Who was the right side of WW1

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

I insist it's this.

 

[The Last Stand]

I'd say the Germans, only because they got screwed with the Treaty of Versailles.

 

[5t3n0g0ph3r]

Like the Crimean War, the only real immediate result was the pointless loss of life and the breakdown of empires.
The overall result planted the seeds for the Second World War (If not the Cold War, if the rise of the Soviet Union is to be considered).

 

[The Last Stand]

Whoever shot that Archduke fellow, your mom's a ho.

World War I isn't really discussed much compared to WWII. I would say there's no "right" side from that War; there's a bit of moral ambiguity and events that led up to that conflict.

 

[Get_your_kicks_with_30-06]

I'd say the Germans, only because they got screwed with the Treaty of Versailles.

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

 

[Maskull]

The only peoples whose actions can be viewed as justified were the ethnic minorities long trapped beneath the boot of empire. Aside from that there is no government involved whose motives are morally clean enough you could call them good.

 

[5t3n0g0ph3r]

Whoever shot that Archduke fellow, your mom's a ho.

Agreed.
Gavrilo Princip is an asshole and his grave (if it exists) should be spat on.

The only peoples whose actions can be viewed as justified were the ethnic minorities long trapped beneath the boot of empire.

Unless you were a Russian Cossack. They got boned.

 

[The Last Stand]

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.

What did Germany do exactly to be held responsible for paying reparations to affected countries?

 

[Get_your_kicks_with_30-06]

What did Germany do exactly to be held responsible for paying reparations to affected countries?

Lose the war

 

[Maskull]

Unless you were a Russian Cossack. They got boned.

Everyone directly involved in the fighting were and so too many civilians. This is why I specified government. The man crouched in the mud with gunbutt against his shoulder was hardly given a choice where, how and why he would die.

 

[5t3n0g0ph3r]

Everyone directly involved in the fighting were and so too many civilians. This is why I specified government. The man crouched in the mud with gunbutt against his shoulder was hardly given a choice where, how and why he would die.

Not to mention the Spanish Flu epidemic occurred in the waning days of the war.
That must have sucked.

 

[Dr Naomi Hunter]

No one. it was a pointless war that unleashed untold horrors on Europe.

 

[Maskull]

Not to mention the Spanish Flu epidemic occurred in the waning days of the war.
That must have sucked.

Finally arriving home after years of ducking bullets and dear family member develops an ominous sniffle. All times were bad but then was special.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

I'd say the Germans, only because they got screwed with the Treaty of Versailles.

Counterpoint: the Germans didn't give a fuck about punitive, abusive treaties when they forced Russia into Brest-Livotsk or forced the Romanians out of the war.

 

[The Last Stand]

Again, my WWI history is a bit rusty. Nobody talks about it.

 

[PrussiansMarchingOn1819]

Germany certainly get blame for the war because it was the only country in the Central Powers that was taken care of business. Austria declared war on Serbia, Germany stepped in when Russia got involve and so did France because of their alliance they had with Russia. England saw Germany as a new dangerous rival and France was still pissed about losing the Franco-Prussian War in the early 1870s. Now if Germany didn't invade Belgium, England might of stay out of the war entirely. The Zimmermann Letter was foolish on the Germans because they thought they could entice the Mexicans to invade the American Southwest, California and Texas. The Mexicans simply didn't have the resources to invade and occupied land in the United States.

 

[Syaoran Li]

What did Germany do exactly to be held responsible for paying reparations to affected countries?

They won the Franco-Prussian War in the 1870's and were the only one of the Central Powers who hadn't completely collapsed into anarchy by the end of 1918.

Coincidentally, Germany was the only one of the Central Powers who showed any real military competence.

The Ottoman Empire was the OG sick man of Europe whose only real victories in WWI were at Gallipoli when the ANZAC's foolishly thought the Turks couldn't gun down all of them if they all did the Naruto Run into the Ottoman lines or were when they were up against Armenian civies.

Austria-Hungary was a clusterfuck that got whooped by the Russian Empire fairly early in the war, which is why Germany stepped in and defeated Russia at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes.

Russia's piss-poor performance in WWI helped spark the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and was legendary, but Austria-Hungary did even worse and the Brusilov Offensive more or less crushed the Hapsburg forces completely in the East and probably led to the Kaiser paying for Lenin's train ticket to Saint Petersburg.

Also, the Austro-Hungarian forces were defeated by Italy of all countries.

Germany was fucked over because Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire were more or less existing only on paper by the November armistice in 1918, and had to surrender to a vindictive France looking to avenge the Franco-Prussian War and the United States, who now became the premiere superpower because of this war and was royally pissed about the Lusitania and the Zimmerman Telegram.

That whole war was a complete clusterfuck on all ends

 

[inception_state]

Now if Germany didn't invade Belgium, England might of stay out of the war entirely.

Nah, England was going to find a reason, Belgium just gave them a convenient excuse. Their long-term strategy was to keep continental Europe weak and divided, and Germany was the biggest threat to that, as Germany demonstrated that they were miles ahead of the rest of the continent militarily by spanking France in the Franco-Prussian War.

The war was a complete mess, but the part that I think was the most misrepresented was the Lusitania incident. The version I learned in high school was something along the lines of "evil Germans torpedoed innocent Americans on a pleasure cruise to England", but it turns out they were actually also carrying hundreds of tons of undeclared war munitions. Was it justified? I don't know, but that looks an awful lot like the Palestinian strategy of launching mortars out of hospitals and then crying foul when they get drone striked.

 

[soy_king]

The Fall of the German Empire was a true catastrophe. Germany got shat on for starting wars when in reality France started pretty much every European war, with the exceptions of the last one (directly at least) and the Franco-Prussian War.

 

[MrJokerRager]

Everyone forgets Japan fought in WW1 on the side of the allies, got fucked by the League of Nations, which led to changing sides in WW2.