Posted on 11/09/2018 12:08:07 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
The Great War of 1914-1918 was the defining event of our time: a lost generation of millions dead or maimed; mournful widows and orphans; empires toppled and nations shattered; Western civilization damaged; vast treasures sacrificed. And in war's aftermath, democracies stillborn and totalitarianism and vengeance enthroned.
How did it happen? Keegan, despite his vast expertise, confesses that even when one knows what happened, it is difficult to explain why.
"The First World War is a mystery. Its origins are mysterious. So is its course. Why did a prosperous continent, at the height of its success as a source and agent of global wealth and power and at one of the peaks of its intellectual and cultural achievement, choose to risk all it had won for itself and all it offered to the world in the lottery of a vicious and local internecine conflict? Why, when the hope of bringing the conflict to a quick and decisive conclusion was everywhere dashed to the ground within months of its outbreak, did the combatants decide nevertheless to persist in their military effort, to mobilise for total war and eventually to commit the totality of their young manhood to mutual and existentially pointless slaughter?"
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
My father was wounded Sept 26, 1918, at the Battle of the Argonne Forest.
Compound Comminuted Fracture of fibia, severance of artery, three surgeries in France and US. Lost 90% of his hearing.
Purple Heart awarded in the 1930’s. I can give privately his entry in the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor.
1) A German deal with Mexico for them to “help” if the US entered the war that included returning California, Texas, and the rest of the US Southwest to Mexico.
2) German U-Boat activity sinking american flagged freighters.
Bad enough you threaten the Southwest US, but if you are messing with the profits of maritime insurance companies, WATCH OUT!!!
That's the feeling I got again & again when traveling off the beaten path in Britain. In the village centers and town centers everywhere, I saw old stone monuments with the names of all the local boys who had lost their lives in "The Great War". Same encounters in Germany as well. You could just feel the tears flowing from the inscriptions that parents wrote there and in graveyards.
Think of the horror that would have appeared in those faces during the dedication of these monuments, if you could have traveled back in time and corrected them by saying, "No, that's wrong. Sorry, but it's not "The Great War To End All Wars". It's just World War # 1 is all".
Yes but not necessarily as a combatant!
In fact being a “royal cousin” made him perfectly situated to have been a peacemaker and/or “honest broker” much like his father Edward VII was.
I have a story like yours. I was in St Raymond Cemetery, Bronx NY,where I saw inscribed on a huge oblisk beneath the name and dates of a soldier: “Who died in the World War”. “THE” world war...I was about 23 when I saw this. I stood there looking at the words for quite avwhile... The monument is visible from Tremont ave which rus along the top of the cemetery. It always compels my eye when I pass.
Germany’s formidable fleet was a direct threat to Britain’s naval supremacy and put the two nations irrevocably at odds.
So to play Devil’s Advocate, why should Britain have had a such a large Empire in the first place?
We certainly didn’t care for their empire back in 1776.
The Late, Great Lemmy wrote probably the most touching tribute to the WWI soldier
1916 - Motorhead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuRxjjcPgOo
Confluence of growing globalist powers taking control: banksters, manufacturers, etc. (The Arms of Krupp.)
1913: Drastic globalist changes in America to our Constitution and policies, fiscal and political. 1914: world war.
Just disconnected circumstances? I think not.
Europe had a series of short wars in the mid-19th century that led to the unification of Germany (and the unification of Italy).
Europeans were impressed and thought of wars as short and glorious and were looking forward to having one of their own.
Countries, particularly shaky monarchies like Russia and Austria-Hungary, looked to the unifying effects of war as a tonic that would perk them up and strengthen society and the political regime.
In hindsight that was very foolish.
Monty Python Hospital Sketch
"'Fractured tibia, sergeant'? 'Fractured tibia, sergeant'? Ooh. Proper little mummy's boy, aren't we? Well, I'll tell you something, my fine friend, if you fracture a tibia here you keep quiet about it! Look at him! He's broken both his arms and he don't go shouting about it, do he? No! 'Cos he's a man - he's a woman, you see, so don't come that broken tibia talk with me. Get on at the double. One, two, three, pick that crutch up, pick that crutch right up."
My perspective has definitely changed since I learned about WWI in high school.
Firstly I understand President Wilson lied to the American people saying they would not be involved. Sadly, at the time, for us Canadians, when the British said jump, we replied “how high”. We really had no sense of ourselves as an independent nation quite yet.
Secondly, as aggressive as the Germans were, the British bear more fault than we are told in our history books. The British just would not allow some wily “krauts” the right to build up their own navy. British vanity and war mongering certainly, IMHO, was a factor. The French were sore over previous skirmishes with the Germans, and the Russians just trigger happy where the Germans were concerned.
As far as conduct however, I understand the Germans (not sure about the Austrians) were particularly brutal. They shot citizens from entire small towns, tortured people, and treated their prisoners of war abdominally. The Allies treated populations and prisoners far more humanely.
The British also had some other marks on their reputation. They treated ANZAC troops like cannon fodder against the Turks. Not sure how I feel about the Arabism that was injected into the British psyche via Lawrence of Arabia and uniting Arab states against the Ottomans.
Agree 100%
The progressive globalism of President Wilson.
Why?
Because the UK declared war on Germany.
Why did the cowboy jump naked into the cactus?
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
I am not picking sides, only answering your query as to why Britain and Germany were adversaries. Naval historians tend to regard the size of Germany’s fleet as ill-chosen and needlessly provocative against Britain.
Both sides should have killed all of their officers and just went home. I have watched hundreds of hours of documentaries about WW1. Total waste total madness.
The British treatment of the Boers during The Boer War, really soured me a lot on them.
Ditto for the Boers (and yes I've probably watched 'Breaker Morant' about 50 times)
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