History Undone
I have just watched a documentary on Youtube from the above titled channel. I find it very interesting but I am a sad git on these things. What took me here was, of course an accident. As is usual with the internet, websites tend to do a smash and grab on your attention and you alight on pages that you didn't intend at first. I was actually looking for the latest installment on a travel channel I follow and got a "click bait" article about a chap called Dominic Sandbrook. I watched a short interview on him and the title of this post cropped up. The interview was wide ranging thus he didn't expand or defend this stance. So I went in search of more information.
This is where the History Undone channel came in. I found it interesting as I said before. The podcast talks about the factual events that led up to august 14th 1914 and also some personal viewpoints.
The point of the podcast though was a question as mentioned above. And this is where we enter the realm of the infinite universes of possibilities. This is where a fork in the road of history is met and a different path followed than that actually followed. the only part anyone can be sure of there after is that the original decision was not taken after that it obviously becomes guesswork and what the History Undone episode demonstrated was that there are a lot of variables at play. But one thing I have discerned over the years is that Historians love the sound of their own voice and often speak to us mere mortals as though we are less able to draw a conclusion of our own, that they and they alone not only hold all the information but also the best way of interpretating that data.
Should we have entered WW1 when we did? Probably the 2million injured personnel and the 6% of the male population that were lost to the war, not to mention those that harbored PTSD (that only LSD fueled Vietnam veterans can truly compete with) might say no.
In my opinion, which counts for little in the scheme of things as does theirs, it was probably inevitable. Germany was on the rise and was probably a long term threat to the British Empire anyway. The Government of 1914 just thought they would get their revenge in first. The argument goes that Britain would of been in a stronger financial position at the end of what would of been a shortened war resulting in German victory.
All this may have been true but we would have ended up in a world with competing empires around the world. The Japanese would have still had a pop at the US at some stage. Britain and Germany would still have had to establish who was "in charge" and then the US would probably still wanted to dismantle the British Empire as it did in 1945 so that it could benefit from increased trade that befits the victor
But one thing that has not been mentioned was that were these Imperial Empires morally worth defending? Britain seemed to believe it was owed some debt of gratitude by its constituents. The British Empire was good for Britain. Not much more. Cheap materials were brought from the world and premium products were sold back to the Empire at premium prices. Not to mention the Imperial racist attitudes towards it's subjects?
The true horror of World War1 was the way it was waged as much as it was that it took place at all.
The benefit of hindsight.....
The podcast suggested that we had to get involved because the government had signed up to many "entente cordials" across the world and if we didn't honour this one we might find them harder to form or enforce in the future. Our reputation was at stake. Not a good reason for war either but it was the world we were in at that moment.
Back to the present
So what does this teach us about our current world situation? History teaches nothing according to Henry Ford (or was that it is bunk?). Well in this podcast it was mentioned that the UK government had an opportunity to signal its intentions a month or two earlier that gave the German government reasonable grounds for doubt as to whether we would get involved. It was suggested that had we made our position more forcefully the Kaiser may not have gambled its future. So the lesson is never leave your intentions to be second guessed just in case some one calls your bluff
In today's world Russia appears intent on re drawing the map of Europe to its advantage in much the same way it (And Europe for that matter) used to do it in 1890's. I guess the lesson is make sure the Russians know what they are getting in to. I think they doubt European unity and strength. They are finding out the hard way. The Russian governments of almost all epochs appear to be quite happy to throw their subjects under the bus when it comes to political ambition. Which is something we must bear in mind
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