10 interpretations of who started WW1

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10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by klr » Sun Feb 16, 2014 9:23 pm

As nations gear up to mark 100 years since the start of World War One, academic argument still rages over which country was to blame for the conflict.

Education Secretary for England Michael Gove's recent criticism of how the causes and consequences of the war are taught in schools has only stoked the debate further.

Here 10 leading historians give their opinion.

Sir Max Hastings - military historian

Germany

No one nation deserves all responsibility for the outbreak of war, but Germany seems to me to deserve most.

it alone had power to halt the descent to disaster at any time in July 1914 by withdrawing its "blank cheque" which offered support to Austria for its invasion of Serbia.

I'm afraid I am unconvinced by the argument that Serbia was a rogue state which deserved its nemesis at Austria's hands. And I do not believe Russia wanted a European war in 1914 - its leaders knew that it would have been in a far stronger position to fight two years later, having completed its rearmament programme.

The question of whether Britain was obliged to join the European conflict which became inevitable by 1 August is almost a separate issue. In my own view neutrality was not a credible option because a Germany victorious on the continent would never afterwards have accommodated a Britain which still dominated the oceans and global financial system.

...
continued: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26048324 :read:
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Re: 10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by HomerJay » Sun Feb 16, 2014 9:42 pm

I saw this the other day, thought it lacked context.
Gerhard Hirschfeld - professor of modern and contemporary history, University of Stuttgart

Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France, Britain and Serbia
I think that's called hedging your bets.

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Re: 10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by Clinton Huxley » Sun Feb 16, 2014 9:57 pm

It was the Boche.
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Re: 10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by Seabass » Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:56 pm

Surely we can find a way to blame the Americans for that one?

In any case, one thing is for certain—military regalia and facial hair styles were better in those days...
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Re: 10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by klr » Sun Feb 16, 2014 11:15 pm

It's not as if Balkans was all peace and light in the lead-up to WW1. This cartoon was published in October 2012:

Image
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It's not up to us to choose which laws we want to obey. If it were, I'd kill everyone who looked at me cock-eyed! - Rex Banner

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Re: 10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by SteveB » Sun Feb 16, 2014 11:31 pm

Not another Balkan bashing thread. :roll:
Twit, twat, twaddle.
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Re: 10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by FBM » Mon Feb 17, 2014 1:16 am

Is it safe to blame France yet?
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Re: 10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by JimC » Mon Feb 17, 2014 1:23 am

It was a sinister plot directed by the Vatican! :lay:
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Re: 10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by Clinton Huxley » Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:27 am

It was caused by the Boche. Solely the Boche.
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Re: 10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by Svartalf » Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:36 am

FBM wrote:Is it safe to blame France yet?
No, The Boches attacked first.
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Re: 10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by Clinton Huxley » Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:30 am

Svartalf wrote:
FBM wrote:Is it safe to blame France yet?
No, The Boches attacked first.
aye, much though I would like to, I can't blame the French for this one.
"I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled"

AND MERRY XMAS TO ONE AND All!

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Re: 10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by FBM » Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:40 am

Ah, well. I tried. :sigh:
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken

"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."

"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."

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Re: 10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by Svartalf » Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:44 am

and I noticed it :lay:
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Re: 10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by FBM » Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:56 am

:hehe:
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken

"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."

"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."

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Re: 10 interpretations of who started WW1

Post by Clinton Huxley » Mon Feb 17, 2014 12:44 pm

It was Mr Brown and he would have got away with it if not for those pesky kids.
"I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled"

AND MERRY XMAS TO ONE AND All!

Imagehttp://25kv.co.uk/date_counter.php?date ... 20counting!!![/img-sig]

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