Having completed our tour of Western Europe it is time to reflect on the experience and share a few thoughts. Europe is the cradle of our civilization yet many times has been anything but civilized. Travelling around beautiful cities like Brussels, Innsbruck, Venice, Rome, Florence and Paris as well as those in Germany, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic on our previous tour, it is hard to believe these countries have been ravaged by war down through the centuries and especially in the 20^th century with two world wars.

Over this time I have been reading a book published just last year by Max Hastings, “Catastrophe – Europe goes to war in 1914”. In it he explains the political maneuverings that led to the war but also devotes a lot of attention to the reactions of the man in the street. There are detailed accounts of the horror of trench warfare which come from the diaries and letters of the soldiers who fought. One describes it as marching into an abattoir rather than a fight!

The question on my mind as we toured was ‘Could it happen again?’ We travelled through prosperous cities and lush productive countryside, and it was hard to imagine it as a battlefield. The EU makes it so easy to travel across borders that in the past have been impenetrable as mighty armies clashed. One hopes that with the vision of a united Europe together in the EU that this continent would never again slip into the horrors of world war. But one is reminded of what was said after World War I that this was the war to end all wars. However lessons weren’t learnt and there was another conflict with Germany only 21 years later. There has also been the genocide of Croats and Muslims in the Balkans in the 1990s (It is interesting to note this was where the trigger for World War One was pulled). Most recently we see the fighting going on in the Ukraine and a war that has all the potential to draw in the larger powers. Of course the most likely place to find a trigger for another world war is the Middle East. At least Europe would enter such a conflict united but possibly without Russia in the Entente.

Maybe there is too much people power these days to allow another carnage like World War I. This war marked the end of the aristocratic authoritarian societies of that time. With a lot more access to information now people don’t just accept what authority figures tell them. It is important to remember however the similarities of pre-World War I with our own time. This was a prosperous time, a time with a rising socialist movement challenging the distribution of that prosperity and a time when many recognized the cultural homogeneity of Europe. There was the real possibility of Britain declaring itself neutral in the war because many loved the cultural heritage of Germany.

Our travels have taken us to some remarkable places. We have seen the grandeur of the Colosseum and other ancient ruins in Rome but then also visited Assisi and been refreshed in the story of Saint Francis and his call to simplicity. We have seen the elegance of Florence and Venice in Italy and the remarkable beauty of Paris. Travelling on a tour gives you very little time to assess the social issues of the places you visit. I am however very aware of the divisions within Europe especially since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and the austerity measures that have been imposed in many countries because they were simply living beyond their means. Europe is still in big trouble with huge debts and sluggish growth. If there was an economic collapse there is no doubt that human behaviour could degenerate very quickly. Europe is such a beautiful place with great monuments to the history of our civilisation. I pray for the well-being of it’s people and that there will never be another ‘Catastrophe’.