Quote: (06-28-2014 03:43 PM)Sp5 Wrote:
Quote: (06-28-2014 02:32 PM)samsamsam Wrote:
Quote: (05-21-2014 10:35 AM)ElJefe Wrote:
That Germany lost WW1 is almost the greatest tragedy of all.
Why is that a tragedy? Maybe I misread the point you are trying to make.
Because it would have led to the natural German dominance of Europe we see today, without fascism, WW II and the Holocaust. Plus maybe no breakup of the tolerant Ottoman Empire, from which many problems continue today.
The thesis of Niall Ferguson's The Pity of War, which argued that Britain should have stayed out of WW I. It makes a lot of sense.
Lol, there is a reason why German Empire collapsed and Britain ruled the world to begin with:
German politics were inferior. While economically and industrially mighty at home, German foreign policy did not differ much from 13th century Teutonic conquests of conquer, subdue and exploit. German state was not destroyed once, but twice, thanks to it's extremely backward imperial policies orchestrated by Prussian militarist class.
On the other hand, British Imperialism was much more refined. Britain always maintained an image of peaceful seafaring and commercial nation whose interference abroad was not fueled by nationalism and militarism but by "wider interests" of economic prosperity, free trade, global economy, order and progress etc etc.
Compared to that, German policy was that typical "I'll take your capital and put my flag on your presidential palace" type of medieval expansion.
Collapse of Ottoman Empire also brought positive change to Turkey itself - transformation from an Islamist Sultanate, to a Secular national Republic. Simply, persistence of multi-national Empires was impossible, hence your attitudes are quite reactionary in terms of historical progress of societies.