A life-and-death Struggle - History of the Great War.

Strategist · 31-05-2007, 01:01

A life-and-death Struggle - History of the Great War

Prelude
The drama of June 28th 1914 in Sarajevo

It's Sunday.

With a magnificent deep blue the sky arches over Bosnia, the beautiful mountaincountry, and with golden rays the sun floods the ridges of the heights that are covered with shadowy woods, and the lovely valleys covered with summer adornments, which if the inhabitants would only want it, could produce such an uncommon rich harvest because of their fertility.

The sunny summer day fills the hearts of the Bosnians with joy. Like real southerners they love the sun and her warmth. When threatening grey clouds gather, darkness comes over the mountainlandscape, the Treskovica and the Bjelasnica* put their peaks away behind an impermeable, dun veil, they are overcome with melancholy. But as soon as the sun breaks through again, their lust to live seems to be reborn. Then the countrychildren search and find eachother and the young men ask the maidens to dance and beautiful voices make cheerful and glad their songs which can be heared everywhere.

It is said, that the Bosnians are rough and proud, roguish and brutal, and that they keep a distance from strangers; that they however, sober and chaste, readily practise hospitality among eachother; they are praised as brave in battle, honest and just in trade, but they are also called zealots and superstitious about religion, narrow minded and conservative on political matters; and though they are strongly built physically and tall shaped, they would have little resistance against hardships.

This may be the case. But it is impossible to deny, that the Bosnians show a great deal of susceptibility for the beauty of nature and that their life is richer in disclosure, the more nature grants them her treasures.

And therefore also on this Sunday, this 28st of June 1914, now nature in full richness displays her beauty, an amazing happiness fills the hearts of countrymen and townsmen. But there is another reason that makes the Bosnians jubilant.

In their capital, their Bosna Saraj -- which is called Sarajevo by the Western conquerors -- today the future ruler of the great monarchy, together with his wife, will be welcomed by them. He, the Archduke-successor to the throne, who already has shown more than once, to have sympathy with the Slavs, which also populate Bosnia, wants to come to Sarajevo, to confirm the bond, that has been forged already between him and the Bosnian people.

Thousands therefore have left their sunny heights and calm and peaceful valleys this time and have travelled to Sarajevo, which is covered with flags. They want to welcome the Royal Couple with loud cheers, the two people, who -- as the tiding goes -- love eachother so virtuously and with such passion, and who are such excellent, loving parents for the three children that have been given to them.

See in the streets the crowd closely packed together! What a picturesque sight, those men and women in the colored clothes of the country! And those children, who decorated themselves with flowers and carry flags with them and who soon will sing the most beautiful songs to the very important guests of the capital of Bosnia! How celebratory is the appearance already, and that will be multiplied ten times, when the long awaited guests will finally make their entrance into the old Sarajevo. Yes, it is a day, of which the memories will move people many years later. For Bosnia and the Bosnians this June the 28st will mark the beginning of a new era.

* Two mountains, 2128 and 2067 meters high, located to the southwest of Sarajevo on the outskirts of the Dinarian Alps.

__________________________________________________ ____________

Hello, my dear Paradoxians down here in AAR-land. In this thread, I will do an attempt to translate a book from Dutch to English. It is a book called "Op leven en dood - Geschiedenis van den Grooten Oorlog" written by M. van der Staal. (Drukkerij "Libertas", Rotterdam, 1915). I was unable to verify copyright and the 70 year copyright limit has expired so I believe posting this comes under 'Fair use'. If asked to remove by correct right-holders then I will.

I am translating this book for several reasons.

Firstly, because I think the book is extremely well written, and because of that alone, well worth reading for anyone interested in history.
Secondly, because this book was written during WWI instead of after, this book does far more convey the feelings and thoughts of the people as things took place, before years of war and the idea of the victors went over it. That makes this book in itself a valuable source on WWI, which may help our modding community (I am especially thinking about VIP here!) to get a better feeling with the events of this time period.
Third and last, translating is a whole different thing then just communicating in English, and therefore, I do think that this may help me a lot to improve my English. (I did run my text through with a native English speaker to help me to track mistakes which even for this fist short part already learned me a decent amount of things.)

To be continued as soon as I finished the next part of the story. I am very interested in seeing your comments and reactions to this first part.

Registered · 31-05-2007, 03:08

woo! what a way to write history

I can almost smell that mountain air.
But seriously, wonderfull effort, should you need any help i'll be glad to give it. How long is the book anyway?

PS:
[nitpick]

mountaincountry should be two words.
(no compound words in English

)

[/nitpick]

*coz1* · 31-05-2007, 16:39

I'm not sure what this has to do with AARs so I am going to move this over to OT for the moment until we can determine where this thread should actually go. Not in this area, that is for sure. No problem posting it, certainly, but it should be in the correct area.

HannibalBarca · 31-05-2007, 16:40

Good luck!

*OHgamer* · 31-05-2007, 16:41

Moved to history forums, i think that would be the most appropriate place for it

sounds like an interesting book.

Strategist · 31-05-2007, 20:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by coz1

I'm not sure what this has to do with AARs so I am going to move this over to OT for the moment until we can determine where this thread should actually go. Not in this area, that is for sure. No problem posting it, certainly, but it should be in the correct area.

I know its not an AAR, but seeing that its a story more then a debate, I intend to post in in the same way I would post an AAR... so thats why I decided it fitted in the AAR part of the forum. History is also ok, but I assumed that the history forum was more about debating then about storytelling...

And for the others, thanks for your positive comments, I appreciate them a lot.

Skarion · 31-05-2007, 20:33

It sound marvelous detailed, sadly it is filled with things which makes it as source questionable in Sweden at least.

madner · 31-05-2007, 22:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strategist

A life-and-death Struggle - History of the Great War

Prelude
The drama of June 28th 1914 in Sarajevo

It's Sunday.

It is said, that the Bosnians are rough and proud, roguish and brutal, and that they keep a distance from strangers; that they however, sober and chaste, readily practise hospitality among eachother; they are praised as brave in battle, honest and just in trade, but they are also called zealots and superstitious about religion, narrow minded and conservative on political matters; and though they are strongly built physically and tall shaped, they would have little resistance against hardships.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

*Dark Knight* · 01-06-2007, 08:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strategist

Hello, my dear Paradoxians down here in AAR-land. In this thread, I will do an attempt to translate a book from Dutch to English. It is a book called "Op leven en dood - Geschiedenis van den Grooten Oorlog" written by M. van der Staal. (Drukkerij "Libertas", Rotterdam, 1915). I was unable to verify copyright and the 70 year copyright limit has expired so I believe posting this comes under 'Fair use'. If asked to remove by correct right-holders then I will.

Have you considered adding your translation to Project Gutenberg or another online resource for works with expired copyright?

Tskb18 · 01-06-2007, 08:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strategist

(I did run my text through with a native English speaker to help me to track mistakes which even for this fist short part already learned me a decent amount of things.)

First.

Presumably a typo. And commendable work - translation isn't easy but you've managed swimmingly so far.

31-05-2007, 01:01	#1
Strategist European Victorian Politico Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bodily in Europe; Heart and Mind in the USA. Posts: 2,258	A life-and-death Struggle - History of the Great War. A life-and-death Struggle - History of the Great War Prelude The drama of June 28th 1914 in Sarajevo It's Sunday. With a magnificent deep blue the sky arches over Bosnia, the beautiful mountaincountry, and with golden rays the sun floods the ridges of the heights that are covered with shadowy woods, and the lovely valleys covered with summer adornments, which if the inhabitants would only want it, could produce such an uncommon rich harvest because of their fertility. The sunny summer day fills the hearts of the Bosnians with joy. Like real southerners they love the sun and her warmth. When threatening grey clouds gather, darkness comes over the mountainlandscape, the Treskovica and the Bjelasnica* put their peaks away behind an impermeable, dun veil, they are overcome with melancholy. But as soon as the sun breaks through again, their lust to live seems to be reborn. Then the countrychildren search and find eachother and the young men ask the maidens to dance and beautiful voices make cheerful and glad their songs which can be heared everywhere. It is said, that the Bosnians are rough and proud, roguish and brutal, and that they keep a distance from strangers; that they however, sober and chaste, readily practise hospitality among eachother; they are praised as brave in battle, honest and just in trade, but they are also called zealots and superstitious about religion, narrow minded and conservative on political matters; and though they are strongly built physically and tall shaped, they would have little resistance against hardships. This may be the case. But it is impossible to deny, that the Bosnians show a great deal of susceptibility for the beauty of nature and that their life is richer in disclosure, the more nature grants them her treasures. And therefore also on this Sunday, this 28st of June 1914, now nature in full richness displays her beauty, an amazing happiness fills the hearts of countrymen and townsmen. But there is another reason that makes the Bosnians jubilant. In their capital, their Bosna Saraj -- which is called Sarajevo by the Western conquerors -- today the future ruler of the great monarchy, together with his wife, will be welcomed by them. He, the Archduke-successor to the throne, who already has shown more than once, to have sympathy with the Slavs, which also populate Bosnia, wants to come to Sarajevo, to confirm the bond, that has been forged already between him and the Bosnian people. Thousands therefore have left their sunny heights and calm and peaceful valleys this time and have travelled to Sarajevo, which is covered with flags. They want to welcome the Royal Couple with loud cheers, the two people, who -- as the tiding goes -- love eachother so virtuously and with such passion, and who are such excellent, loving parents for the three children that have been given to them. See in the streets the crowd closely packed together! What a picturesque sight, those men and women in the colored clothes of the country! And those children, who decorated themselves with flowers and carry flags with them and who soon will sing the most beautiful songs to the very important guests of the capital of Bosnia! How celebratory is the appearance already, and that will be multiplied ten times, when the long awaited guests will finally make their entrance into the old Sarajevo. Yes, it is a day, of which the memories will move people many years later. For Bosnia and the Bosnians this June the 28st will mark the beginning of a new era. * Two mountains, 2128 and 2067 meters high, located to the southwest of Sarajevo on the outskirts of the Dinarian Alps. __________________________________________________ ____________ Hello, my dear Paradoxians down here in AAR-land. In this thread, I will do an attempt to translate a book from Dutch to English. It is a book called "Op leven en dood - Geschiedenis van den Grooten Oorlog" written by M. van der Staal. (Drukkerij "Libertas", Rotterdam, 1915). I was unable to verify copyright and the 70 year copyright limit has expired so I believe posting this comes under 'Fair use'. If asked to remove by correct right-holders then I will. I am translating this book for several reasons. Firstly, because I think the book is extremely well written, and because of that alone, well worth reading for anyone interested in history. Secondly, because this book was written during WWI instead of after, this book does far more convey the feelings and thoughts of the people as things took place, before years of war and the idea of the victors went over it. That makes this book in itself a valuable source on WWI, which may help our modding community (I am especially thinking about VIP here!) to get a better feeling with the events of this time period. Third and last, translating is a whole different thing then just communicating in English, and therefore, I do think that this may help me a lot to improve my English. (I did run my text through with a native English speaker to help me to track mistakes which even for this fist short part already learned me a decent amount of things.) To be continued as soon as I finished the next part of the story. I am very interested in seeing your comments and reactions to this first part. __________________ ● The warrior protects and defends because he realizes the value of others. He knows that they are essential to society and, in his gift of service, recognizes and values theirs... take the extra moment in dark parking lots at night to make sure that a woman gets into her car safely before leaving yourself. Daily involvement in acts such as these are as much a part of training as time spent in the dojo, and indeed should be the reason for that time spent training... When faced with a woman or child in a situation in which they are vulnerable, there are two types of men: those who would offer succor and aid, and those who would prey upon them. And in modern society, there is another loathsome breed who would totally ignore their plight!

31-05-2007, 03:08	#2
Registered Procrastinator extraordinaire Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: EU, Netherlands. Posts: 3,471	woo! what a way to write history I can almost smell that mountain air. But seriously, wonderfull effort, should you need any help i'll be glad to give it. How long is the book anyway? PS: [nitpick] mountaincountry should be two words. (no compound words in English ) [/nitpick] __________________ "A narrow-minded, reactionary, hysterical woman and an ignorant weird peasant, had the destinies of an empire in their hands"

31-05-2007, 16:39	#3
coz1 GunslingAAR Moderator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Around... Posts: 10,551 Blog Entries: 10	I'm not sure what this has to do with AARs so I am going to move this over to OT for the moment until we can determine where this thread should actually go. Not in this area, that is for sure. No problem posting it, certainly, but it should be in the correct area. __________________ The fAARq & Forum Rules For the Glory of Scotland Forever - A For the Glory AAR Find all my AARs listed in The Ink Well Visit my blog at Hear the Hurd and my Paradox blog Number One With A Bullet

31-05-2007, 16:40	#4
HannibalBarca Citizen Against the Horde Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 1,492	Good luck! __________________ The Rise of Zombie Napoleon: An Undead AAR for Victoria! (DEAD. Only updating my overly cryptic AAR below.) -Winner, AARland Choice AwAARd for Victoria Comedy, Q2 2006 ●<---Owner of a Red Special Cookie Gulf Streams and Muffled Screams: An RIP Co-Op AAR (Don't even think about reading it. You won't even get it anyway.) {Also dead because no one cared. } BRING BACK THE GONZO!

31-05-2007, 16:41	#5
OHgamer Victoria's Plastic Surgeon Moderator Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: In Columbus OH, but dreaming of the White Isle..... Posts: 15,775	Moved to history forums, i think that would be the most appropriate place for it sounds like an interesting book. __________________ Victoria Revolutions Unofficial Hotfix 6 (7 Jul 07 includes all previous hotfixes) Victoria 1.4 Unofficial Hotfixes (NOT for Revolutions) : All in one (UPDATED 21 Feb 07) Power By Production 2.0 A VIP:R AAR Clio : A map project for Victoria:Revolutions by XieChengnuo and OHGamer Latest Updates Clio's Iron Heart : A map project for Hearts of Iron 3 by OHgamer and XieChengnuo VickyWiki : The best guide to Victoria's intricacies and foibles. The Official Forum For CORE and VIP VIP:R 0.3 for Victoria Revolutions Hotfix #1 (released 27 Jul 09) Vic:Rev 2.01 + VIP:R 0.3 + VIP:R 0.3 Hotfix 1 = Correct install order for VIP:R Dietmar1982's rework of Gotikiller's POP splitter tool - split Victoria POPs the easy way

31-05-2007, 20:33	#7
Skarion Field Marshal Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 3,320 Blog Entries: 3	It sound marvelous detailed, sadly it is filled with things which makes it as source questionable in Sweden at least. __________________ Quite a different guy for quite a different world. The World is Divided! Download before it's too late! Stolt monarkist. "Bóg nam radzi" ●●●●