- Highlight
- #21
United Kingdom, 2/5 Villainy: The British failed to their honor secret agreement with France, and only entered war due to public agreement with Belgium. The British made secret treaties throughout the war that were all dishonored. This lead to a century of chaos in places such as the middle-east. Their propaganda machine was the best and lied the most. For example, the German decision to execute nurses for spying was the centerpiece of British propaganda but those nurses actually were spies. The British executed German nurses who were spies and the Germans simply admitted they were spies.
French Republic, 1/5 Villainy: Was invaded by Germany based on the understanding that France would support Russia based on their alliance. France had very little revanchism regarding Alsace Lorraine at this point and their alliance was entirely defensive. Large portions of France were occupied and made uninhabitable as the result of the war. The French were "bled white" by the war and wanted Germany harshly punished. After the war they occupied Germany to extract reparations but abandoned that program for delayed payments. They used the war to expand their empire.
German Empire, 4/5 Villainy: Kaiser Wilhelm irresponsibly declared that he would support Austria. This blank cheque empowered Austria-Hungary to act push for war. During the war the Germans were the first to commit war crimes via chemical weapons and unrestricted submarine warfare. The German high command were strongly influenced by the ideas of Lebensraum and wanted to transform eastern Europe into a feudal society dominated by ethnic Germans. Such societies already existed in the Baltic states. The Germans actively sabotaged their economy to avoid paying war reparations.
Austro-Hungarian Empire, 4/5 Villainy: Konrad Von Hotsendorf, his general staff the Hungarian parliament wanted to dominate the slavs. They intentionally made overbearing demands that would be rejected and were surprised when all but one was denied. They went to war anyway and their army was crippled due to ethnic conflicts within the military. They had expected to get their way as they were the only great power to not have used their one free pass to get whatever they want during a crisis. Russia had been able to bully Poland, France was given a pass during the Morocco crisis, etc.
Ottoman Empire, 5/5 Villainy: The Ottomans were forced into the war by a clique of officers who orchestrated an attack on Russia. These officers mismanaged the army. Envar Pasha lost a whole army invading the Caucasian mountains during the winter without the proper equipment. The Ottomans were crushed at Suez but were able to survive thanks to the leadership of Attaturk. The bad situation of the war was blamed on ethnic minorities instead of mismanagement. This resulted in several genocides against groups like the Greeks, Armenians, and Assyrians. The Armenian genocide was used to create the word genocide.
Russian Empire, 3/5 Villainy: Russia was the protector of the Slavs and so declared war on Austria in defense of Serbia. They were allied with France to contain Germany. Germany declared war on Russia and annihilated the Russian military over the course of 3 years. The Czar was incompetent and being cucked by a magical homeless man but he meant well. He willingly conceded power but foolishly remained in the country. His oppressive empire was replaced by the just as oppressive USSR.
United States of America , 0/5 Villainy: Germany began sinking American shipping as part of their policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. This policy resulted in the sinking of civilian ships (that were carrying weapons). The Germans also violated the Monroe doctrine by trying to manipulate Mexico into fighting the USA. It is very unlikely that these were the reasons as few people wanted war despite these atrocities and violations of American honor. Regardless, the USA funded the allied effort through loans and finished off Germany with their soldiers. The US policy during the treaty of Versailles was the promotion of national self-determination and democracy. After the war the USA went to great efforts to stabilize Europe through economic schemes and diplomatic intervention.
The Central Powers seem to be the bad guys. They lack war justification and were more willing to commit war-crimes. All of the powers were empires to some degree but the amount of racial domination and genocide displayed by the central powers is clearly worse. Russia was the most autocratic of the great powers but their war aims were in honor of agreements that were known to all. Their entry into the war as the result of Austro-Hungarian aggression and foolishness. Germany's strike first strategy was defensive in nature but it was the incompetence of their leadership that enabled the war to begin with. It should be noted that the majority of the population in all of these nations did not desire war.
Germany was treated relatively well by the war. The inflation crisis was caused by bad monetary policy, not war debts. Those debts were also justified due to them actually invading other countries. Their borders were left relatively untouched and the USA even offered them generous loans to finance their ruined economy.
Pushing Austria-Hungary into declaring war, declaring war on other great powers, invading neutral minor countries and committing atrocities.
French Republic, 1/5 Villainy: Was invaded by Germany based on the understanding that France would support Russia based on their alliance. France had very little revanchism regarding Alsace Lorraine at this point and their alliance was entirely defensive. Large portions of France were occupied and made uninhabitable as the result of the war. The French were "bled white" by the war and wanted Germany harshly punished. After the war they occupied Germany to extract reparations but abandoned that program for delayed payments. They used the war to expand their empire.
German Empire, 4/5 Villainy: Kaiser Wilhelm irresponsibly declared that he would support Austria. This blank cheque empowered Austria-Hungary to act push for war. During the war the Germans were the first to commit war crimes via chemical weapons and unrestricted submarine warfare. The German high command were strongly influenced by the ideas of Lebensraum and wanted to transform eastern Europe into a feudal society dominated by ethnic Germans. Such societies already existed in the Baltic states. The Germans actively sabotaged their economy to avoid paying war reparations.
Austro-Hungarian Empire, 4/5 Villainy: Konrad Von Hotsendorf, his general staff the Hungarian parliament wanted to dominate the slavs. They intentionally made overbearing demands that would be rejected and were surprised when all but one was denied. They went to war anyway and their army was crippled due to ethnic conflicts within the military. They had expected to get their way as they were the only great power to not have used their one free pass to get whatever they want during a crisis. Russia had been able to bully Poland, France was given a pass during the Morocco crisis, etc.
Ottoman Empire, 5/5 Villainy: The Ottomans were forced into the war by a clique of officers who orchestrated an attack on Russia. These officers mismanaged the army. Envar Pasha lost a whole army invading the Caucasian mountains during the winter without the proper equipment. The Ottomans were crushed at Suez but were able to survive thanks to the leadership of Attaturk. The bad situation of the war was blamed on ethnic minorities instead of mismanagement. This resulted in several genocides against groups like the Greeks, Armenians, and Assyrians. The Armenian genocide was used to create the word genocide.
Russian Empire, 3/5 Villainy: Russia was the protector of the Slavs and so declared war on Austria in defense of Serbia. They were allied with France to contain Germany. Germany declared war on Russia and annihilated the Russian military over the course of 3 years. The Czar was incompetent and being cucked by a magical homeless man but he meant well. He willingly conceded power but foolishly remained in the country. His oppressive empire was replaced by the just as oppressive USSR.
United States of America , 0/5 Villainy: Germany began sinking American shipping as part of their policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. This policy resulted in the sinking of civilian ships (that were carrying weapons). The Germans also violated the Monroe doctrine by trying to manipulate Mexico into fighting the USA. It is very unlikely that these were the reasons as few people wanted war despite these atrocities and violations of American honor. Regardless, the USA funded the allied effort through loans and finished off Germany with their soldiers. The US policy during the treaty of Versailles was the promotion of national self-determination and democracy. After the war the USA went to great efforts to stabilize Europe through economic schemes and diplomatic intervention.
The Central Powers seem to be the bad guys. They lack war justification and were more willing to commit war-crimes. All of the powers were empires to some degree but the amount of racial domination and genocide displayed by the central powers is clearly worse. Russia was the most autocratic of the great powers but their war aims were in honor of agreements that were known to all. Their entry into the war as the result of Austro-Hungarian aggression and foolishness. Germany's strike first strategy was defensive in nature but it was the incompetence of their leadership that enabled the war to begin with. It should be noted that the majority of the population in all of these nations did not desire war.
Probably one of the biggest crimes done to a nation in recent history was what happened to Germany after the first world war.
And its hard to view the players in WW1 without bringing up WW2 considering the second is a direct result of the resolution of the first. So yeah the allies were pretty terrible to be able to do what they did to Germany.
Now yeah the Germans in WW1 were the first to use poison gas and I think they had did some mass rapings but it was total war. All is fair in love and war
Germany was treated relatively well by the war. The inflation crisis was caused by bad monetary policy, not war debts. Those debts were also justified due to them actually invading other countries. Their borders were left relatively untouched and the USA even offered them generous loans to finance their ruined economy.
Pushing Austria-Hungary into declaring war, declaring war on other great powers, invading neutral minor countries and committing atrocities.
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