Life, 1914-10-01 · page 9 of 48
Life — October 1, 1914 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains anti-war satire from World War I. The large illustration at top depicts a gruesome battlefield scene with explosions, casualties, and soldiers, captioned "IF THOSE WHO BRING ABOUT WAR WERE GIVEN A TASTE OF IT"—suggesting that war-promoting politicians should experience combat's horrors themselves. Below, a piece titled "Revelation to Villa" quotes Mexican revolutionary leader Francisco Villa criticizing Germany's $40 million penalty demanded from Belgium for defending itself. Villa calls the European war "a revelation" showing that "civilization often rushes in where barbarity fears to tread"—arguing that supposedly civilized nations wage war as brutally as any "savage." The accompanying photograph shows Villa in a vehicle, labeled "THE LAST DROP OF WATER," likely referencing wartime deprivation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
IF THOSE WHO BRING ABOUT WAR WERE GIVEN A TASTE OF IT Revelation to Villa R. FRANCISCO VILLA, of Mexico, writes to the World that nothing he has ever heard of is quite as high-handed as Germany's demanding forty million dollars of the Belgians as a penalty for defending their homes and their lives, “For some time,” he concludes, “I have re- ceived instruction in civilized warfare. The European war is a revelation to me.” We trust the good Pancho will continue to keep his eyes open. He will see that civilization often rushes in where barbarity fears to tread. HEN emperors fall out common people go to the slaughter. THE LAST DROP OF WATER