Was World War I the error of modern history?

Oxford historian Niall Ferguson reviews the world's oldest motives for war, and concludes in his book, "The Pity of War" , that World War I was unnecessary. (Originally aired November 2000).

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[EvilSirJasper]

@TheNonConformative Why should I want to watch a load of distorted Nazi propaganda? I know where it all came from and what direction it went in - I've read enough of the rantings in 'Mein Kampf". Anyway, you are dragging this topic off subject - the question of whether Britain's entry into WW! was an error. Here I agree with Ferguson, although given the inter-relationships of the great powers that prevailed in the build up to its outbreak, it was very predictable Britain would support France.

[TheNonConformative]

@EvilSirJasper Yawn, the lolocaust...

Watch "onethirdofaholocaust" ,"buchenwald a dumb dumb portrayal of evil" or "hlocaust, hatespeech and were the egrmans so stupid".

[rick4777]

@billykingofgames I think it was mentioned in a documentary "The First World War", that Britain was under great pressure from Rusia to get involved, since Russia was a vital partner to Britain to maintain its Empire in Asia.

[TheMilitaryHistory]

...then when the League failed thirty years later...they decided to try again with the U.N.!

[TheMilitaryHistory]

I agree with Prof. Ferguson. WWI was indeed a grave error of modern history. In fact, it was a series of grave errors. From its beginning to its end; with the Versailles Treaty and the League of Nations.

[billykingofgames]

yeah, but Russia would have gotten involved regardless, because of massive French investment in france during that time

[billykingofgames]

very AJP Taylor like

[teerexness]

@EvilSirJasper, higher education=indoctrination by definition. The academic priesthood's version of prepackaged information. I've been there too. I hope that once you've had a chance to step back and apply a bit of logic that you might take a less "official" look at things. You will see some pieces of the puzzle are missing, or are in the wrong place.

[EvilSirJasper]

@teerexness I'm not 'deeply' anything, I'm open to all information that can be verified, otherwise it's just opinion. That's fine if backed up by detail, if not it's just rhetoric, that much was drilled into me by higher education which won't let you get away with anything without sources. As for your noble quest for 'the truth' it won't mean much to anyone unless you can back it up with more than opinion. Truth is lies, war is peace, love is hate, how many fingers am I holding up Winston?

[teerexness]

@EvilSirJasper, you are deeply indoctrinated. Where do you think the money comes from to fight protracted wars? Many times by peasant societies who can barely get a road or railroad built in their countries and many times even struggling to feed themselves suddenly have machine guns, artillery, supplies and support for years and years of mayhem. Is this a conspiracy theory? Is this antisemitism? I'd suggest that you stop being so naive. This isn't "theory", it's critical thinking.