Article

2004-08-26 Europe

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Posted by anonymous2u 2004-08-26 2:02:34 AM|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 A masterful skewering of France.

Posted by virginian 2004-08-26 9:21:22 AM|| 2004-08-26 9:21:22 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Problem is France had an alliance w/Russia,while merely an informal understanding w/Britain.And France would not have had that understanding w/out the Kaiser's Germany p****ing off Britain over fleet construction.There is also little matter that France neither started WW1,nor wanted it to happen for several years to come.France(and Germany)discounted British ability to contribute to land operations,France was counting on Russia to help win any war w/Germany.And Russia was several years away from recovering from 1905 Russian-Japanese War fiasco.In fact,if Britain had had a formal alliance w/France there is strong possibility Kaiser would not have agreed to giving Austria the "blank check"that caused WW1.A more appropriate lesson the British might have learned from WW1 is that keeping all your options open,that keeping everyone guessing as to your policy is not the best way to conduct foreign policy,that it is better if the world knows where you stand.

Posted by Stephen 2004-08-26 11:19:42 AM|| 2004-08-26 11:19:42 AM|| Front Page Top

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