What was the main causes of WWI/

m.oderator

What?

Rebelheart

m.oderator wrote: »

What was the main causes of WWI?

Obviously the Jews were being murdered in concentration camps by Mr Hitler and the nice British heroically stepped up to the plate and joined the war to protect them. Duh!


Oh, you meant that other war, in 1914, 12 years after the British were murdering tens of thousands of people in concentration camps in South Africa? I see, why of course that war was caused by:

A) Evil German aggression

The British getting rather upset that the post-1815/Waterloo balance of power in Europe which had, of course, benefited them more than any other European country, was being challenged in Europe by "warmongers" like Germany who were taking on the people who hated war so much they conquered and ruled 25% of planet earth through charm and peace. This is the most common interpretation, believe it or not, in Britain. The nice Brits, with their amazing record of love for democracy and freedom, come to the rescue again.

It was all about ideas like justice and peace and self-determination. It was about fighting for the self-determination of "little Belgium" (never "little Ireland", of course) while enslaving 25% of the world to the needs of the British Empire. From the massacre of Mullaghmast to the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh: the vast majority of British people will always contend that they are fighting for a greater moral good, no matter where in the world their state is interfering. As a rule, the more guilty their state is, the louder they scream about morals/ fighting "terrorism" blah blah blah.

By their deeds you shall know them.

Manach

Railway timetables.
My understanding (based vaguely on a book by Hew Strachen) was once the initial spark to the tinderbox that was Europe occurred with the Archduke's assassination there was a timetable for mobilisation each country had. The country that could get into its army into the field first, would win. Hence any delay (such as peace talks) would have threaten an easy win against their opponents.

Delancey

The complex system of political and military alliances that existed in Europe was a key factor in the war.
Britain , France and Russia were commited to each other while the Germans and Austro-Hungarians were also tied into an alliance.

Austria decides to attack Serbia - Russia prepares to intervene - Germany prepares to back up Austria - France prepares to back up Russia , etc.
Something of a cascade effect.....

Other tensions were the rapidly growing arms race between Britain and Germany as witnessed by the huge spending on Dreadnought Battleships , the grab for colonial possessions was another source of tension.

The great Irony for me has always been the fact that the ruling families of Russia , England and Germany were all cousins :rolleyes: - many socialists condemned the war as an '' imperialist adventure '' - I think they were spot on.

olly_mac

The First World war was more than likely caused by a combination of factors, chief amongst them being colonial expansionism... the Kaiser (according to Eric Hobsbawm) "... wanted his place in the sun...", and the other major colonial powers, Britain, Belguim etc, didn't really like this. Also, after the defeat of Russia by Japan in the early 1900's (1904?? My memory is gone), the Tsarist focus shifted west-ward, thus causing the Austro-Hungarian alliances to get a bit angsty.

As with all war, resources played a major part, again we can point to colonial interests. The Germans actually constructed a major rail link to the middle east, thus allowing them access to oil, which was fast becoming the major raw material for Europe, (does this start to sound familiar??).

The other main element is maybe the militarization of the European states and the resulting arms race...

I could go on... however, Hobsbawm is worth a read...

jonniebgood1

Rebelheart wrote: »

Obviously the Jews were being murdered in concentration camps by Mr Hitler and the nice British heroically stepped up to the plate and joined the war to protect them. Duh!

Regardless of any inaccuracy in this what does it have to do with WWI?

Rebelheart wrote: »

It was all about ideas like justice and peace and self-determination. It was about fighting for the self-determination of "little Belgium" (never "little Ireland", of course) while enslaving 25% of the world to the needs of the British Empire. From the massacre of Mullaghmast to the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh: the vast majority of British people will always contend that they are fighting for a greater moral good, no matter where in the world their state is interfering. As a rule, the more guilty their state is, the louder they scream about morals/ fighting "terrorism" blah blah blah.

By their deeds you shall know them.

If you respond to every thread with an anti-British rant, you will be banned from the forum. It will be considered as trolling. Please heed this warning and if you have any questions about it PM me.

Moderator.

jonniebgood1

m.oderator wrote: »

What?

An OP needs more information than this. If you have a genuine query you can PM me, until that I am locking thread.