The Tragic Futility of World War I

The Atlantic ^ | BURT SOLOMON

[Borges]

If you find human behavior discouraging today, consider what happened a century ago. A Martian might have gazed down upon Europe in 1914 and seen a peaceful, prosperous continent with a shared culture. Pretty much everyone had enough to eat. The English listened to Wagner, Germans savored Shakespeare, Russian aristocrats mimicked the French, Mozart and Italian opera were loved by all. Then, Europe imploded.

[SeeSharp]

World War I was going happen anyway because the race for foreign colonies and the massive arms buildup by the UK, France and Germany was going to come to a head sooner or later.

Well it didn't break out between the UK, France, and Germany. It broke out between Germany and Russia, using the conflict between Austria and Serbia as a pretext. The other powers joined the war in progress.

[DuncanWaring]

Germany’s ultimate target was France.

See the von Schlieffen Plan.

[AU72]

Based on the published war aims of Germany and the actual Treaty ending the war with Russia, it was more draconian than Versailles.

[mowowie]

Technology was exploding at the time, if not for WWI we would probably have flying cars by now.....

[353FMG]

“We shall not see them lit again in the lifetimes of our grandchildren’s grandchildren”.

.
How can any country survive after importing all those bearded barbarians and making them part of their “culture”.

[Leaning Right]

if Germany had won WW1 then central Europe would have been ruled by a totalitarian state a few years earlier than it was

I hope you're not equating the Kaiser's Germany with Hitler's Germany. Because they are 10% the same and 90% different.

[Zionist Conspirator]

The Kaiser's Germany was in no way a totalitarian state. It was in fact more democratic than Britain prior to the war. The Kaiser and the military controlled foreign policy, but the Diet controlled most everything else. Contrast that with Britain where a few hundred families controlled the entire empire and the Parliament was just a rubber stamp.

I was also going to respond to agere-contra's comment by pointing out that there were no totalitarian states in the world before World War I. Even Czarist Russia was more authoritarian than totalitarian.

However, after war broke out Germany experienced what was called "the Spirit of '14": a patriotic fervor that led ultimately to a totally mobilized society often referred to as "war socialism." After about 1916 Hindenburg and Ludendorff were the virtual dictators of Germany, but not in the same sense as Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, or the Militarist Japanese later were.

It's virtually impossible for an American (and I'm including myself) to understand the old monarchist system of pre-war Europe. And World War I delivered the coup de grace to the monarchies (the first blow, however, was the French Revolution).

The Kaiser was no innocent, and he was in many ways a petulant man-child, but he was no Hitler or Stalin. He was very anti-Semitic, but his government never persecuted Jews (other than keeping them from advancing far in the military).

[texas booster]

Interesting read:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harden-Eulenburg_Affair

[SeeSharp]

Germany’s ultimate target was France. See the von Schlieffen Plan.

That's a bit superficial. Germany's aim was to win the war and defeat her enemies. France had to be included in those plans because the French had a treaty with Russia.

As it happens, von Schlieffen was wrong anyway. The Russians were over the border and into Prussia within two weeks. The whole premise that France had to be defeated first because Russia could only be deflected was totally wrong. France was not defeated, but Russia was, something von Schlieffen had thought was impossible.

[Fiji Hill]

Kaiser’s Germany was not a totalitarian state.

[agere_contra]

You should read Rohl on this. Specifically: "The Kaiser and His Court: Wilhelm II and the Government of Germany"

From 1897 onwards the Wilhelmine Germany was run as a functioning monarchy with power concentrated in the hands of the Kaiser. Far more concentrated than it was - for instance - in England.

Look at the colossal concentration of monies in the Imperial court. The court of Kaiser Wilhelm II had a state revenue of over two million marks annually: more than the Reich Chancellor, the Reich Chancellery, the Foreign Office, the diplomatic corps, the consular service, the Colonial Office and the Reich Justice Administration put together.

Meanwhile - the British paid only a quarter of that for a court which was the center of a world empire.

The Kaiser, the royal family, the Kaiser's circle of friends, the imperial entourage and the court formed the heart of the German system: and the military and junkers were in lockstep with them. Just look at the absolute power the Imperial Court maintained over the military: both army and navy. No military man could criticize the Kaiser's policies and keep his post. And the Kaiser filled the courts with generals.

Meanwhile German civil government's contact with the almighty German court was through a sycophant Chancellor who served at the Kaiser's pleasure.

This was the system - a system wholly in the shadow of the Imperial Court and powerless to amend that balance democratically - that you apparently believe was a freer state than Britain.

And after winning World War One a victorious Kaiser and his allied military combine would have ushered in a still more absolute despotism, a greater over-mighty state.

This at least would have been the fruits of a quick German victory - the one they planned for in 1914.

Hope this was helpful.

[agere_contra]

I have company: Good night guys.

[Bender2]

Can Obama be far behind in starting the cycle... all over again?

[Tallguy]

“Germany’s ultimate target was France.”

Germany’s target was to back Austria’s claim against the Serbs in the hopes that Russia (Serbia’s protector) would stay out.

When the Russians began mobilizing, the German War Plans went into effect. There was no changing it. The main attack would fall on France since it was presumed that the Russians would take many weeks, or even months, to mobilize and that would give Germany time to take down Russia’s main western ally.

[Moltke]

Seems King George was chomping at the bit as well:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2706589/Find-reason-war-Germany-Shocking-letter-documents-King-George-V-urged-foreign-secretary-justify-conflict-two-days-outbreak-First-World-War.html

And then there's the long view which sees WWI as the inevitable outcome of many centuries of European history:

Spengler: Musil and meta-Musil: The inevitable World War I

(The Metamucil reference in the title must've been irresistable for Goldman.)

[SeeSharp]

You should read Rohl on this. Specifically: "The Kaiser and His Court: Wilhelm II and the Government of Germany"

Yes. Smearing the Kaiser and Germany has been a cottage industry for a century now. He was a very mediocre man, but not a diabolical mastermind.

From 1897 onwards the Wilhelmine Germany was run as a functioning monarchy with power concentrated in the hands of the Kaiser. Far more concentrated than it was - for instance - in England.

That is a very misleading statement. The Kaiser ruled in his own right after he dismissed Bismark, but his powers were mostly limited to foreign policy and internal security. Most of his attention was focused on melding the various German states into one Germany. The Britain empire, by contrast, was entirely run by a small clique who set policy on everything.

The court of Kaiser Wilhelm II had a state revenue of over two million marks annually

Germany also had the worlds first and at that time only national social security system, which is where the largest part of Germany's annual budget went.

heart
lockstep
absolute power
No criticize
almighty
sycophant
Kaiser's pleasure
shadow
absolute despotism
over-mighty state

LOL! Out Satan!

[SeeSharp]

after war broke out Germany experienced what was called "the Spirit of '14": a patriotic fervor that led ultimately to a totally mobilized society often referred to as "war socialism."

Sure, but that wasn't unique to Germany. Similar measures were implemented everywhere, including the US.

[headsonpikes]

“...a patriotic fervor that led ultimately to a totally mobilized society often referred to as “war socialism.”

The siren call of which has animated all political thought since, giving rise to the human abattoir of the last century.

I fear it cannot be reformed and we must have it collapse around us. This won’t be fun.

[Zionist Conspirator]

after war broke out Germany experienced what was called "the Spirit of '14": a patriotic fervor that led ultimately to a totally mobilized society often referred to as "war socialism."

Sure, but that wasn't unique to Germany. Similar measures were implemented everywhere, including the US.

That is very true.

[Borges]

You may be interested in this.