Humility, rather than "universal values" please.

Referring to the end of World War 1 on 7 November, 1918, exactly one hundred years ago, President Emmanuel Macron of France wrote, "It was the end of four long and terrible years of deadly fighting. The armistice, however, was not peace." Indeed it was not. The end of the war led to the Treaty of Versailles which demanded reparations of $33 billion from Germany in 1921, took away chunks of German territory and France even wanted to dismember Germany. "For five years the French and the Belgians tried to enforce the treaty quite rigorously, leading in 1922 to their occupation of the Ruhr." The huge reparations resulted in hyperinflation in Germany so that "By November 1923, the US dollar was worth 4,210,500,000,000 German Marks." This led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and an even more ferocious World War II, which killed 60 million people. Europe is no stranger to wars. Europeans have been fighting each other constantly for over 2 thousand years. The reason why the end of World War 1 is being celebrated is because it was the first time that technology, such as airplanes, tanks, submarines and chemicals, was used in a war with devastating effects. In a dig at President Donald Trump of the US, Macron writes, "The vision of France as a generous nation, of France as a project, of France as the bearer of universal values, was, in those dark hours, exactly the opposite of the selfishness of a people who look at their own interests. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism." Macron has conveniently forgotten France's history of colonialism or the statement by one Jules Ferry in 1884, "The higher races have a right over the lower races, they have a duty to civilize inferior races." Which led to the massacre of 45,000 Algerians demanding freedom from colonial rule. Not a very "bearer of universal values" is it? All these solemn ceremonies with red poppies and lofty speeches do not reveal the 85,000 Indian soldiers forcibly sent by the British as canon fodder while British soldiers hid behind. A total of 74.187 Indian soldiers died in a war that had nothing to do with us. Or the 50-100 million killed in famines because the British stole our grain to feed their soldiers abroad. Or the systematic loot of the Indian economy to the tune of trillions of dollars. The European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 for maintaining peace since 1945 but N Jones wrote that it was the military might of NATO which guaranteed peace. "I know that the old demons are resurfacing, ready to carry out their work of chaos and death," fears Macron. If that happens Europe will be responsible for unnecessarily imposing sanctions on Russia while sucking up to China which is much more belligerent and dangerous. Pious lectures do not make peace, humility does.