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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Dec 19, 2022 13:58:05 GMT
What if he was a dedicated pacifist? Would he be able to prevent ww1 from happening?
IMO he would never build his fleet so at least that would prevent Britain from joining the Entente.
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raunchel
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Post by raunchel on Dec 20, 2022 7:20:15 GMT
What if he was a dedicated pacifist? Would he be able to prevent ww1 from happening? IMO he would never build his fleet so at least that would prevent Britain from joining the Entente. The fleet wasn't the only reason or even a serious reason. It was at most something the navy could use to demand more budgets. Britain joining the Entente had more to do with their interests generally aligning with France. That said, I don't think that a pacifist leader could have survived at that time, especially in Germany where the army was a major power. So he'd probably get sidelined or even replaced. An emperor who somehow manages to obtain the power to mostly do away with the army indeed makes ww1 much less likely but at the same time probably faces a war much sooner because France still wants Alsace-Lorraine and Russia will keep trying to create a Balkan mess. |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Dec 20, 2022 15:26:52 GMT
What if he was a dedicated pacifist? Would he be able to prevent ww1 from happening? IMO he would never build his fleet so at least that would prevent Britain from joining the Entente. The fleet wasn't the only reason or even a serious reason. It was at most something the navy could use to demand more budgets. Britain joining the Entente had more to do with their interests generally aligning with France. That said, I don't think that a pacifist leader could have survived at that time, especially in Germany where the army was a major power. So he'd probably get sidelined or even replaced. An emperor who somehow manages to obtain the power to mostly do away with the army indeed makes ww1 much less likely but at the same time probably faces a war much sooner because France still wants Alsace-Lorraine and Russia will keep trying to create a Balkan mess.
I wouldn't say the clear German threat at sea wasn't a serious reason. Britain increasingly settled differences with France and then even Russia largely because while they both threatened colonial and trade interests the German naval challenge threatened the security of Britain itself.
Otherwise agree. Can see Wilhelm being quickly sidelined if he actually sought to reduce the sign and importance of the army. Both because of its immense power in Germany and because with Germany stuck between a revancist France and a growing Russia a sufficiently strong army was needed to protect the country.
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Dec 20, 2022 16:24:41 GMT
Could he keep the League of Three Emperors if he tried hard enough?
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raunchel
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Post by raunchel on Dec 20, 2022 18:24:02 GMT
Could he keep the League of Three Emperors if he tried hard enough? [br The problem with that is that Austria-Hungary and Russia had strongly divergent interests, particularly in the Balkans but also elsewhere. And that made keeping the alliance real and strong very difficult indeed. A more restive Serbia is a given and Pan-Slavism was very strong, which only drives a bigger wedge between them. And, of course, when the choice is between Russia and Austria-Hungary, Germany would choose their southern neighbour for strong domestic reasons. But it could be done. That however opens up a very weak southern flank and Austria-Hungary, despite later impressions, was no pushover. |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Dec 21, 2022 16:11:54 GMT
Could he keep the League of Three Emperors if he tried hard enough? [br The problem with that is that Austria-Hungary and Russia had strongly divergent interests, particularly in the Balkans but also elsewhere. And that made keeping the alliance real and strong very difficult indeed. A more restive Serbia is a given and Pan-Slavism was very strong, which only drives a bigger wedge between them. And, of course, when the choice is between Russia and Austria-Hungary, Germany would choose their southern neighbour for strong domestic reasons. But it could be done. That however opens up a very weak southern flank and Austria-Hungary, despite later impressions, was no pushover.
No pushover but it wouldn't last that long if facing Germany and Russia, along with possibly others snipping at its other flanks. However the real problem is that a Russo-German alliance is inherently unstable. Because Russia is the only continental European power that could challenge German pre-eminance and neither would be willing to take 2nd place to the other.
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Post by Max Sinister on Dec 22, 2022 3:19:47 GMT
There's some AH on the German wiki which suggests that he witnesses an uprising of organized laborers being brutally suppressed by the army, so he becomes a pacifist. link |
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