Ultimately, did those in WWI die in vain?

[BugsyPal]

Originally Posted by banjomike

Actually the war settled something very grand and longstanding.

It ended the age of royal rule in Europe.

That was an end that had never happened in 1,000 years previously. Whether or not the deaths were in vain is very debatable; if a purpose for war is to settle all accounts, it surely accomplished that.

But the lingering royal grudge match that killed millions still needed more punishment of the worst offender of the royal bunch, and that led to the causes of WWII.

Maybe, if Queen Victoria's kids and grandkids had all been taught to play nicer with each other, the incredible bloodshed could have been avoided.

But then, absolute Kings never played nice with each other. So its nothing but wishful thinking.

It wasn't WWI per se that ended many of the monarchies of Europe, but the United States in the person of Woodrow Wilson along with the other Allies that refused any peace long as Wilhelm II and the rest of German royals remained. Then there were the revolutions breaking out all over Germany, largely prompted by the local conditions caused by war.


Wilson also was instrumental in putting the final nail in the Austro-Hungarian empire:


"The Habsburg regime's doom was sealed when Wilson's response to the note sent two and a half weeks earlier arrived on 20 October." Wilson rejected the continuation of the dual monarchy as a negotiable possibility.[SIZE=2][157][/SIZE] As one of his Fourteen Points, President Woodrow Wilson demanded that the nationalities of Austria-Hungary have the "freest opportunity to autonomous development". In response, Emperor Karl I agreed to reconvene the Imperial Parliament in 1917 and allow the creation of a confederation with each national group exercising self-governance. However the leaders of these national groups rejected the idea; they deeply distrusted Vienna and were now determined to get independence."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austri...ry#Dissolution


Revolution had already removed the Czar of Russia and ended the Romanov rule, with Germany and the Habsburgs now also gone most of the major "royalty" in Europe was now kaput.

[jbgusa]

Originally Posted by BugsyPal

Revolution had already removed the Czar of Russia and ended the Romanov rule, with Germany and the Habsburgs now also gone most of the major "royalty" in Europe was now kaput.

Well Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, and Monaco remain monarchies to this day. Hungary restored its monarchy between the wars. Spain eventually restored monarchy and remains such. Only Germany, Italy and Austria (formerly Austria-Hungary) and the USSR became republics or republican dictatorships.

[English Dave]

The First World War was a bloodbath. In the middle of it, in 1916, was the Battle of the Somme. On the first day, there were 57.470 British casualties, with 19,240 killed. Even now, 100 years later, this awful war is not forgotten.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbesDz90vhE



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lZCzM9OjyI