re: #192 HappyWarrior

Wow I didn’t know that.

Yep. Thirty years of armies marching back and forth, trampling crops, spreading disease. Much of the armies were mercenaries and when their contracts ran out they usually turned to banditry.

Much the same thing happened to France in the 100 Years War. Towards the end many of the villages of France, especially in places like Normandy and Aquitaine, were destroyed. The rest were walled and had people on watch at all times to warn when the bandits appeared. Hard to grow crops when you have to hide all the time.

It’s this sort of thing that I wish was more widely known about war. Most people think war is like the movies; two hours, the good guys win and the credits roll. If the second Bush Administration had had an accurate idea of war they’d have decided not to do Iraq.