- this war would determine who would receive these spoils. Thus, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was only the “excuse” to begin the inevitable conflict.
- C. With lethal weapons that could still more people, faster and more efficiently than ever before, the death toll in this war was far greater than had every experienced. With so many countries, so many fronts and so many soldiers (65 million) fighting, it was truly a world war.
- D. As every war disrupts normal life, World War I disrupted Jewish life for the Jews in Europe, especially because many Jewish communities were located on or near the many war fronts. In addition, many Jews fought valiantly for their country (often pitting Jew against Jew).
- E. In Palestine in 1918, 18,000-20,000 Jewish males were eager to join a Palestine Jewish Legion, and petitioned the British authorities which at that time occupied the areas of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Jaffa. In 1918, approval was granted and more than 1,000 men were enlisted. Ninety-two Turkish Jews who had been captured in the fighting earlier were also permitted to enlist. This group was organized as the 40th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers and sent to Tell-al-Kabir also for training, and were ready for service after the 1918 offensive in Palestine. Almost all the members of the three Jewish regiments were discharged immediately after the end of World War I in November 1918.
MORAL DILEMMA
You are Gavrilo Princip , the 19 year old about to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand in 1914 in Sarajevo. Your goal in the assassination is to break the Austro-Hungarian south-Slav provinces off from the Austro-Hungarian empire. If you knew now that your act would begin World War I and, as a result, millions of people would dies, would you still go through with it? List the reasons to continue with the assassination and the reason to halt it.
For further information, analysis, web sites and study by the teacher and or student on this topic, please refer to the Data Disk of Episode II Educators’ Guide. Feel free to contact Rabbi Dr. Nachum Amsel for any questions or issues Nachum@jewishdestiny.com or phone 212-444-1656 – (note time difference to Israel when calling.)