1914​—Chaka Chimene Chinagwedeza Dziko

“Nkhondo Yaikulu ya mu 1914-18 ili ngati chigawo chachikulu chowauka chadziko chomwe chimalekanitsa nthaŵiyo ndi nthaŵi yathu. Mwakupululutsa miyoyo yambiri . . . , kuwononga zikhulupiriro, kusintha malingaliro, ndi kuchititsa kusweka mtima kosachiritsika chifukwa cha kusweka kwa ziyembekezo, inachititsa mpata waukulu wakuthupi ndi wamaganizo pakati pa nyengo ziŵirizo.”​—Zotengedwa m’bukhu la The Proud Tower​—A Portrait of the World Before the War 1890–1914, lolembedwa ndi Barbara Tuchman.

“Yangotsala pang’ono​—koma sinakhalebe​—mbiri yakale, popeza kuti zikwi zambiri za anthu amene anali aang’ono kuchiyambi kwa zaka za zana lino la 20 adakali amoyo.”​—Zotengedwa m’bukhu la 1914, lolembedwa ndi Lyn MacDonald, lofalitsidwa mu 1987.

KODI nchifukwa ninji tiyenera kuchita chidwi ndi chaka cha 1914? ‘Ndimadera nkhaŵa ndi zamtsogolo,’ mungatero, ‘osati zakale.’ Pokhala ndi mavuto onga kuipitsa mbulunga yonse, kusweka kwa moyo wabanja, kuwonjezereka kwa upandu, misala, ndi ulova, munthu angawonekere kukhala wopanda chiyembekezo cha mtsogolo. Komabe, ambiri amene apenda tanthauzo la 1914 ali ndi maziko akukhalira ndi chiyembekezo cha mtsogolo mwabwinopo.

Kwa zaka makumi ambiri Nsanja ya Olonda yafotokoza kuti mu 1914 anthu anakumana ndi zimene zimatchedwa “zowawa zoyamba.” Mawu amenewo ali mbali ya ulosi waukulu wa Yesu Kristu wonena za zinthu zomwe zikachitika mapeto a dongosolo loipa la anthu asanadze.​—Mateyu 24:7, 8.

Lerolino, pali chiŵerengero chochepa cha anthu amene angakumbukirebe zochitika zodabwitsa za mu 1914. Kodi mbadwo wokalambawo ukachoka Mulungu asanapulumutse dziko lapansi ku kuwonongedwa? Osati mogwirizana ndi ulosi wa Baibulo. ‘Pamene mudzawona zimenezo,’ analonjeza motero Yesu, ‘zindikirani kuti iye ali pafupi, inde pakhomo. Indetu ndinena kwa inu, mbadwo uwu sudzatha kuchoka, kufikira zinthu zonsezi zidzachitidwa.’​—Mateyu 24:33, 34.

Kuti muzindikire chifukwa chake chaka cha 1914 chili chofunika motero m’mbiri, talingalirani mkhalidwe wa dziko kufikira pakati pa 1914. Nthaŵiyo isanafike, mafumu monga ngati Czar Nicholas wa ku Russia, Kaiser Wilhelm wa ku Jeremani, ndi Wolamulira Franz Josef wa Austria-Hungary anali ndi mphamvu yaikulu. Aliyense wa amunawa anakhoza kusonkhanitsa anthu oposa mamiliyoni anayi ndi kuwatumiza kunkhondo. Koma makolo awo adasaina chomwe chidatchedwa Chigwirizano Chopatulika, kulengeza kuti Mulungu anawatuma kulamulira mbali zosiyanasiyana za “mtundu Wachikristu” waukulu umodzi.

Malinga ndi The Encyclopædia Britannica, cholembedwa chimenechi “chinayambukira mwamphamvu unansi wa anthu a ku Yuropu m’zaka za zana la 19.” Chinagwiritsiridwa ntchito kutsutsa magulu ademokrase ndi kuyanja mafumu odzitcha kukhala oikidwa ndi Mulungu. Kaiser Wilhelm analembera Czar Nicholas kuti: “Ife Mafumu Achikristu, tiri ndi thayo limodzi lopatulika, loikidwa pa ife ndi Mulungu, lija lakusungitsa chiphunzitso chakuti [mafumu ngoikidwa ndi Mulungu].” Kodi zimenezi zinatanthauza kuti mafumu a ku Yuropu anali ogwirizanitsidwa mwanjira inayake ndi Ufumu wa Mulungu? (Yerekezerani ndi 1 Akorinto 4:8.) Ndipo bwanji nanga za matchalitchi amene anachilikiza mafumu amenewo? Kodi kudzitcha kwawo Akristu kunali kowona? Yankho la mafunso ameneŵa linawonekera bwino m’zaka zotsatira 1914.

Mwadzidzidzi, mu August

“Ngululu ndi chilimwe za mu 1914 zinali zabata mwapadera ku Yuropu,” inalemba motero nduna yaboma ya Briteni, Winston Churchill. Anthu anali ndi lingaliro labwino ponena za mtsogolo. “Dziko la mu 1914 linali lodzala ndi chiyembekezo ndi lonjezo,” anatero Louis Snyder m’bukhu lake lakuti World War I.

Zowonadi, kwazaka zambiri panakhala mkangano waukulu pakati pa Jeremani ndi Briteni. Komabe, monga momwe wolemba mbiri G. P. Gooch akufotokozera m’bukhu lake lakuti Under Six Reigns kuti: “Kulimbana kwa maiko a ku Yuropu kunawoneka kukhala kosatheka mu 1914 kusiyana ndi mmene zinaliri mu 1911, 1912 kapena 1913 . . . Unansi pakati pa maboma aŵiriwo unali wabwinopo kuposa mmene unaliri zaka zakumbuyo.” Malinga ndi kunena kwa Winston Churchill, membala wa bungwe lamalamulo la Briteni la mu 1914: “Jeremani anawonekera kukhala wamaganizo ofanana ndi athu, aja akubweretsa mtendere.”

Komabe, pamene kalonga wolongedwa ufumu wa Ufumu wa Austria-Hungary anaphedwa pa June 28, 1914 ku Sarajevo, mkhalidwe wosatsimikizirika unayambika. Pambuyo pa mwezi umodzi, Wolamulira Franz Josef analengeza nkhondo pa Serbia ndiyeno analamulira magulu ake ankhondo kuukira ufumuwo. Panthaŵiyo, usiku wa August 3, 1914, molamulidwa ndi Kaiser Wilhelm, gulu lankhondo lalikulu la Jeremani linaukira mwadzidzidzi ufumu wa Belgium ndi kumenya nkhondo kulinga ku Falansa. Tsiku lotsatira Briteni analengeza nkhondo pa Jeremani. Ndipo Czar Nicholas analamulira kusonkhanitsa gulu lankhondo lalikulu la Russia kuchita nkhondo ndi Jeremani ndi Austria-Hungary. Chigwirizano Chopatulikacho chinalephera kuletsa mafumu a Yuropu kuloŵetsa dzikolo m’kuphana wamba kokhetsa mwazi. Koma zodabwitsa zazikulu zinali kutsogolo.

Kodi Ikatha Pofika Krisimasi?

Kuulika kwa nkhondo sikunathetse ziyembekezo za anthu. Ambiri anakhulupirira kuti ikachititsa dziko labwinopo, ndipo makamu aakulu anasonkhana mu Yuropu kusonyeza chichilikizo chawo cha nkhondoyo. M’bukhu lake lakuti The Struggle for Mastery in Europe​—1848–1918, A. J. P. Taylor analemba kuti: “Palibe munthu aliyense mu 1914 amene analingalira mwamphamvu ponena za maupandu a nkhondo kusiyapo kokha za magulu ankhondo. . . . Palibe munthu aliyense amene anayembekezera tsoka la chitaganya.” Mmalomwake, ambiri analosera kuti nkhondoyo ikatha m’miyezi yoŵerengeka yokha.

Komabe, anthu a ku Yuropu asanakumbukire Krisimasi yawo ya 1914, magulu amphamvu anaikidwa m’mphepete mwa migula yaitali ya makilomita 700 kuchokera ku Switzerland kum’mwera mpaka ku Belgium kugombe lakumpoto. Gululi linatchedwa Western Front, ndipo mkonzi Wachijeremani Herbert Sulzbach analitchula m’ndime imene analemba patsiku lomalizira la 1914 m’bukhu lake lolembamo zochitika za tsiku ndi tsiku. Mawuwo amati: “Nkhondo yowopsayi ikupitirizabe, ndipo pamene kuli kwakuti anthu poyamba analingalira kuti idzatha milungu yoŵerengeka yokha, tsopano ikuwoneka ngati sidzatha.” Panthaŵiyo, m’mbali zina za Yuropu, nkhondo zamwazi zinaulika pakati pa magulu ankhondo a Russia, Jeremani, AustriaHungary, ndi Serbia. Posakhalitsa mkanganowo unafalikira kunja kwa Yuropu, ndipo nkhondo zinamenyedwa panyanja ndi ku Afirika, ku Middle East, ndi pazisumbu za Pacific.

Pambuyo pa zaka zinayi, Yuropu anasakazidwiratu. Jeremani, Russia, ndi Austria-Hungary onse anataikiridwa pakati pa asirikali miliyoni imodzi ndi mamiliyoni aŵiri. Russia anataikiridwanso ufumu wake m’chipanduko cha Bolshevik cha mu 1917. Ha, zinali zodabwitsa motani nanga kwa mafumu a Yuropu ndi atsogoleri achipembedzo omwe anawachilikiza! Olemba mbiri amakono amadabwabe. M’bukhu lake lakuti Royal Sunset, Gordon Brook-Shepherd akufunsa kuti: “Kodi zinatheka bwanji kuti olamulira, omwe kwakukulukulu anali paubale chifukwa cha banja kapena ukwati ndipo onse odzipereka kuchinjiriza ufumu, anadzilola kugwera m’kukhetsa mwazi kwapachibale komwe kunakokolola ambiri a iwo ndi kusiya opulumukawo ali ofooka?”

Lipabuliki la Falansa nalonso linataikiridwa asirikali oposa miliyoni imodzi, ndipo Ufumu wa Briteni, womwe ulamuliro wake unali utayamba kale kufooka nkhondoyo isanayambe, unataikiridwa oposa 900,000. Onse pamodzi, asirikali oposa 9 miliyoni anafa, ndipo oposa 21 miliyoni anavulazidwa. Ponena za kuphedwa kwa anthu wamba, The World Book Encyclopedia ikunena kuti: “Palibe munthu amene akudziŵa kuti ndi anthu wamba angati amene anafa ndi matenda, kusoŵa chakudya, ndi zotulukapo zina za nkhondo. Olemba mbiri ena amakhulupirira kuti anthu wamba ochuluka kuposa asirikali anafa.” Mliri wa fuluwenza ya Spanya wa mu 1918 unapha anthu 21,000,000 padziko lonse lapansi.

Masinthidwe Aakulu

Dziko linasinthiratu pambuyo pa yomwe inatchedwa Nkhondo Yaikulu. Popeza kuti matchalitchi ambiri a Chikristu Chadziko anatengako mbali mokangalika, opulumuka ambiri ogwiritsidwa mwala anafulatira chipembedzo nayanja kusakhulupirira kukhalako kwa Mulungu. Ena anayamba kulondola chuma chakuthupi ndi zosangulutsa. Malinga ndi kunena kwa Profesa Modris Eksteins m’bukhu lake la Rites of Spring, ma 1920 “anawona mbali za ukulu wodabwitsa za kukonda zosangulutsa ndi kudzikonda.”

Profesa Eksteins akufotokoza kuti: “Nkhondoyo inasintha miyezo ya chikhalidwe cha mtima.” Anthu ambali zonse ziŵirizo anaphunzitsidwa ndi atsogoleri awo achipembedzo, ankhondo, ndi andale kuwona kupululutsa kwa anthu kukhala kwabwino. Eksteins akuvomereza kuti, “kunali kumeneku kululuza moipitsitsa lamulo la makhalidwe abwino lozikidwa pa malamulo achikhalidwe a Chiyuda ndi Chikristu.” Iye akuwonjezera kuti: “Ku Western Front, mahule anali kupezeka mosalekeza m’misasa ya asirikali . . . M’mizinda namonso amuna ndi akazi omwe anakhala achisembwere. Uchiwerewere unawonjezereka mowopsa.”

Ndithudi, 1914 inasintha zambiri. Siinabweretse dziko labwinopo, ndipo nkhondoyo sinakhale “nkhondo yothetsa nkhondo zonse,” monga momwe anthu ambiri anayembekezera. Mmalomwake, monga momwe wolemba mbiri Barbara Tuchman ananenera kuti: “Maloto ndi kukopeka mtima zomwe zinalipo kufikira mu 1914 zinazimiririka mwapang’onopang’ono ndi kugwiritsidwa mwala kwadzawoneni.”

Komabe, ena amene anawona tsoka la 1914 sanadabwe ndi zochitika za chakacho. Kwenikweni, nkhondoyo isanaulike, ankayembekezera “nthaŵi yowopsa ya mavuto.” Kodi anali yani? Ndipo kodi adadziŵanji zimene ena sanazidziŵe?

[Bokosi patsamba 5]

Kuyembekezera Zabwino kwa Briteni mu 1914

“Kwa pafupifupi zaka zana limodzi palibe mdani amene anawonekera panyanja pafupi ndi chisumbu chathu. . . . Kunali kovuta ngakhale kulingalira kuthekera kwa chiwopsezo pamagombe amtenderewa. . . . London sanakhalepo wabata ndi wokhupuka monga momwe anakhalira panthaŵiyo. Sikunakhalepo zinthu zochuluka motero zozichita, ndi kuziwona, ndi kuzimva. Okalamba ndi achichepere omwe sanalingalire konse kuti zomwe ankawona, mkati mwa nyengo ya mu 1914 yosafanana ndi ina, kwenikweni zinali kutha kwa nyengo.”​—Before the Lamps Went Out, lolembedwa ndi Geoffrey Marcus.