[Liberty4eva]

Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the Americans getting into World War I.

I've always been interested in history and it seems to me that the main reason the 20th century was such a terrible century was because of this war. And we are still living with the problems this war caused. For example, the mass migration of Jews to Palestine started when the British took over the region from the Turks hence the Israeli-Palestine conflict can find its origins in this war. Also the sloppy creation of the state of Iraq (really 3 countries forced into one and needing a strong man aka Saddam Hussein to hold it together) came from this war. Russia got into a Communist revolution that resulted in poverty and death for most of the rest of the 20th century (lead to the Cold War that, at times, threatened the very existence of humanity) And, of course, World War II was inevitable due to the poor treatment the Germans received in the peace deal.

I'm not saying that it was a bad thing that the Allies won but it has never been properly explained to me why it was a good thing that the Allies won. And maybe it would have been better had the US not gotten involved in the war. The Germans and British/French would have fought to a draw and Germany would have gotten a better deal (no WW2). Iraq would not be the mess it is and the Israeli-Palestine issue probably would not be a problem. Hence no (or at least significantly less) Islamic terrorism.

World War I seems to be the root cause of so much suffering both during and after the war and even to this day. So, did the good guys really win and was the result of the war really for the better? It seems just as likely that the world would be a better place had Germany won the war.

[Brillopad]

Originally Posted by Liberty4eva

Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the Americans getting into World War I.

I've always been interested in history and it seems to me that the main reason the 20th century was such a terrible century was because of this war. And we are still living with the problems this war caused. For example, the mass migration of Jews to Palestine started when the British took over the region from the Turks hence the Israeli-Palestine conflict can find its origins in this war. Also the sloppy creation of the state of Iraq (really 3 countries forced into one and needing a strong man aka Saddam Hussein to hold it together) came from this war. Russia got into a Communist revolution that resulted in poverty and death for most of the rest of the 20th century (lead to the Cold War that, at times, threatened the very existence of humanity) And, of course, World War II was inevitable due to the poor treatment the Germans received in the peace deal.

I'm not saying that it was a bad thing that the Allies won but it has never been properly explained to me why it was a good thing that the Allies won. And maybe it would have been better had the US not gotten involved in the war. The Germans and British/French would have fought to a draw and Germany would have gotten a better deal (no WW2). Iraq would not be the mess it is and the Israeli-Palestine issue probably would not be a problem. Hence no (or at least significantly less) Islamic terrorism.

World War I seems to be the root cause of so much suffering both during and after the war and even to this day. So, did the good guys really win and was the result of the war really for the better? It seems just as likely that the world would be a better place had Germany won the war.

If you support mass murderers and dictators maybe. There is always someone, whether it be an individual or a religion, trying to take over the free world and attempting to put their ugly narcissistic stamp on it.

I will always remember someone saying to me many years ago that if there is ever a world war III it will be the Arabs that caused it. Thought nothing of it at the time but, judging by all the problems being caused by one religion today, those words could be coming true.

[Withano]

Originally Posted by Brillopad

I will always remember someone saying to me many years ago that if there is ever a world war III it will be the Arabs that caused it. Thought nothing of it at the time but those words seem to be coming true.

To be fair, if a war broke out between Greenland and the eskimos tomorrow, you'd probs find a way to blame arabians.

[Brillopad]

Originally Posted by Withano

To be fair, if a war broke out between Greenland and the eskimos tomorrow, you'd probs find a way to blame arabians.

Bull, but don't let a bit of common sense get in the way of your wild allegations.

[ebandit]

.............maybe? moving on from the greatest mess in world history as the side

with the greater resources/resolve was not really 'winning'

Mark L

[Toy Soldier]

Possibly. It's a very messy and confusing war, it doesn't have the same "clear cut" ideologies behind it the WW2 does, and it's true that Hitler would almost certainly never have found the support to rise to power in Germany that he did. Without WW2, the Cold War never happens (or at least happens in a different way... the nuclear arms race would still have happened eventually), there wouldn't be the same tensions surrounding Israel, you probably wouldn't have Operation Cyclone with the US funding and arming the Mujahideen, then the US and Russia further funding and arming other groups who would later develop into Al Qaeda / ISIS, and of course Russia leaving a sh*t-tonne of equipment behind when they left the Middle East ready to be picked up by whoever wanted it. If WW1 had never happened, certainly the entire 20th and 21st centuries would have played out very differently.

That said...

There's no way to know what WOULD have happened instead. It's basically the entire premise of the game "Red Alert" . You go back in time and kill Hitler as a young man, WW2 never happens. But WW2 weakened Russia. So in the new history, Russia never had to fight WW2, and so there ended up being an even worse conflict between the Allied Forces and Russia in its place. Which isn't a particularly unrealistic scenario. Or any number of other wars could have broken out. Almost every single political situation would be different... Maybe the "New Cold War" would have boiled up and the world would have been nuked back to the stone age in the 60's. .

[Tom4784]

If anything, WW3 would be more likely to erupt from a conflict between South and North Korea because the US and Russia would likely use it as a proxy war and things would spiral from there.

It goes without question that the Allies winning was the preferred outcome although it's important to remember that the Allies were also involved in a terrible atrocity in the form of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, US may have dropped the bombs but the UK agreed to it.

[Northern Monkey]

Nothing to add to this really because the possibilities are literally endless.Even changing a very small historical event could cause a chain reaction which could change major world events so something like this would turn the whole world on its head.It is a very thought provoking idea.
Just think.If the universe is infinite then this has already happened.