Post: #1

I never understood why WWI happened. WWII is easy to understand since it was mostly due to the insanity of Hitler.

Anyway this series from BBC describes the events prior to the war. Check it out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/37_Days_(TV_series)

Post: #2

Dang can't find it free anywhere.

Post: #3

WWII wasn't as simple as one man being insane. Hitler captured the German people's minds with his promise to avenge the utter humiliation suffered by the Germans through the treaty of Versaille. Imagine if the US was forced to cede Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Texas to Mexico, as well as pay crippling reparations to the point where our people were burning dollars to keep warm, all because we were called into battle through a convoluted system of alliances and royal marriages to defend Nicaragua. Europe was a clusterfuck.

The series seems really cool. You hardly ever see anything about World War I, since people like to hear about our ideological battles against Fascism.

Post: #4

A lot of the causes of WWI stem from events in Europe that took place mostly in the 19th century (basically from Napoleon's downfall and onward). You had plenty of European nationalist movements, some major wars between European powers (Crimean, Franco-Prussian, etc.), a new age of imperialism, and several shifts in the so-called "balance of power" that was established after the Congress of Vienna.

Post: #5

I watched the séries on tv. WWI seemed to be an ego fight between nations. Germany was allied to Austria. An Austrian was killed by Serbs. In response austrians had to punish this act. But since Serbs were protected by Russia. And Russia had an aliance with France who also had an aliance with britain. Atacking the Serbs meant indirectly atacking this countries. It looked has a Mikado game.

Post: #6

As far as I have understood - WW1 is hard for us to understand because the people back then had totally different experience and expectations as of what a war is.

Before WW1 world was much less globalized and more national. People took pride in fighting for their country. But the main reason nobody imagined that a war will be so terrible is because people thought that war will be short, glorious, noble and brave. It was anything but, because of the new technologies that people did not knew because they just got invented.

WW1 was the first war with widespread use of automatic weapons, tanks, landmines, aircraft. Explosives were bigger faster and deadlier then ever before. We now know that 20th century warfare was a meat grinder, but before that people still thought of war as of something less lethal and more adventurous, as of something where soldiers skills actually mattered and you still held your life in control if you just were a good fighter. Therefore people did less to avoid war and entered into war for reasons that we would find too small for entering a war, because in our understanding a war is something much more horrible than it was in theirs.

Post: #7

(07-31-2014 06:52 PM)Pepini Wrote:  I never understood why WWI happened. WWII is easy to understand since it was mostly due to the insanity of Hitler.

Anyway this series from BBC describes the events prior to the war. Check it out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/37_Days_(TV_series)

WW2 was a direct consequence of WW1. I don't think you'll find any historians that dispute this.

If the series is from the BBC, it will be very biased, and will paint Imperial Germany as being very evil.

The causes of WW1 are very complex, and do not deserve simplistic tropes such as 'evil Germany had to be crushed at the expense of the majority of our male population'. My criticism of the popular(mainstream) causes of WW1 is somewhat simplistic, but hopefully you get the point I'm making.

There is a good discussion of WW1 here. I will supply the link in a bit.

Post: #8

If anyone is wondering why France would jump into this war based on indirect alliances to Serbia, it is because of revanchism. They wanted to regain the alsace Lorraine region that was lost during the Franco-Prussian war, and along with England wanted to strip Germany of its colonial possessions to extend their own empires.

Post: #9

(08-01-2014 07:00 AM)Trev Wrote:  

(07-31-2014 06:52 PM)Pepini Wrote:  I never understood why WWI happened. WWII is easy to understand since it was mostly due to the insanity of Hitler.

Anyway this series from BBC describes the events prior to the war. Check it out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/37_Days_(TV_series)

WW2 was a direct consequence of WW1. I don't think you'll find any historians that dispute this.

If the series is from the BBC, it will be very biased, and will paint Imperial Germany as being very evil.

The causes of WW1 are very complex, and do not deserve simplistic tropes such as 'evil Germany had to be crushed at the expense of the majority of our male population'. My criticism of the popular(mainstream) causes of WW1 is somewhat simplistic, but hopefully you get the point I'm making.

There is a good discussion of WW1 here. I will supply the link in a bit.

As always the truth is perspective dependent. I'd love to hear a Brit's perspective (sincerely) so I look forward to you posting the link