In 1917 when Shackleton found rescue from a doomed expedition he took to the Antarctic in August, 1914, he asked how the war turned out. The answer was “the war isn’t over. Millions are dead. Europe is mad. The world is mad.”

December 5, 1914 Shackleton Expedition

In an alternate history, the June 1914 assassination of the heir-apparent to the Habsburg Empire could have led to nothing more than a regional squabble. A policing action in the Balkans. As it was, mutual distrust and entangling alliances drew the Great Powers of Europe into the vortex. On August 3, the “War to End Wars” exploded across the European continent.

The period has been called the “Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration”. As the diplomatic wrangling, mobilizations and counter-mobilizations of the “period preparatory to war” unfolded, Sir Ernest Shackleton made final arrangements for his third expedition into the Antarctic. Despite the outbreak of war, first Lord of the Admiralty Sir Winston Churchill ordered Shackleton to Procee… Continue Reading (3 minute read)