Aroostook & Northern Penobscot Counties
14
St. Agatha’s Service A town’s sacrifice to the great war by David Raymond
E
ver since the 1800s European nations had lived in suspicion and fear of each other, which resulted in massive growth in their armies. At the dawn of 1914 two great alliances had been formed and European nations were on the brink of war. One alliance was called the Triple Alliance which comprised the countries of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The other was the Triple Entente, made up of France, Great Britain, and Russia. Each country in each alliance had pledged military support to one another in case of aggression from a country of the opposing alliance. The United States had not committed itself to any side, but by
1914 felt the strain to do so. On June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist. Austria declared war on Serbia which had ties to the countries of the Triple Entente. This began a chain reaction. Germany declared war on France and before the year was over, Europe was engaged in a bloody struggle that became known as The Great War. The people of St. Agatha were well aware of the war in Europe. Some people in town subscribed to the newspaper Le Madawaska, published in Edmundston, New Brunswick that carried
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many accounts of the war since Canada had entered the war in support of Great Britain in 1914. Occasionally, Le Madawaska printed letters from local men fighting in Europe. Because of the close family ties between the people on both sides of the St. John River, people in St. Agatha may have read a letter from a relative which made the war across the ocean much more real and personal. The parish priest, Fr. Raoul Bourbeau, also informed people of the war. A native of Victoriaville, Quebec, Fr. Bourbeau kept very current on the war. Before the days of weekly parish bulletins, parishioners were informed of parish and community events from
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