Can we get a general WW1-inter-war-WW2 thread going? Which period

>>272662
I always find WW1 depressing to read about.
WW2 at least has some kind of point - stopping genocidal nazis and japs from world domination and freeing Europe and Asia, but what did WW1 achieve other than millions of lives lost and being the prelude to WW2?

>>272679
??? what sort of reasoning is that?

Was it pointless for the Belgians and French who were defending themselves from aggression? For the British who stood alongside them as their treaty bound allies? For the Serbs who fought against an expansionist power?

Heck, was it pointless for the Germans and Austrians? No, it wasn't, because they believed the time to strike was now if they were to realize their ambitions. How can you possibly call the war pointless.

Of course it wasn't. What sort of post is that, like seriously.

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>>272679
If you look at both wars as an attempt to change the status quo the British Empire had put in place since its initial rise to dominance the conflicts make much more sense.

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>>272697
You tell'im

>>272697
It's more about the whole nature of it and how it turned out in the end. Sure, there might have been new nations emerging after the war, but it still caused
>rise of communism
>rise of fascism
>Great Depression
>spanish flu
>all gains after WW1 were immediately erased when WW2 started

>>272750
It's where the modern political world begins imo

>>272750
That still does not make the war pointless. I don't think there even was a pointless war at any point in history. A pointless war would be one that was started for no reason, achieved absolutely nothing, no change, no objective met, nothing. Which is probably as far removed from WW1 as you could be.

>>272776
kinda sounds like the war of 1812.....Or the Soccer War

It's a really interesting period. It's the height of folk culture for each European nation. I think after World War I there becomes a greater homogenisation of a European culture rather than separate nations.

That's not to say that the nation wasn't there, but here we are seeing a decline. People just seemed very different.

>>272776
I think the general consensus is that WW1 was a tragic, pointless war.

It was a war that no one really wanted, so it had no point.

>>272797
>I think the general consensus is that WW1 was a tragic, pointless war.
No.
>It was a war that no one really wanted, so it had no point.
Huh? What? Germany literally wanted war. So did Austria. Russia was probably not rearming just for nothing, although admittedly they were years from completion. French general staff was partially eager as well - though not the French government who held them firmly in check.

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>>272791
>after World War I there becomes a greater homogenisation of a European culture rather than separate nations.
I think that's more a post-WW2 thing with the polarization of politics and cultural identity taking a back seat to economic development policy. The East-West split let everyone focus on their similarities used to highlight their differences with the reds.

>>272810

Don't forget that the Ottomans craved a war to snatch back Balkan territories.

Also the Italians needed a war to take the Tyrol and finish up the Risorgimento,

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>>272797

That's very very very wrong, on all points.

>>272829

I disagree, I think with the fall of monarchy, the decline begins to happen.

>>272810
Certain individuals wanted war 1914 in Germany because they realised Germany couldn't create an army to challenge both Russia and France, war was far from wanted but they felt it was a necassary last ditch response to perceived encirclement.

The French government didn't want war, and you'll always have jingoistic elements in the army(and usually government).

Russia didn't want war in 1914, as you said it was still rearming after being trashed by Japan.

Austria-Hungary certainly didn't want war against a constellation of powers in Europe, only Serbia.

Britain didn't want war because it hurt trade.

The war happened in the short term because of the nature of mobilisation, not because people wanted it.

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>>272841
Interesting, I think I see what you mean but would you care to elaborate?

>>272833

The Ottomans and Italians were very much on the back bench when it came to European diplomacy, not really relevant.

>>272810
>No.
Where are you from anon? Wherever I've been, especially in Belgium across the battlefields, it's been seen as a pointless war. It's one of the reasons it's also one of the most romantic wars in terms of literature, because of the lack of a compelling political aspect, the focus is on those involved in the war.
Nobody really wanted war though, remember the government types we're dealing with.
>Germany literally wanted war. So did Austria. Russia was probably not rearming just for nothing
Look up the letters sent between Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas, they refer to one another as Willy and Nicky. They did not want war. There are certain people that did, sure, but not the entire country.

>>272850

Have you ever read Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt? She talks about these fascist and communist movements after World War I actually strived to destroy the idea of the nation state and create a new culture based on ideology. I mean, although fascist movements supported their own national identity for propaganda purposes, if you read into it further, their true goal was to bring about internationalism. Their typical goal was to create "new men" and new culture which would create a larger mass of atomised people.

When the aristocratic order broke down and hierarchy became broken (See Tocqueville for notions of bonds between men under aristocracy), political ideology becomes the new European culture. Socialism and Fascism took prominence in the minds of people and irredentism became not an excuse to expand not the nation, but to further homogenise Europe.

>>272894
>in Belgium
>the war in which we defended ourselvs against the jerries invasion and occupation was POINTLESS
hahahahahahahah u wot

>>272860

All those small nations wanted something. The Ottomans, the South Slavs, the Italians, the Balts, the Poles.

How is this irrelevant? They all got what they wanted. The war wasn't pointless for a lot of people.

>>272917
You're not wrong but you're being very pedantic, overall for all the major parties involved, considering the cause of the war, it was incredibly pointless.

No one is saying defending your homeland is pointless, but that wasn't the root cause of the war.

>>272908
Nah man, when I've been there a lot of the emphasis has been on how preventable the war was, and how unnecessary it was. People didn't want to fight, but were pulled in by a complicated clusterfuck of alliances and guarantees.
Belgium was pulled in by the Schleiffen plan, sure, and they did need to defend their land, but that doesn't mean the war as a whole wasn't pointless.
I'm just saying what I heard people saying over there, anon

>>272939

I don't think history should just be looked at the perspective of perceived "major players" it just ignores a lot of other history.

>>272949
Great, no one is going to disagree with you.

It doesn't change the fact the war was pointless, the aftermath and who gained what is irrelevant because no one went into the war expecting the end result.

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>>272662

WWI was fucking terrible and incredibly depressing, reading about it makes me want to cry.

I read somewhere that when the British Expeditionary force first entered combat, one British officer ordered his men to march forward towards the enemy in a Napoleonic double line.

[spoiler]I still want a decent game about it though.[/spoiler]

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>>273075
Can you recommend any memoirs, diaries or journals about it?

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>>272662
>would /his/ recommend good memoirs and books that give you a good feel for the experiences and mentality of WW1 soldiers?


Anyone?

Come on guys.

>>273161
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/

>>273161
Wilfred Owen wrote some stuff down.

>>273161
Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger.
A great read from a german perspective.

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>>273178
>>273212
>>273220
thank you

>>273212
kek

>>273075
People forget the first months on the Western Front before the stalemate set in.
>just walk up and slowly go towards the german artillery and machine guns, that should work

I always found the chaos of the Russian Civil War and all the nationalist wars in south and eastern Europe to be fascinating.

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inter war aircrafts are so kewl