i think the british empire was a very good thing for the world overall, but the reality is that the germans were actually the LEAST culpable party in starting WW1. they did get all medieval on some belgians though, but in the scale of what happened later that was nothing.
germany never figured out in either war that 1) propaganda matters, 2) brutality against civilians backfires, and 3) intelligence, economics, and logistics win modern wars. they had the best damned army at the start of both wars but were forced to invade belgium and france first, to have any chance of survival against both fronts- and both times they were the villains because of that. well, that whole nazi thing sort of made the villain part pretty clear cut in ww2.
but hell, the germans werent even the worst villains in ww2 either for crying out loud - i'd say they came in third behind the soviets (a clear winner), and the japs.
the what-ifs of germany winning ww1 are fascinating. the key would be finding a way forward to renew the peace they had had since 1870 and for europe to focus on exporting education, ethics, culture and infrastructure around the world, instead of what happened - which was basically communism, fascism, abandonment of the third world to slumlords fed by international corruption, and population explosion of uneducated people by too much food aid, a cold war, and the destruction of england and america from within.
germany never figured out in either war that 1) propaganda matters, 2) brutality against civilians backfires, and 3) intelligence, economics, and logistics win modern wars. they had the best damned army at the start of both wars but were forced to invade belgium and france first, to have any chance of survival against both fronts- and both times they were the villains because of that. well, that whole nazi thing sort of made the villain part pretty clear cut in ww2.
but hell, the germans werent even the worst villains in ww2 either for crying out loud - i'd say they came in third behind the soviets (a clear winner), and the japs.
the what-ifs of germany winning ww1 are fascinating. the key would be finding a way forward to renew the peace they had had since 1870 and for europe to focus on exporting education, ethics, culture and infrastructure around the world, instead of what happened - which was basically communism, fascism, abandonment of the third world to slumlords fed by international corruption, and population explosion of uneducated people by too much food aid, a cold war, and the destruction of england and america from within.
