David Cameron: first world war fought 'in defence of British values'

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/04/david-cameron-first-world-war-defended-british-values

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David Cameron unambiguously embraced the decision to enter the first world war a hundred years ago saying it had been fought to "prevent the domination of a continent, and in defence of British values".

In a speech at the St Symphorien military cemetery in Mons, Cameron appeared unambiguous in his support for the war's aims, saying it was wrong to dismiss the war as "pointless, or fought by people who didn't know why they were fighting".

Speaking a century after Great Britain entered what turned out to be the bloodiest war in its history, the prime minister said: "These men signed up to prevent the domination of a continent and to preserve the principles of freedom and sovereignty that we cherish today."

Earlier in a television interview, Cameron also sought to draw parallels between the events of a century ago and more recent conflicts. He said: "We have the RAF patrolling over the Baltic to deter Russian aggression, we had the Royal Navy in action just this morning to evacuate British nationals from Libya, there are threats to Britain and British interests the world over and what I find so moving about today is that reminder that young men and women do come forward to serve their country and to protect us."

But in a later ITN interview he acknowledged the moral ambivalence about the wisdom of the sacrifice, stressing he had personally tried to keep British soldiers from conflict. Asked if he would have sent British soldiers into conflict in August 1914 replied: "It's a very difficult question because you weren't there but I do believe the people who volunteered, they believed they were going to fight in a just cause."

Cameron's emphasis on the belief that soldiers themselves felt they were fighting a necessary war has been No 10's way of avoiding an ultimate judgment on the wisdom of Britain's political leadership in 1914, or the value of the human sacrifice the political and military elite demanded of their troops over four years.

Cameron's aides also sought to avoid a row over whether the European Union had helped manage to keep the peace since 1945.

Five of Cameron's relatives died in the first world war, and the prime minister went to the memorial to a fallen relative Captain Francis Mount at the Battle of Loos Memorial in France. In his speech at St Symphorien he emphasised the human loss, but also place of the first world war in history.

He said: "We are all in a long chain of events, the inheritors of the fights that were won before us, the stewards of the world that the next generation will inherit.

"In shaping that future it is vital that we look to the past. Here on the continent of Europe we saw not the war to end all wars, but the precursor to another desperate and violent conflict just two decades later.

"We should never fail to cherish the peace between these nations and never underestimate the patient work it has taken to build that peace. So, 100 years on, it is right that collectively we stop; we pause; and we re-pledge this for the next 100 years."Cameron also visited the Nato allied headquarters in Brussels where he promised to use the Nato summit in Wales in September to build a new Alliance Charter "that sets out a shared commitment to support its armed forces and their families".

This would be reinforced by a new approach to share more systematically across Nato best practice on the treatment of Armed Forces, medical care, support for injured personnel and help for the bereaved.