Posted on 07/31/2014 6:51:35 AM PDT by Kaslin
The Nazis were nothing like the Germans of the First World War. Even if the Germans won the First World War, their rule would have been much more benign than that of the Nazis.
WWI was pretty crappy. And it’s possible it could have been avoided. But I am seeing a lot of articles over the past 6 months that are working hard to re-write history and set a new narrative. Newspapers work together on these re-education programs.
So far, it looks like they are trying to place the blame on England as a “war aggressor.”
Probably looking for a reparations angle.
My great-grandfather was there. I only recently found that out.
If you dig into the expectations of the Prussian staff and the Kaiser in July of 1914....they felt the war would last between six and twelve months, and the key ending would involve an annexation of some territory (maybe a brief cut of Belgium, and a piece of France).
Few on the Prussian staff or the Kaiser himself....really understood the amount of economic transformation that had occurred in Prussia over the past thirty years. Industry and banking....all revolved around friendly relations with French, Russian, Dutch, and English traders. By the summer of 1915....the whole Prussian economy was screwed up, and the generals simply could not understand why.
AGAIN I say that it would have been BETTER for the world if Queen Victoria was STERILE!
How did the Germans become so terrible in those wars? Seems like they all they do now is have beer festivals.
For sure. If the Kaiser had won you can make a case that many catastrophes would have been avoided going forward.
Most likely at least, Communism never would have happened.
Yes, the writer did not sell his conclusion on the value of the war very well. From what I have read there was not much difference between the two sides in WWI.
“because if Germany had won, it would have dictated peace terms threatening European freedom”
The German soldier had the right to vote. The average British soldier still could not.
Sure it would have. Losing the war was what made Russia ripe for conquest by the commies. Germany made a treaty with the commies (Brest-Litovsk) so they could concentrate all their energies on the western front. Had the Allies defeated the Central Powers sooner, it might have save the Tsar's fragile government. But a German victory would have done nothing to stem the growth of communism in Russia. The treaty with the commies essentially meant the the Germans did win, at least on the eastern front.
Also the breakup of the Ottoman Empire led to the Arabs gaining control over worldwide Islam, and we all know the disasters that came along with that.
Once Germany won the war in the West, they probably would have turned their attention to Russia.
Correct. And if you want an actual model, you need only refer to the relatively benign (albeit often incompetent) rule of the Hapsburg dynasty for the 350 years or so preceding or the relatively benign terms imposed on France after the Franco-Prussian War of a generation before.
The point is that Germany probably would not have even won the war. It was a stalemate when Woody Wilson dragged the United States into the war and there is no good reason to believe that it would have ended in anything other than a statemate without our intervention.
Even the celebrated German offensive in the spring of 1918 which broke through a number of trench lines by innovative use of the tank was halted with minimal advance by allied forces which largely excluded American troops.
The course of war only begin to turn that summer as full mobilization of American fighting forces tipped the balance.
Hitler would have lived his life in obscurity.
Greed...for land, resources and power... was at the heart of the war. No one realized the absolute CARNAGE the “new” weapons would bring about. But for all intents and purposes, war is NEVER the answer.
But once hostilities take place... aggressors are no longer immune to retaliation. The West had the right to defend itself. The Austro-Hungarian empire and the German empire became WAY too greedy for resources and as some have written...thought the conflict would be over relatively quickly. The horror that came from their decision is a very dark time for humanity.
Not quite true. The Second and Third Reform Acts ( 1867 and 1884) extended the male vote to approximately 2/3 of the UK male population. The Representation of the People Act passed in February 1918 extended the vote to all Males over 21. ( And females over 30 !!) The war of course did not end until November 1918.
Why justice dept???
True, the trigger mechanism for communism in Russia and later NAZIsm in Germany was the burden placed on the populance by the prolonged war and resultant retributions of the allies.
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