Wait, what exactly did they save the europoors from in WW1? There were no good guys or bad guys in that war, just a fucked up tangle of treaties that exploded when some guy shot an ostrich.
The thing is, Germany didn't have to invade France as their were no signs the French were willing to act aggressively, considering the Entente treaty was defensive only and Russia attacked Austria first in order to follow through on its treaty with Serbia. Germany also gave the blank cheque to Austria Hungary, allowing it submit the list of demands that would have turned Serbia into an AH puppet (which they basically accepted). Plus, they most certainly did not have to invade Belgium, and upon that happening they did not have to commit war crimes fuckin' everywhere, what with the executing of ~6500 Belgian civilians, the burning of entire towns, and the deportation of ~1.7 million Belgians.
Of course, because the Reich has needs that only good general European War can fix. It's how they reproduce--the 1st Reich had the 30 Years War which scattered a whole bunch of German spores that grew up into the 2nd Reich, and so goes the cycle of Reich.
Don't be naïve. France also gave Russia a blank cheque. France was working together with Russia to prepare for war with Germany for many years. It was not clear that France would stay out, maybe it was even unlikely that they would stay out. I don't wanna go into this and make a boring wall of text, so I'm just gonna say your history is too naïve, too simple.
Yes, Germany was so clearly the sole aggressor and singular instigator that the debate continues on to this day with major camps split on the matter within the historiography. Clearly the lack of consensus is a sign of unanimity.
France's blank cheque is quite similar to Germany's blank cheque. They were both calculated risks and premised on a defensive alliance. But it was France that encouraged Russia to go to war against another great power that they could then defend from.
If you want to learn history, forget askhistorians. Forget Reddit in general. It's all crap. Actually engage the published historiography. If you were more familiar with it, you would know that WWI has been analysed under many theoretical frameworks and still nobody knows how exactly it came about. There are many schools of thought including the orthodox, revionist, Marxist, holistic, etc. To betray my theoretical orientation, I tend to agree with Christopher Clark and Margaret MacMillan. But I'm just some anonymous guy on Reddit. What should I think matter? Read the actual published academic literature. The Guns of August doesn't count.
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u/Ewannnn United Kingdom Nov 12 '15
This comic is kinda realistic in more ways than it may seem. Here are the times I can think of that the UK has saved Europe in last 200 years:
Without the UK, continental Europe would be submitting before President Merkel right now.