Monty Python got some good alliterative mileage out of that term in their movie “And Now For Something Completely Different.” One sequence in the movie is a fake WWII British newsreel, in black and white, with suitably bombastic narration that includes the opening line “Yes, the war against the Hun continues – and as Britian’s brave boys battle against the Boche…” By the standards of genuine WWII newsreels, that’s actually not as over-the-top as it sounds to modern ears. And during a real WWII deception operation, the fake letter from General Nye to General Alexander which was the centrepiece of the “Mincemeat” disinformation scheme used such phrases as “We have had recent information that the Boche have been reinforcing and strengthening their defences in Greece and Crete…”
10 Interpretations of Who Started WWI
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An interesting article published yesterday. Two of the ten writers say that WWI was started by Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France, Britain and Serbia, which could be described as the “Murder on the Orient Express” answer (they were all responsible).
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I enjoyed reading that article. Thank you Marc.
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A Virginian never started a war!
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Edward Grey
Secretly promised Belgium and France Britain’s support, then told the British cabinet the war was unavoidable.
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Raymond Poincaré
French warmonger who prepared France for war since he was elected because he wanted back Alsace Lorraine that France lost ( Because she started that war too) in 1870.
France was really pretty much mobilized for war for 2 years ( almost like North Korea 1950). One of the reasons why Germany had to engage France first if war broke out, due to French preparations.
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Thank you for posting this article, a great read.
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Kaizer Wilhelm II with his lame arm.
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Yes, disability is a sign of evil.
Look at Richard III or Dr Strangelove; there’s a definite connection there.
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Yes, disability is a sign of evil.
Look at Richard III or Dr Strangelove; there’s a definite connection there.
It is common among the Bond mastermind villains and their major henchmen.
My coworkers were joking around that topic and then chalked it off to regular corporate HR discrimination.
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It is common among the Bond mastermind villains and their major henchmen.
And as I once read somewhere: How many of history’s great conquerors and dictators have been of even average height?
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Serbia.
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The ones who profit from war orchestrated it. Other then that a nice article.
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Very interesting video. I do have a heard time believing, however, that the early 20th century Germans would have created some sort of proto-EU had they won. The aristocratic nobility was still very much alive and well in Germany (as in many places in Europe at the time), and had the Central Powers won, they would have simply added an annexed France to the German Reich, not set them up as an equal member of a pan-European organization.
Perhaps, as Harry Turtledove suggests in his novels, if the French and British had lost WWI, nascent fascist movements would have arisen there instead of defeated Germany.
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Perhaps, as Harry Turtledove suggests in his novels, if the French and British had lost WWI, nascent fascist movements would have arisen there instead of defeated Germany.
I wouldn’t bet on that. Italy won WWI and they actually started the fascist movement. Russia lost, and they started the commie movement. I guess it depends on other things man
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Very true. I guess it just depends on the cocktail of political opinions in your country and which one gains traction.
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But Italy was not happy with its share of the spoils; it wanted more of Austria-Hungary and a big slice of Germany’s African colonies.
Orlando’s behaviour at Versailles created the myth that Italy had been hard done by, just as that of Ludendorf in fostering the “stab-in-the-back” paved the way for the Nazis. Japan also felt cheated by Versailles and waited the chance to get its own back.
Britain and France were the big winners in terms of territory, but the new possessions proved more of a burden than a boon.
The only people who really profited were of course the banks who funded both sides.
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rjpeters70 ( whom latter removed his posts in this thread and latter terminated his account) writes:
I’d offer it (Germany) was the winner of the Treaty of Versailles.
Ridiculous conclusion. The central powers all collapsed in various ways and mitigated into chaos, and in some cases led to tyranny. The powers that preserved the status quo marginally made out. England, France, USA still managed to maintain as stewards of European culture and influence. Germany is NOT the winner of Versailles whatsoever. She faced massive problems in the face of collapse, while Austria-Hungary ceased to exist and lost territory. Germany and Ottomans lost alot of territory.
Everybody lost something, USA grew the most and become or replaced England as the worlds superpower. But UK didn’t lose territory, France gained, USSR lost then regained.
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@Imperious:
I’d offer it (Germany) was the winner of the Treaty of Versailles.
Ridiculous conclusion.
I have to say I agree. Ask the German worker pushing a wheelbarrow of money to the bakery to buy his family bread if Germany was the winner of the Treaty of Versailles.
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