Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Great Folly of World War I
American Thinker.com ^ | November 18, 2017 | Mike Konrad

Posted on 11/18/2017 5:48:48 AM PST by Kaslin

World War I was the greatest folly by far to befall Western civilization. The second greatest folly was America entering the catastrophe. The totalitarian rebounds that followed were consequences that could have been avoided.

I am not excusing German militarism, which indeed played a major part. The kaiser was arguably mentally ill, with dreams of martial glory and building an empire.

He had ignored the advice of Bismarck, who, though militarist himself, had enough sense to limit his territorial ambitions. Bismarck knew that Germany was surrounded on all sides and that it is not good to provoke rivals. So the kaiser pressured Bismarck to resign. The kaiser wanted Germany to have her "Place in the Sun."

The problem was that the sun was already owned by the British, and it never set on their empire.

Now, to be sure, British complaints about German militarism rang hollow when Britain sought a navy as big as her next two competitors combined, and when the British Empire owned a quarter of the planet, against the wishes of most of its inhabitants. The French Empire was similarly culpable, though not quite as large. Nor can the French be excused of the charge of militarism. After her defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, France went on an arms-building binge. Her policy toward Germany was "revanchism" – revenge.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Germany
KEYWORDS: europe; ww1
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-105 last
To: lightman
Never forget that WWWI was sparked by a group of MUSLIMS who assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo!

The men responsible for the assassination were members of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist organization. Two of the three men directly involved in the killings were Serbian Orthodox Christians.

101 posted on 11/20/2017 7:43:55 AM PST by DoodleDawg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: DoodleDawg
Two of the three men directly involved in the killings were Serbian Orthodox Christians.

Apparently not very good ones.

102 posted on 11/20/2017 7:49:41 AM PST by ROCKLOBSTER (RATs, RINOs...same thing)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 101 | View Replies]

To: DiogenesLamp

It’s the “peculiar institution”.


103 posted on 11/20/2017 3:28:15 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (Psephomancers for Hillary!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 100 | View Replies]

To: G Larry
That'd be a short story. "She didn't eat the apple. Everybody lived happily ever after."

Where's the fun in arguing about that?

104 posted on 11/22/2017 10:08:59 AM PST by slowhandluke (It's hard to be cynical enough in this age.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 98 | View Replies]

To: Rebelbase

Added that move to my todo list.


105 posted on 11/22/2017 10:10:26 AM PST by slowhandluke (It's hard to be cynical enough in this age.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 96 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-105 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson