From fff8355c79893f0a40d0556ef709ffc8ae96395e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Trent Palmer Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2021 19:20:31 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] add ideology-of-world-war-one.md --- content/ideology-of-world-war-one.md | 126 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 126 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/ideology-of-world-war-one.md diff --git a/content/ideology-of-world-war-one.md b/content/ideology-of-world-war-one.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b2c7530 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/ideology-of-world-war-one.md @@ -0,0 +1,126 @@ +Title: Ideology Of World War One +Date: 2021-12-25 +Tags: WWI, Communism, Democracy, Imperialism, Ethnicity, Podcast +Category: War + +How did ideology contribute to World War One? It did not. + +None of the extant ideological movements of the time were a factor in +causing World War One. Even _ethnicity_, which is the opposite of ideology, played only a +very small role. + +This blog post is a response to the Podcast +[When Diplomacy Fails](https://www.wdfpodcast.com/){target="_blank"}, +which asserts that ideology was a contributing factor, but I disagree. + +### Communism +None of the +[belligerents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belligerent){target="_blank"} +were pro-communist. Even if one were to speculate that any of the belligerents, +might have been capable of being motivated by the desire to prevent the +spread of communism, there was nothing to prevent. + +While it is true that the outbreak of communism in Russia was tangent, that +only lead to Russia withdrawing from the war. + +### Democracy +Democracy is interesting because it had been a huge motivation in the past. +Because the French Revolution gifted France the capability to raise +huge armies, +[The First Coalition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_First_Coalition){target="_blank"} +rose up against it. + +And Democracy certainly has been a huge factor in other wars. For instance Democracy +gave Athens the spirit to win at +[Marathon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marathon){target="_blank"}. +And Democracy enabled the allies to execute more effectively and win +World War Two. + +But despite being the most democratic belligerent in WWI, France did not even have the most +powerful army at the time, Germany did. And there is no indication that France wanted +to spread Democracy to Germany. In a vacuum the only motivation France would have had to +go to war with Germany would have been to recapture +[Alace-Loraine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsace%E2%80%93Lorraine){target="_blank"}, +which it lost in the +[Franco-Prussion War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Prussian_War){target="_blank"}, +or to possibly exchange colonial assets. + +### Imperialism +The only exception here is that Serbia's stance was in opposition to the +[Austro-Hungarian Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria-Hungary){target="_blank"}. +But in the final analysis, Serbia was merely a pawn. + +Russia, France, Italy, Austria, Britain, Ottomans, and Germany were all empires, and thus +unopposed to Imperialism as an idea. Even the King of Belgium possessed colonies. + +### Monarchy +While it is true that Austria wanted to protect the Monarchy as in institution, the fact that +[Archduke Franz Ferdinand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria){target="_blank"} +was heir to the Austrian Throne was only relevant in the local context of +the assassination in Sarajevo. Indeed, Serbia also had a King. + +### Ethnicity +The problem here is that identity is not an ideology. Identity is the opposite +of ideology. Western Elitists may very well hold the ideology that identity is +an ideology, but the ideology of identity being an ideology, is not that same +thing as identity being an ideology. This merely shows how out-of-touch Elitists are. + +But even if we stipulate that identity is an ideology, this only applied to +Russia coming to Serbia's defense because the Serbs are Slavs. And while it is +true that the war would not have happened if Russia had not stood up for Serbia, +in the final analysis Serbia was only a pawn. And furthermore, Russia was equally +motivated by _sphere-of-influence_ considerations in the Balkans. + +And while it is true that Austria was motivated to contain Serb influence +in its empire, Serbianism is not an ethnicity. A Serb is no more or less a +Slav than is a Czech, Bosnian, or Croat, all of whom were already established +within the empire. + +Were the Ottoman Turks Racist? Either way that is immaterial as they +were only able to fight effectively in defense. + +Nor did Germany invade France for ethnic reasons. Germany attacked France +because the strategy of the +[Schlieffen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlieffen_Plan){target="_blank"} +plan was to defeat France quickly +on the assumption that Russia would be slow to mobilize, thus avoiding +having to fight both at the same time. The fact that Germany entered the +war because of Russian mobilization, +and because Russia was deceptive and duplicitous about that, +is a separate issue from the strategy +of the Schlieffen plan. + +Nor did America enter the war for 'anti-German' reasons. America +entered the war because she had lent vast amounts of money to the belligerents +and needed to protect her investment. It would be as disingenuous to +cast, as racist, alarm about the +[Zimmerman Telegram](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimmermann_Telegram){target="_blank"}, +as it is to cast Trump's Border Wall as racist. + +### War as an Ideology +The Statesmen who pushed over the dominoes, may well have +embraced the Glory or War, but that was an evolution; an effect but not a cause. +As of June 28, +no one thought that the destruction of Europe would be therapeutic. + +### Conclusion +World War One was caused not by ideology, but by Nationalism and Fear. +Nationalism and Fear are not ideas, they are feelings. + +The [Donkeys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_led_by_donkeys){target="_blank"} +were not thinking men anymore than +[Democrats are](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cesSRfXqS1Q){target="_blank"}. + +Ironically, World War Two **was** caused by Idealism. From +[Wilson's 14 Points](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_Points){target="_blank"}, +to the +[Versaille Treaty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles){target="_blank"}, to the +[League of Nations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations){target="_blank"}, +to the +[Weimar Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic){target="_blank"}: +the Elites tried +to remake Society and the World according to their high-minded ideals, but then in +typical fashion shielded themselves from the negative consequences of +their idealism while being unwilling and incapable of enforcing them. +Until +[Patton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton){target="_blank"} came along.