Germany had annexed Alscace-Lorraine in 1870 and the kaiser insisted in building a Navy at least as large as the Royal navy despite the Royal navy having to be spread out all over the world wheras Germany could afford to concentrate it in the north sea.
Germany was not a reasonable partner, it was a threat that had to be kept in its box.
Contrary to popular belief this was a neccessary war on the Entente’s part because if Germany had been allowed to crush Russia and France its power would have been unassailable.
Had Britain not allied with France, a deal could have been struck with the Germans. I believe Britain and Germany could have co-existed just fine. Again, I’m not saying it would have been all sweetness and light, sure there would have been other issues, but I can’t imagine it would have turned out being close to as bad as things turned out being for the continent, and Western Civilization as a whole.
Austria attacks Serbia in response to Archduke Ferdinand’s assassination. Russia, allied with Serbia, declares war on Austria. Germany, ascendant, could not let Austria fall to Russia. Germany declares war on Russia. France, allied with Russia, declares war on Germany. Great Britain could not afford Germany becoming the dominant power on the continent and, allied with France, declares war on Germany. After three months stalemate and trench warfare are the norm on the Western Front with no-one being able to achieve a breakthrough and no-one seeing any way out. It wasn’t until we poured in one half million doughboys in late 1917 that the tide was finally decisively turned.
The Kaiser was a big talker. There’s no way Germany could match Britain’s Navy, not in a thousand years.
That’s the propaganda we were fed in school, yes. The truth is the Germans were constantly strapped for resources to keep the war going.