The Spanish Flu pandemic began in Jan. 1918, but the First World War didn't end until Nov. of that year. So despite the horrific spread of death throughout the world, the war continued for 10 more months! Worse was that many of the surviving soldiers who contracted it from living in such close quarters, then brought it back to their home cities, when they returned, and it spread further. It's a shame that the First World War just couldn't have ended at the time the Spanish Flu became the bigger problem for all nations.

Or even earlier, the real miracle of the 'Christmas Truce' would have been if somehow World War One could have stopped permanently, and not continued for 4 years. Traditionally, ceasefires in war are usually only very brief, where each side will be allowed to quickly recover the bodies of their deceased soldiers, or repair their embankments. But the "Christmas Truce' if you haven't heard it, was when British and German soldiers in the Western Front trenches, had a spontaneous and unauthorized suspension of fighting, on the first Christmas Eve during World War One. The Brits heard the Germans in the trench across from them, singing Christmas Carols. They joined them in singing, and then both sides exchanged promises of ceasefire and climbed out of their trenches, to meet in the 'No Man's Land' area, between the two enemy trenches.

There they chatted, laughed, exchanged small gifts of tobacco, etc. and even got a ball to play a game of soccer (or football, here) together. The truce and revelry lasted into Christmas Day, but fighting resumed soon afterward, when news of the event had leaked out to the commanding officers. But many of the men who survived both the Flu and the war, wrote letters about that wonderful Christmas Eve, when the sound of Christmas carols inspired them to not only stop fighting, but to join their 'enemy' in celebrating the holiday together. They were very affected by having to then re-engage, in attempting to kill the very soldiers they'd celebrated with on Christmas Eve.

It's incredible that we haven't evolved from Cave Man behavior, who obviously fought physically because they had not developed language to communicate their grievances and settle their differences. Sadly, to obtain what we wish to accomplish, we only transitioned from using stones and clubs, to using far worse lethal weapons. Surely in the 66 million years we've had since Cave Men, we should have been able to utilize our so called superior intelligence, to rely not on weaponry, but on our ability to communicate and negotiate, with our adversaries.

If no nations tried to take away from other nations, to give more to themselves, and no nation subjected their citizens to atrocities, then other nations would not feel bound to intervene, causing wars between us. Pity we still haven't evolved enough. I wonder if any of the nations who are at war today, would at some point, learn from the Spanish Flu pandemic, that perhaps we should be joining forces to help each other, rather than kill each other, especially in times of world crisis, like this Covid-19 pandemic.