples from Sign of the Last Days - When? that show that the Society's claims about World War I cannot be substantiated. The same case could as easily be made for famine and pestilence. The history of mankind is largely a history of crises and catastrophes. Although the Watchtower Society admits this, it tries to belittle the calamities of the past, claiming that our century has seen them on a much larger scale.
bigboi