History brehs....how was Germany in the wrong in WW1?

[Reece]

I never been that interested in history outside of Ancient history but I’ve been doing more reading. I always assumed Germany was the aggressor because they were in WW2 but, I don’t know brehs. The heir to the throne of Austria gets murdered in broad daylight in Serbia because the Slavs there didn’t like being under Austrian rule. The Austrians want revenge but they can’t get it because Russia is backing Serbia and will level Austria to rocks and pebbles. So Austria turns to Germany for help. It would’ve just been a battle between these four places. But France was allied with Russia. Now it’s a two front war with Germany and Austria boxed in between Russia and France on both sides. Germany tries to go all out on France to get them out the paint first so they can focus on Russia but Britain comes into the fight because Germany threw shots at Belgium in their attempts to fight France. And they got slaughtered.

I’m just trying to imagine this in modern day. If somebody killed Prince William or Prince Harry, the world would be on fire the next day. Why was it cool for them to murder their prince, have Russia protect them from getting dealt with and then have the rest of the world gang on Germany and Austria like they were in the wrong

 

[ba'al]

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

It wasn’t in the wrong.

 

[Brehcepticon]

It was fukkery on a global level.

Let my breh, Indy Neidell, explain.

All Videos from THE GREAT WAR - chronological order - YouTube

 

[Vandelay]

I never been that interested in history outside of Ancient history but I’ve been doing more reading. I always assumed Germany was the aggressor because they were in WW2 but, I don’t know brehs. The heir to the throne of Austria gets murdered in broad daylight in Serbia because the Slavs there didn’t like being under Austrian rule. The Austrians want revenge but they can’t get it because Russia is backing Serbia and will level Austria to rocks and pebbles. So Austria turns to Germany for help. It would’ve just been a battle between these four places. But France was allied with Russia. Now it’s a two front war with Germany and Austria boxed in between Russia and France on both sides. Germany tries to go all out on France to get them out the paint first so they can focus on Russia but Britain comes into the fight because Germany threw shots at Belgium in their attempts to fight France. And they got slaughtered.

I’m just trying to imagine this in modern day. If somebody killed Prince William or Prince Harry, the world would be on fire the next day. Why was it cool for them to murder their prince, have Russia protect them from getting dealt with and then have the rest of the world gang on Germany and Austria like they were in the wrong

They needed someone ultimately to blame. Biggest target on the losing side.

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

I never been that interested in history outside of Ancient history but I’ve been doing more reading. I always assumed Germany was the aggressor because they were in WW2 but, I don’t know brehs. The heir to the throne of Austria gets murdered in broad daylight in Serbia because the Slavs there didn’t like being under Austrian rule. The Austrians want revenge but they can’t get it because Russia is backing Serbia and will level Austria to rocks and pebbles. So Austria turns to Germany for help. It would’ve just been a battle between these four places. But France was allied with Russia. Now it’s a two front war with Germany and Austria boxed in between Russia and France on both sides. Germany tries to go all out on France to get them out the paint first so they can focus on Russia but Britain comes into the fight because Germany threw shots at Belgium in their attempts to fight France. And they got slaughtered.

I’m just trying to imagine this in modern day. If somebody killed Prince William or Prince Harry, the world would be on fire the next day. Why was it cool for them to murder their prince, have Russia protect them from getting dealt with and then have the rest of the world gang on Germany and Austria like they were in the wrong

Propaganda painted the Germans as the aggressors. It was Serbia’s fault!

 

[Ezra]

Short Answer - Germany was in the wrong because they lost.

Real Answer - There were no good guys in WW1. It was a bunch of nationalist empires trying to keep a hold of their empires and colonies.

If Princip didn’t murk Ferdinand, it would have been something else to start it

The early 20th Century Europe is about as complicated as it gets w weakening empires of the hapsburgs and ottomans, plus Russia royalty on its last legs, and England and France posturing to modernize. Add in German unification looking to prove themselves as a country... boom

 

[Toe Jay Simpson]

There’s a documentary by Ken Burns on this that pretty telling. It’s called A Serbian Film

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

There’s a documentary by Ken Burns on this that pretty telling. It’s called A Serbian Film

 

[MischievousMonkey]

There weren't in the wrong. They got caught in the alliances chain.

 

[Ezra]

Blaming the Serbs for starting it would be ignoring a million other factors. Might as well blame any group of people that looks to fight back against foreign rulers.

 

[desjardins]

Interesting argument OP and excellent thread.
I'm going read on this tonight, I know Franz Ferdinand got murked but always assumed he was a leader on the allies side

 

[bigdaddy88]

well Germany had imperialistic ambitions , they basically just poured gas on the fire that was the austria-serbia conflict.

and of course the victors write the history the could blame who they want since they won

once they got involve all the other big nation joined up.

its like if the U.S decided to go into Syria and Venezuela, if they were to do that then they are literally sparking WW3 since Russia and China have interest in those nations.. once u get nations like that involve its a wrap. The U.S would be blamed for starting the war even though the smaller crisis in Syria per say was the catalyst

 

[mbewane]

Short Answer - Germany was in the wrong because they lost.

Real Answer - There were no good guys in WW1. It was a bunch of nationalist empires trying to keep a hold of their empires and colonies.

If Princip didn’t murk Ferdinand, it would have been something else to start it

The early 20th Century Europe is about as complicated as it gets w weakening empires of the hapsburgs and ottomans, plus Russia royalty on its last legs, and England and France posturing to modernize. Add in German unification looking to prove themselves as a country... boom

All of this

When you think about it WW1 and WW2 are the most-known wars, but I sometimes feel like people forget that really there wars all the time in Europe. Hell Balkan Wars were just a couple of years before.

 

[MischievousMonkey]

Painting Germany as the villain and making them take all the blame for the war with the treaty of Versailles was also one of the factors that led to Hitler taking power and WW2