NationStates Jolt Archive

Everyone know who Gavrillo Princep is?

Well, he's the assassin that started World War I. Without World War I, there would have never been World War II, Hitler never would have came to power, Israel would not be a state, Russia would have never fallen to communism, and America would have never become a world power. The thing is...when Princep first puts his sights on the Archduke Francis Ferdinand (the guy he assassinated to start WWI), he changed his mind. Disgusted with himself, Princep packed up his gun and walked home. He stopped by a bar, that was off the parade route. Apparantly, the chaffeur took a wrong turn though, and Ferdinand's open motor cade was headed towards Princep. Princep viewed it as a sign of God that he was supposed to assassinate Ferdinand, and so when he had his second chance, he assassinated him, and thus began World War I.

America was already a superpower but not a ULTRA-SUPERPOWER like it is today. But WW1 would have probaly happened anyway because Austria was looking to invade serbia anyway.

Everyone know who Gavrillo Princep is?

Well, he's the assassin that started World War I. Without World War I, there would have never been World War II, Hitler never would have came to power, Israel would not be a state, Russia would have never fallen to communism, and America would have never become a world power. The thing is...when Princep first puts his sights on the Archduke Francis Ferdinand (the guy he assassinated to start WWI), he changed his mind. Disgusted with himself, Princep packed up his gun and walked home. He stopped by a bar, that was off the parade route. Apparantly, the chaffeur took a wrong turn though, and Ferdinand's open motor cade was headed towards Princep. Princep viewed it as a sign of God that he was supposed to assassinate Ferdinand, and so when he had his second chance, he assassinated him, and thus began World War I.

WW1 would have happened anyway... They were allready in an arms race and it was only a matter of time when war would break out.

America wasn't a superpower before WWI. But I can buy the argument that WWI might have happened either way, it's hard to say though.

Everyone know who Gavrillo Princep is?

Well, he's the assassin that started World War I. Without World War I, there would have never been World War II, Hitler never would have came to power, Israel would not be a state, Russia would have never fallen to communism, and America would have never become a world power. The thing is...when Princep first puts his sights on the Archduke Francis Ferdinand (the guy he assassinated to start WWI), he changed his mind. Disgusted with himself, Princep packed up his gun and walked home. He stopped by a bar, that was off the parade route. Apparantly, the chaffeur took a wrong turn though, and Ferdinand's open motor cade was headed towards Princep. Princep viewed it as a sign of God that he was supposed to assassinate Ferdinand, and so when he had his second chance, he assassinated him, and thus began World War I.

It's not a forgone conclusion that none of the things you listed would have occured had Princep never assassinated Ferdinand. Individuals have very little ability to influence the great tributaries of history.

I tend to side with the notion that things would have turned out shitty no matter what.

WW1 would have happened anyway... They were allready in an arms race and it was only a matter of time when war would break out.
Who was in an arms race?

Everyone know who Gavrillo Princep is?

Well, he's the assassin that started World War I. Without World War I, there would have never been World War II, Hitler never would have came to power, Israel would not be a state, Russia would have never fallen to communism, and America would have never become a world power. The thing is...when Princep first puts his sights on the Archduke Francis Ferdinand (the guy he assassinated to start WWI), he changed his mind. Disgusted with himself, Princep packed up his gun and walked home. He stopped by a bar, that was off the parade route. Apparantly, the chaffeur took a wrong turn though, and Ferdinand's open motor cade was headed towards Princep. Princep viewed it as a sign of God that he was supposed to assassinate Ferdinand, and so when he had his second chance, he assassinated him, and thus began World War I.

Instead, Britain would still be the major world power, the old Empires would still exist, America would have spent much longer in isolation, Japan could have become a major military power, communism would not have threatened capitalism enough for the US to have brought in major social changes to benefit the workers, Russia and Austria would have scrapped over the Balkans anyway and the world would be a marginally crappier place.
Also, technology would not have moved on as much and we may never have had the jet engine, let alone space travel and the League of Nations would have still been bumbling along less effectivly than the UN do today.

The League of Nations wouldn't even exist.

EDIT: That is to say, if we accept the notion that WWI wouldn't have happened, then it must be true that League of Nations also would never came into existence.

I tend to side with the notion that things would have turned out shitty no matter what.

LOL! It must be sad to be so cynical at such an early age! Tsk! :)

It's hard to tell. Eliminating only one factor of greater history as we know it might have had consequences resulting in a totally different world - or not. That's the problem when dealing with time travel and manipulation of the past. It is impossible to foresee all the "What ifs..."

Who was in an arms race?

Austria and Serbia.
And all their friends...

Austria and Serbia.
And all their friends...

Austria vs Russia.
Germany vs Britain
France was also improving the Maginot line.

Everyone know who Gavrillo Princep is?

Well, he's the assassin that started World War I. Without World War I, there would have never been World War II, Hitler never would have came to power, Israel would not be a state, Russia would have never fallen to communism, and America would have never become a world power. The thing is...when Princep first puts his sights on the Archduke Francis Ferdinand (the guy he assassinated to start WWI), he changed his mind. Disgusted with himself, Princep packed up his gun and walked home. He stopped by a bar, that was off the parade route. Apparantly, the chaffeur took a wrong turn though, and Ferdinand's open motor cade was headed towards Princep. Princep viewed it as a sign of God that he was supposed to assassinate Ferdinand, and so when he had his second chance, he assassinated him, and thus began World War I.
He didn't cause WW1. He was just the last drop. Sort of speak. For years Serbia antagonised Austria, with Russian support, ever since Austria annexed Bosnia. Thereby destroying the dream of a great Serbia. France was hoping for a Austrian mobilisation against Serbia which would have caused a Russian mobilisation against Austria which again would have forced Germany to either stand by their Austrian allies and mobilise or stand by and see Austria beeing slorped up by Russia which would have threatened their southern borders. Pheeew......
France had neutralised Italy, who was officially allied to Germany and Austria, in a secret treaty ever since 1902. Which ensured Italian neutrality in case of a German-French conflict. Regardless who fired the first proverbial shot. France still wanted revenge for the lost French-German war of 1870-1871 which costed them Alsace and Lorraine.

France was also improving the Maginot line.
The Maginot line wasn't build untill after the war.

Everyone know who Gavrillo Princep is?
-snip-

Yeah, I posted something like this back on the Old Forums - now at least ppl believe me on it.

Who was in an arms race?

Chiefly Britain and Germany (especially at sea), but everyone, really.

WWI was probably going to happen at some point. You had two rival power blocs: the Triple Entente (Russia, France, Britain) vs the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria, Italy), just waiting for a spark to set them off. It was like the Cold War, only more stable economically. There was no way for one alliance to outspend the other like USA vs USSR. Plus Germany's economy was growing much faster than Britain's. Arguably Britain had to go to war with Germany soon, otherwise the Royal Navy would no longer have been capable of defeating the rapidly growing Kriegsmarine. That's probably why we used the flimsy excuse of the 1830 Belgium treaty to declare war.