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World War One Explained (Not)
The very idea of a culture minister is fundamentally unsound, but if Britain is going to have one, it would be preferable if he or she actually had some culture.
The UK’s Maria Miller may be failing that test.
As the country limbers up to commemorate the start of the Great War, the Daily Telegraph is reporting that the British government will not be putting the blame for starting the conflict on any country or countries, something that has given rise to the suspicion that it is worried about offending the Germans (nobody seems to be worried about hurt feelings in Austria-Hungary).
That’s irritating enough , but Ms. Miller’s stumbling approach to the rather more genuinely difficult question of whether Britain should have gone to war at all (the answer , by the way, is a carefully qualified no), is not much better:
“The reasons why it was necessary are there for everybody to see,” [Miller] told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme. “I think it’s important that you set out the facts and it’s clear that at that point in Britain’s history, it was important that there was a war that ensured that Europe could continue to be a set of countries which were strong and could be working together rather than in any other way.”
I think I know what she means (that the objective of the war was to stop Europe being dominated by Germany), but it is wrapped up in language of so much EU-friendly sanctimony that it is impossible to avoid the sneaking suspicion that Ms. Miller does not really know what she is talking about.
Published in General
Edmund: ……the real reason for the whole thing was that it was too much effort *not* to have a war. You see, Baldrick, in order to prevent war in Europe, two superblocs developed: us, the French and the Russians on one side, and the Germans and Austro-Hungary on the other. The idea was to have two vast opposing armies, each acting as the other’s deterrent. That way there could never be a war.
Baldrick: But this is a sort of a war, isn’t it, sir?
Edmund: Yes, that’s right. You see, there was a tiny flaw in the plan.
George: What was that, sir?
Edmund: It was bollocks. ·7 hours ago
Marvelous…and here we go on another disaster:
http://www.theospark.net/2011/12/baldricks-take-on-euro.html ·13 hours ago
As a I recall, Blackadder comments that the British battle strategy was a means for Field Marshal Haig “to move his drinks cabinet six inches closer to Berlin.”
But the Austrian Empire was Germany’s only ally on the continent. Coming to the aid of an ally is not usually considered, in itself, discreditable. ·3 hours ago
And Yet their plan wasn’t to just attack the Russians in support of Austria, but specifically to attack France first and preemptively. Which is what they did, thus drawing the English in.
Andrew: I hadn’t realized the English Flag of colonial times was missing Ireland. Though Wikepidia makes it sound we made that flag more for convenience, as to mark our ships by converting the Red Ensign with the addition of white stripes. A year later we got the Good Ol’ Stars and Stripes…
Germans have become so neutered and politically correct that they’d probably take the blame for the American Civil War if pressed. “Awfully sorry about that Gettysburg thing, Mein Herr. Our bad… again. Here, have some Volkswagons”.
What an incredible picture .
Every picture tells a story, this is like a book.
Wasn’t the real cause of the war France’s desire to reconquer Alsace-Lorraine?
I’m not suggesting this works in every case, but there’s a decent general rule whereby one can usually determine the aggressor in any war (note: sometimes the aggressor may be the good guy, but not usually): who invaded or attacked the other country?
WWI:
There’s a reason much of the war was fought on Belgian (Flanders Fields) and French soil, and it wasn’t because France and Belgium invaded Germany.
WWII:
Germany invaded Poland
Germany invaded Holland
Germany invaded Belgium
Germany invaded France
Germany attacked Britain
Germany invaded the Soviet Union
Germany invaded Yugoslavia
Germany invaded Greece
Germany invaded Norway
Germany invaded Denmark
Japan attacked China, America, Britain and several other countries.
This isn’t all that hard.
Nah! I bet it was the Jews. All in a convoluted scheme to fake the Holocaust so as to have an excuse to steal land from the Palestinians.
Are the Germans actually at all concerned about being designated the starters of WWI? Or is this one of those instances of Political Correctness where officialdom is so concerned about potentially upsetting somebody else’s feelings that they self-censor themselves needlessly?
The next stage is where self-censorship becomes de rigueur and is no longer based on concerns about upsetting somebody, the sort of thing I suspect we’ll see from the newly nominated US ambassador to the Untied Nations (sic).
Nah! I bet it was the Jews. All in a convoluted scheme to fake the Holocaust so as to have an excuse to steal land from the Palestinians. ·21 minutes ago
You forgot Bush.
I nominate the Serbs. It was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand that started the whole mess anyway. The Austrians invaded Serbia, the Russians invaded Austria, the Germans invaded Russia…
…and then the Germans invaded France for no apparent reason, so they’re not completely blameless, but it’s still the Serbs who knocked over the first domino.
I blame the Venetians and the Normans for weakening the Byzantines, which allowed the Ottomans to take over the Balkans and then leave it in the mess that started WWI…
I nominate the Serbs. It was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand that started the whole mess anyway. The Austrians invaded Serbia, the Russians invaded Austria, the Germans invaded Russia…
…and then the Germans invaded France for no apparent reason, so they’re not completely blameless, but it’s still the Serbs who knocked over the first domino. ·19 hours ago
Not much of a mystery here. France and Russia were allies. War with one meant war with the other, and Germany wanted to strike before they were fully mobilized.