Comments on: Lest We Forget: Could the First World War Have Been Stopped? http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/11/lest-we-forget-could-the-first-world-war-have-been-stopped/ a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:07:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Brian Koontz http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/11/lest-we-forget-could-the-first-world-war-have-been-stopped/#comment-32071 Brian Koontz Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:25:11 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=4682#comment-32071 World War I was the end of the age of romanticism and the beginning of the age of totalitarianism. So one "explanation" for it was a kind of romantic orgy - a last stand for the individual. World War I was the end of the age of romanticism and the beginning of the age of totalitarianism. So one “explanation” for it was a kind of romantic orgy – a last stand for the individual.

]]> By: Bridget Dunne http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/11/lest-we-forget-could-the-first-world-war-have-been-stopped/#comment-31928 Bridget Dunne Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:03:54 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=4682#comment-31928 Baghdad Railway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Railway Baghdad Railway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Railway

]]> By: JN http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/11/lest-we-forget-could-the-first-world-war-have-been-stopped/#comment-31902 JN Thu, 13 Nov 2008 01:53:31 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=4682#comment-31902 Certainly the German government & Kaiser were "agressors" but no more so than their counterparts in Britain, France, Russia & Austria/Hungary. It is the European ruling classes (monarchies, capitalists, generals, etc) as a whole that were responsible, not any one country. The war was made virtually inevitable by the alliance system, arms race & imperial competition; the assasination of Franz Ferdinand merely provided the spark. Could it have been prevented? Of course it could, IF the working classes had refused to provide the cannon fodder; refused to produce the weapons; refused to slaughter each other for the sake of their respective rulers & exploiters. Tragically, most of them didn't. In 2008, as in 1914: "OUR REAL ENEMY IS AT HOME!" END THE WARS! END THE SYSTEM THAT CAUSES THEM: CAPITALISM/IMPERIALISM! ORGANISE! ACT! Certainly the German government & Kaiser were “agressors” but no more so than their counterparts in Britain, France, Russia & Austria/Hungary. It is the European ruling classes (monarchies, capitalists, generals, etc) as a whole that were responsible, not any one country. The war was made virtually inevitable by the alliance system, arms race & imperial competition; the assasination of Franz Ferdinand merely provided the spark.

Could it have been prevented? Of course it could, IF the working classes had refused to provide the cannon fodder; refused to produce the weapons; refused to slaughter each other for the sake of their respective rulers & exploiters. Tragically, most of them didn’t.

In 2008, as in 1914:
“OUR REAL ENEMY IS AT HOME!”
END THE WARS!
END THE SYSTEM THAT CAUSES THEM: CAPITALISM/IMPERIALISM!
ORGANISE! ACT!

]]> By: Danny Ray http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/11/lest-we-forget-could-the-first-world-war-have-been-stopped/#comment-31894 Danny Ray Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:18:23 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=4682#comment-31894 Mr. Kenny, you get a A+ for history, I was about to write the same thing. It is hard to imagin that so many horrors came from the end of that war. I do have to disagree with the author Mr. Gregory. The little people of the British Empire were always ready to join or to cheer an army marching away. Admittedly they were helped by that arch propogandist Kipling. Mr. Kenny,

you get a A+ for history, I was about to write the same thing. It is hard to imagin that so many horrors came from the end of that war. I do have to disagree with the author Mr. Gregory. The little people of the British Empire were always ready to join or to cheer an army marching away. Admittedly they were helped by that arch propogandist Kipling.

]]> By: Michael Kenny http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/11/lest-we-forget-could-the-first-world-war-have-been-stopped/#comment-31882 Michael Kenny Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:04:28 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=4682#comment-31882 The unique talent of George Monbiot is that he can take any subject, however serious, and say something silly about it! He must surely be the last person on earth to believe that Germany was the “aggressor” in WWI or that Germany could be described as “expansionist” in that war (it had no territorial claims, unlike, for example, France, Italy or Serbia)! Most historians nowadays tend to the view that none of the participants were at fault. Also, grapeshot hasn’t been used since Napoleon’s time. The little balls that George found in the field were the contents of shrapnel shells (hence the casings) and the effect of those little balls was frightful. On the other hand, he has grasped that the idea of people going off to war singing happy songs was legend and that the real mood was resignation. In the nearly 100 years between Waterloo and Sarajevo, Europe had had a series of little wars and everyone kept saying that there would one day be a “great” war and it was that sense of inevitability that made the war ... inevitable! Like going to the dentist, people shrugged their shoulders and just wanted to get it over with. They all thought it would be over by Christmas anyway! That’s the good news for today’s world, because nobody in Europe now thinks that war is inevitable. The other point is that US intervention in the war was an almighty disaster. Kerensky was persuaded to stay in the war (the one thing the people of Russia didn’t want!) until the Yanks came, thereby precipitating the communist revolution, with its murderous consequences. US intervention also changed the course of the war and what should have petered out in a draw and a negotiated peace became a virulent campaign to brand Germany as the “aggressor”, pushing the German people into the arms of Hitler, also with murderous consequences. Now there’s a subject to keep historians busy from now until 2018! The unique talent of George Monbiot is that he can take any subject, however serious, and say something silly about it! He must surely be the last person on earth to believe that Germany was the “aggressor” in WWI or that Germany could be described as “expansionist” in that war (it had no territorial claims, unlike, for example, France, Italy or Serbia)! Most historians nowadays tend to the view that none of the participants were at fault. Also, grapeshot hasn’t been used since Napoleon’s time. The little balls that George found in the field were the contents of shrapnel shells (hence the casings) and the effect of those little balls was frightful.

On the other hand, he has grasped that the idea of people going off to war singing happy songs was legend and that the real mood was resignation. In the nearly 100 years between Waterloo and Sarajevo, Europe had had a series of little wars and everyone kept saying that there would one day be a “great” war and it was that sense of inevitability that made the war … inevitable! Like going to the dentist, people shrugged their shoulders and just wanted to get it over with. They all thought it would be over by Christmas anyway! That’s the good news for today’s world, because nobody in Europe now thinks that war is inevitable.

The other point is that US intervention in the war was an almighty disaster. Kerensky was persuaded to stay in the war (the one thing the people of Russia didn’t want!) until the Yanks came, thereby precipitating the communist revolution, with its murderous consequences. US intervention also changed the course of the war and what should have petered out in a draw and a negotiated peace became a virulent campaign to brand Germany as the “aggressor”, pushing the German people into the arms of Hitler, also with murderous consequences. Now there’s a subject to keep historians busy from now until 2018!

]]> By: armean http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/11/lest-we-forget-could-the-first-world-war-have-been-stopped/#comment-31867 armean Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:04:32 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=4682#comment-31867 Thanks for the article. The irony is that most of these heads of state were actually related to each other. They were uncles and cousins. Basicly a very ugly and public family dispute. I don't know much about Morel but he sounds like Ralph Nader. Except Nader hasn't been rehabilitated and there is no real possibility of it happening, ever. I believe that the problem is not "those who do not know history.....". It's "those who do know history but they are arrogant enough to believe that they could do better this time around". Thanks for the article. The irony is that most of these heads of state were actually related to each other. They were uncles and cousins. Basicly a very ugly and public family dispute.

I don’t know much about Morel but he sounds like Ralph Nader. Except Nader hasn’t been rehabilitated and there is no real possibility of it happening, ever.

I believe that the problem is not “those who do not know history…..”. It’s “those who do know history but they are arrogant enough to believe that they could do better this time around”.

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