Who is to blame for the start of WW1?

[The Two Jerseys]

How would they know?

They wouldn't know; what he's saying is he should've driven without deviating. He should at least be aware going the wrong way could expose the royal family into some kind of danger.

Except the route they took was unplanned: after appearing at the city hall as scheduled, instead of proceeding to the army maneuvers the Archduke wanted to go to the hospital to visit the people wounded in the first assassination attempt. The driver was literally taking directions from a local official riding shotgun.

Well, I agree with that. But there should have been more security for the Archduke, TWO assassination attempts.

Well, if you have security around the Archduke, everyone is going to know he's in there, so he probably travelled without guards to conceal his identity.

The original plan was to have troops lining the route, but somebody nixed that idea because they thought that a display like that in a newly-acquired territory would piss off the locals. The same reason why you don't have troops in red coats lining the streets when a member of the Royal Family visits Belfast or Quebec.

[The Socialist Siverian State]

I blame Russia and Austria-Hungary.

Could be.

Russia was the first country to mobilize their army which symbolized that they were declaring war. They even continued to prepare their military while they carried diplomatic negotiations for peaceful solutions to the problem. These militaristic approaches threatened other countries, such as Germany.

Yes, but Austria-Hungary did even more to speed up the progress to war.

Austria-Hungary
-They know that the ultimatum was impossible to accept, thus giving Austria-Hungary the excuse to wage war also bringing in Russia
-Conrad, the greatest advocator for a war against Serbia


Whilst Austrian-Hungarian attempted to use the assasiantion of Franz Ferdinard as an excuse to destroy a rebellious neighbor, Germany alone had the power to halt this aggression but it persisted with it's blank cheque further antagonising the Balkan region.

[Quantalis]

William Massey. *nods*

[A Colony Of Canadas]

I say Austria. They intentionally made their ultimatum to Serbia nearly unacceptable to provoke war. By war's end, Germany was the one being treated like it was the one that started it. Compared to that, Austria got away scot-free. (Which isn't really fair. After all, Germany never officially surrendered)

[Gim]

They wouldn't know; what he's saying is he should've driven without deviating. He should at least be aware going the wrong way could expose the royal family into some kind of danger.

Except the route they took was unplanned: after appearing at the city hall as scheduled, instead of proceeding to the army maneuvers the Archduke wanted to go to the hospital to visit the people wounded in the first assassination attempt. The driver was literally taking directions from a local official riding shotgun.

Well, if you have security around the Archduke, everyone is going to know he's in there, so he probably travelled without guards to conceal his identity.

The original plan was to have troops lining the route, but somebody nixed that idea because they thought that a display like that in a newly-acquired territory would piss off the locals. The same reason why you don't have troops in red coats lining the streets when a member of the Royal Family visits Belfast or Quebec.

There should have been at least a few gunmen guarding the Archduke inside his car. That could have changed the situation drastically.

[Dooom35796821595]

Why, it's Hitlers fault of course!

You see, after the Doctor left in his TARDIS there remained a localised gateway into the time vortex (Because Melody shot the TARDIS) that Hitler used to travel back to 1914 and pay the black hand to assassinate Franz Ferdinand.

[Cannot think of a name]

My bad. I had this one use time machine that I decided to use to kill this nation's leader that had done something horrible, you know, right the century's wrong. Turns out taking out the archduke had...unforeseen consequences. For the art world, too.

[Gim]

Why, it's Hitlers fault of course!

You see, after the Doctor left in his TARDIS there remained a localised gateway into the time vortex (Because Melody shot the TARDIS) that Hitler used to travel back to 1914 and pay the black hand to assassinate Franz Ferdinand.

If humans had the time machine to go back to the past, they'd kill Hitler before Hitler kills the archduke.

[Dooom35796821595]

Why, it's Hitlers fault of course!

You see, after the Doctor left in his TARDIS there remained a localised gateway into the time vortex (Because Melody shot the TARDIS) that Hitler used to travel back to 1914 and pay the black hand to assassinate Franz Ferdinand.

If humans had the time machine to go back to the past, they'd kill Hitler before Hitler kills the archduke.

Nah, they'd just use it to "punish" (torture) criminals who escaped justice in their own timeline.

[Gim]

If humans had the time machine to go back to the past, they'd kill Hitler before Hitler kills the archduke.

Nah, they'd just use it to "punish" (torture) criminals who escaped justice in their own timeline.

What a waste of opportunity. Clearly, humans are blind.

[Geilinor]

All I know is that Germany is not to blame, they wanted Austria to do it quick so that a large war could be averted, but Austria took forever and dragged their feet. If they had sent it immediately nobody would have been angry they would have seen the grief, but Austria took 2 months. Then Russia mobilized against Germany, and France Agreed so Germany was forced into it, and then brutally assaulted. Poor Germany.

"Doing it quickly" might not have worked. Russia wouldn't have let Austria get away with crushing Serbia and the war would have happened.

[Nationes Pii Redivivi]

The war started because of the vile Hun and his villainous empire-building.

[Gim]

The war started because of the vile Hun and his villainous empire-building.

You might as well say Eve is responsible for war.

[Nationes Pii Redivivi]

The war started because of the vile Hun and his villainous empire-building.

You might as well say Eve is responsible for war.

It is a reference to Blackadder.

[Gim]

You might as well say Eve is responsible for war.

It is a reference to Blackadder.

I don't know that, but okay.

[Pristinian Preserve]

The war started because of the vile Hun and his villainous empire-building.

There is more than a grain of truth in this, however. Germany pursued an exceptionally aggressive diplomatic programme in the years leading up to WW1, and the Kaiser was instrumental in this. Victoria was able to keep him under control, and to some extent Bertie as well. After Edward VII died in 1910, war was inevitable. I believe it was Jackie Fisher who said that war would commence, on one pretext or another, as soon as the Kiel Canal was completed, a prediction that proved completely accurate. While it's true that surface navies in fact played a minor role in the First War, this is not how the Kaiser saw things at the outset.

Of the major parties, Austria did not want war, because of her internal dissent, Britain did not want war, because it offered nothing that Britain wanted, Russia certainly did not, because of her humiliation in 1905, France feared war, because of her defeat in 1871. The Turks did not want war, because their empire was already on its knees. Germany alone was confident, provided that it got in the first stroke. The war between Austria and Serbia was a sideshow.

It was Germany that provoked a universal conflagration by declaring war simultaneously on France, Russia, and Belgium. Germany did so, because she thought she would win. Even a century of apologetics, particularly by British and American writers, does nothing to change this essential fact.

[The Alexanderians]

I blame adam and eve they started all this war nonsense by bunking off with each other.

[Gim]

I blame adam and eve they started all this war nonsense by bunking off with each other.

God predetermined the situation. Should we blame him for the war?

[The Alexanderians]

I blame adam and eve they started all this war nonsense by bunking off with each other.

God predetermined the situation. Should we blame him for the war?

Yes

[Dooom35796821595]

I blame adam and eve they started all this war nonsense by bunking off with each other.

God predetermined the situation. Should we blame him for the war?

According to religion everything is gods fault, even the devil. He's not very nice now, is he?

[Nationes Pii Redivivi]

The war started because of the vile Hun and his villainous empire-building.

There is more than a grain of truth in this, however. Germany pursued an exceptionally aggressive diplomatic programme in the years leading up to WW1, and the Kaiser was instrumental in this. Victoria was able to keep him under control, and to some extent Bertie as well. After Edward VII died in 1910, war was inevitable. I believe it was Jackie Fisher who said that war would commence, on one pretext or another, as soon as the Kiel Canal was completed, a prediction that proved completely accurate. While it's true that surface navies in fact played a minor role in the First War, this is not how the Kaiser saw things at the outset.

Of the major parties, Austria did not want war, because of her internal dissent, Britain did not want war, because it offered nothing that Britain wanted, Russia certainly did not, because of her humiliation in 1905, France feared war, because of her defeat in 1871. The Turks did not want war, because their empire was already on its knees. Germany alone was confident, provided that it got in the first stroke. The war between Austria and Serbia was a sideshow.

It was Germany that provoked a universal conflagration by declaring war simultaneously on France, Russia, and Belgium. Germany did so, because she thought she would win. Even a century of apologetics, particularly by British and American writers, does nothing to change this essential fact.

For all of Germany's Schlieffen Plan, France had a Plan XIV of its own.

[Harkback Union]

Pretty much everyone (in power) in europe wanted to go to war in 1914 and pretty much everyone thought they're gonna kick some ass and be home by Xmas.

I wish they would have just sat down at a computer and played a game of Victoria 2...
...
Hold on...
What if...
No, it cannot be...
Oh my god! Paradox caused world war one! They built a time machine and sparked conflicts throughout human history so they could make extremely addictive grand strategy games about them! The Swedish Bastards! It all makes sense now, No wonder sweden is always kep out of harm's way!
How come I'm the first to figure this out?!?

[Dooom35796821595]

Pretty much everyone (in power) in europe wanted to go to war in 1914 and pretty much everyone thought they're gonna kick some ass and be home by Xmas.

I wish they would have just sat down at a computer and played a game of Victoria 2...
...
Hold on...
What if...
No, it cannot be...
Oh my god! Paradox caused world war one! They built a time machine and sparked conflicts throughout human history so they could make extremely addictive grand strategy games about them! The Swedish Bastards! It all makes sense now, No wonder sweden is always kep out of harm's way!
How come I'm the first to figure this out?!?

You're not, you're just the latest in a long line.

They're coming to get you!

[New Grestin]

Presumably Gavrilo Princip.

The bullet that killed the Archduke wasn't exactly fired by the Germans or the Russians. It was fired by a terrorist who accidentally caused a war so terrible it's often still referred to as "The Great War".

World War 2 isn't called "The Greater War", just as a reference for how fucking unpleasant it was.

[The Blaatschapen]

I blame Belgium. If those uppity southerners never had revolted then there would be no treaty of London. No treaty of London means no UK using that scrap of paper as an excuse.