Conference back40::soapbox

    I'm agin it.
    
    (and NO, I ain't ancient enuf to have been agin it at the time!)
    

	but was yer twirlly???

    there will be no "war to end all wars". its not in mans nature.

    
    Well, there will be if we nuke each other out of existence.

    Mz.Debra, there is no way we can fit all 5 billion of us in microwave
    ovens. I'm hedging my bets on this.
    
    Glenn

    Ummmm, I think in WWI the enemy tried gas (as in mustard) everyone
    out of existence.  Gas chambers and ovens came with the next war :-(
    
    

    
    
    I have my Great-Uncles medals from that one.  I have to find a way to
    safely display them one of these days.
    
    
    
    Mike

    There was some question in the topic on Bosnia and Serbia about why we
    should care what happens over there.
    
    I was recently reminded that World War I was precipitated by the 1914
    assassination of Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo by a
    Serbian nationalist.
    
    Apparently Serbians are not generally the nicest of folks, a disputes
    over there can get out of hand.  (Disclaimer:  This is not in any way
    intended to compare Serbians to Bill Licea-Kane.)
    
    
    				-- edp
    
    
Public key fingerprint:  8e ad 63 61 ba 0c 26 86  32 0a 7d 28 db e7 6f 75
To find PGP, read note 2688.4 in Humane::IBMPC_Shareware.

    
>    I was recently reminded that World War I was precipitated by the 1914
>    assassination of Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo by a
>    Serbian nationalist.
    
Apparently one would have to go back about 700 years before WWI to get to
the roots of the Serb/Muslim/Croat/Turk/whatever hatreds in that region.

Not that trying to negotiate(not force) a settlement isn't a good idea
but I'm not sure anyone understands what started it and why they're still
fighting least of all the combatants themselves. :-{

    
    The assassination of Ferdinand and his wife by Gavrillo Princep, (a
    Bosnian Serb) represents the 1914 version of a historical soundbite.
    Not even when I was studying history as a schoolboy in the 60's did any
    reputable historian consider the assassination to be anything other
    than one minor element in a series of excuses to start a war.
    
    It's also worth noting that as a Bosnian Serb, Princep's motives were
    more likely to do with the fact that Austria had forcibly annexed
    Bosnia and Hercegovina back in 1908.  At the time of the assassination,
    Serbia itself was autonomous.
    
    The key to the situation was the new position of Serbia as a
    self-determining nation, out from under the Turkish bootheel and keen
    not to find its way under the Austrian. Austria dared not allow this
    growth and freedom, for fear that the the Slav minorities within the
    Hapsburg empire would try to gain their own freedom.  The possible
    connivance of Russia and Serbia worried the Austrians greatly. In 1913,
    they secretly asked Germany and Italy to join in a joint "pearl
    harbour" style attack on Serbia.  Germany agreed, but Italy feared war
    with Russia decided not to participate.
    
    Meanwhile, Britain was already spoiling for a fight with Germany over
    dominance of world trade.  Germany increased it's military budget by
    $50 million, Britian by $15 million and France extended her period of
    military service. Public in these countries opinion over the fate of
    the Balkans extended from "don't know 'em" to "don't care about 'em".
    
    After the assasination, Austria presented an ultimatum to Serbia.  The
    Serbs agreed every point in an effort to Avoid war.  Austria, backed by
    Germany, attacked Serbia anyway. Russia sided with Serbia.  France was
    attacked by Germany for refusing to give a guarantee of neutrality.  In
    Britain, a newspaper published the Headline "To Hell with Serbia" but
    the British eventually went to war against Germany. The excuse was
    Britain's pledge of defense of Belgian neutrality.  (The entente did
    bind Britain to support France).
    
    At the time, the assassination alone would not have been enough of a
    popular cause to go to war and it certainly did not "precipitate" the
    war.  All the usual reasons prevailed.   Whatever, given the morals of
    the nations that surrounded them, it's difficult to characterize Serbs
    alone as "not nice".
    
    Colin

    > This note is for discussion of World War I.
    
    WW first did indeed happen.

    so you say?