> WWI might reasonably be described as a "no matter how hard it is, no matter how long it takes" suicide pact by Europe's greatest nations and nobles, to destroy their own positions and prestige in the world.
You’re quite right about the Great War being a suicide pact, but I think it was far more democratic than you give it credit for. Previous wars between kings and/or aristocrats would have ended far sooner, but with the industry, finance and media landscape of the early 20th century the belligerents’ hands were tied by their own populaces. It was a complete and utter catastrophe, one whose aftershocks still reverberate.
Quite true about how democratic it was, and the diminished powers of the emperors, kings, and aristocrats...though I know enough older European history to have doubts about "would have ended far sooner". Their power wasn't so diminished because they'd proven so competent in the past.
Hmm...reading your comment again, I sense that similar reflections were behind Churchill's famous quote about democracy.
You’re quite right about the Great War being a suicide pact, but I think it was far more democratic than you give it credit for. Previous wars between kings and/or aristocrats would have ended far sooner, but with the industry, finance and media landscape of the early 20th century the belligerents’ hands were tied by their own populaces. It was a complete and utter catastrophe, one whose aftershocks still reverberate.