*nods* A small war is usually preferable to a big war.
Joel Send a noteboard - 07/04/2010 01:49:06 AM
Some French victory over Germany in the final decades of the 19th century, to let off pressure and serve as revenge for the Franco-Prussian war, and then maybe WW1 doesn't happen anymore. Or even just a war caused by one of the earlier crises of the 20th century - the Morocco one, for instance - in which Germany and France duke it out alone and the UK and Russia stay out.
Another interesting question if we're going to talk alternative history, is how WW1 would've happened - if at all - if Belgium hadn't been created. Either with the Kingdom of the Netherlands remaining together, or with France holding on to those lands. After all, the German violation of Belgian neutrality was the decisive factor in bringing the UK into the war.
Another interesting question if we're going to talk alternative history, is how WW1 would've happened - if at all - if Belgium hadn't been created. Either with the Kingdom of the Netherlands remaining together, or with France holding on to those lands. After all, the German violation of Belgian neutrality was the decisive factor in bringing the UK into the war.
Unless it just sets the stage for the next one the way the Franco-Prussian Wars did. Sometimes I think Bismarck was too successful for his own good; he seems to have been sincere in just wanting to integrate what he considered "German" territory into the nation proper, but by the time that goal had been achieved it had worked SO well that the Kaiser started buying into the whole "manifest destiny" line.
As to the other point you raise, I hadn't thought about it, but it's a good one. Without checking, I don't know what role Britains rivalry with the Netherlands from the Age of Exploration down to the colonial era had in England acting as Belgian Protector, but they might not have been as willing to stick their neck out for the Dutch. And, of course, if Belgium is just a French province it's to some degree another Franco-Prussian war (though I'm not sure ties between the British and Russian royal families wouldn't have dragged Britain anyway when Russia declared war on Germany in defense of Serbia, but Britain might have opted for neutrality to avoid another Crimean War. )
Honorbound and honored to be Bonded to Mahtaliel Sedai
Last First in wotmania Chat
Slightly better than chocolate.
Love still can't be coerced.
Please Don't Eat the Newbies!
LoL. Be well, RAFOlk.
Last First in wotmania Chat
Slightly better than chocolate.
Love still can't be coerced.
Please Don't Eat the Newbies!

LoL. Be well, RAFOlk.
I know I just did a survey, but this was too good to pass up.
- 07/04/2010 12:44:15 AM
864 Views
Myself: World War I.
- 07/04/2010 12:45:57 AM
737 Views
I don't think it's that simple.
- 07/04/2010 12:57:16 AM
686 Views
I see your point.
- 07/04/2010 01:02:33 AM
680 Views
True, one might even say *adding* a war there would've improved things.
- 07/04/2010 01:36:07 AM
642 Views
*nods* A small war is usually preferable to a big war.
- 07/04/2010 01:49:06 AM
638 Views
Re: True, one might even say *adding* a war there would've improved things.
- 07/04/2010 10:48:49 AM
650 Views
I had a teacher with an interesting theory related to that
- 07/04/2010 12:57:49 AM
528 Views
Well, at this time, it was pretty well accepted that Russia wasn't exactly a techinical power.
- 07/04/2010 01:04:35 AM
483 Views
The Plague
- 07/04/2010 12:52:33 AM
619 Views
Re: The Plague
- 07/04/2010 01:05:35 AM
514 Views
He must be talking about a different plague, but I'm not sure which one, either. *NM*
- 07/04/2010 01:37:32 AM
392 Views
Maybe; there were episodic plague epidemics before and after that time.
- 07/04/2010 02:05:18 AM
676 Views
I am talking about one of the plagues not THE plague
- 07/04/2010 02:50:25 AM
618 Views
Re: I am talking about one of the plagues not THE plague
- 07/04/2010 08:45:26 PM
611 Views
I'm so glad you have the time and inclination to type up these replies.
*NM*
- 08/04/2010 07:09:22 AM
390 Views
*NM*
- 08/04/2010 07:09:22 AM
390 Views
...?
- 08/04/2010 07:51:14 PM
526 Views
Sounds like he was thanking you for saving him the effort of writing a similar reply. *NM*
- 08/04/2010 09:28:55 PM
410 Views
OK, think this one's been pretty thoroughly covered in my absence.
- 13/04/2010 11:51:16 AM
677 Views
- 13/04/2010 11:51:16 AM
677 Views
The spread of Christianity
- 07/04/2010 12:55:29 AM
696 Views
Re: The spread of Christianity
- 08/04/2010 09:29:17 AM
534 Views
But wasn't Christianity the inspiration for a whole era of art? *NM*
- 08/04/2010 01:41:34 PM
483 Views
Re: But wasn't Christianity the inspiration for a whole era of art?
- 08/04/2010 01:44:36 PM
664 Views
The product of Christian inspiration was heavily Hellenistic in origin...
- 08/04/2010 07:54:12 PM
509 Views
The destruction of the Great Library.
- 07/04/2010 01:02:59 AM
590 Views
Internet spam sucks indeed.
- 07/04/2010 01:08:23 AM
690 Views
We'll never know; makes for fascinating speculative fiction.
- 07/04/2010 01:13:49 AM
643 Views
This whole topic is wild, it's something I sometimes think about.
- 07/04/2010 01:17:50 AM
626 Views
"Joel captures Alexandria! The Great Library is destroyed!" *NM*
- 07/04/2010 01:08:35 AM
261 Views
It's crazy to think that the human knowledge base doubles every 2 years...
- 07/04/2010 08:49:28 PM
486 Views
Literacy and communication have literally made a world of difference.
- 13/04/2010 09:25:45 AM
571 Views
if the giant meteor hadn't destroyed the dinosaurs...
- 07/04/2010 01:10:42 AM
554 Views
"FOR" global warming? Now there's a phrase I never thought I'd here!
- 07/04/2010 01:16:04 AM
472 Views
The spread of Islam
- 07/04/2010 01:26:11 AM
652 Views
oh aren't you clever. *NM*
- 07/04/2010 01:47:13 AM
370 Views
There's such a thing as being right for the wrong reasons, though I'm not sure he is.
- 07/04/2010 02:12:14 AM
469 Views
Wikipedia is of course not a scholarly source, but all the same...
- 07/04/2010 11:57:01 AM
622 Views
Fair enough.
- 07/04/2010 12:51:16 PM
612 Views
Re: The spread of Islam
- 08/04/2010 09:24:31 AM
687 Views
I...do not know.
- 07/04/2010 07:18:13 AM
523 Views
A lot of times, you change one thing, and everything changes- even the things you don't think about.
- 07/04/2010 12:26:51 PM
484 Views
Amusing that the underlying expectation seems to be more along political history lines
- 07/04/2010 12:56:49 PM
707 Views
Here's one that'll be more to your liking...
- 08/04/2010 10:40:53 AM
459 Views
Re: Here's one that'll be more to your liking...
- 08/04/2010 11:58:27 AM
493 Views
Uh...
- 08/04/2010 12:11:14 PM
652 Views
Re: Uh...
- 08/04/2010 12:15:20 PM
670 Views
The Devil is always in the details
- 08/04/2010 12:29:25 PM
614 Views
- 08/04/2010 12:29:25 PM
614 Views
Re: The Devil is always in the details
- 08/04/2010 12:32:34 PM
403 Views
- 08/04/2010 12:32:34 PM
403 Views
Not really
- 08/04/2010 01:07:57 PM
572 Views
Re: Not really
- 08/04/2010 01:10:16 PM
490 Views
Only to a degree
- 08/04/2010 01:27:22 PM
588 Views
Re: Only to a degree
- 08/04/2010 01:30:12 PM
700 Views
I was into cultural and religious history
- 08/04/2010 01:38:24 PM
595 Views
Re: I was into cultural and religious history
- 08/04/2010 01:41:31 PM
466 Views
Ha!
- 08/04/2010 01:49:23 PM
624 Views
- 08/04/2010 01:49:23 PM
624 Views
Re: Ha!
- 08/04/2010 01:51:28 PM
449 Views
- 08/04/2010 01:51:28 PM
449 Views
Since, surprisingly, no one's pointed it out yet, prehistory/=history.
- 13/04/2010 09:52:19 AM
594 Views
Re: I know I just did a survey, but this was too good to pass up.
- 07/04/2010 09:04:02 PM
494 Views
Science getting on the ball in the 40's and making superhumans *NM*
- 08/04/2010 05:31:34 AM
421 Views
The spread of peanut butter and jelly.
- 08/04/2010 07:12:21 AM
643 Views
I think two spreads that would be better to eliminate would be marmite and vegemite (sp).
- 08/04/2010 05:30:26 PM
609 Views
- 08/04/2010 05:30:26 PM
609 Views
The head of [Roman Catholic] Christianity.
- 08/04/2010 07:15:21 AM
600 Views
You completely missed the "pick 1" part of the question, didn't you? *NM*
- 08/04/2010 09:26:23 AM
377 Views
Well, techinically, I never said that you couldn't make multible posts, each discussing 1 thing. *NM*
- 08/04/2010 05:36:37 PM
351 Views
I'm fairly sure he was just mocking someone's earlier post "just thought it would be interesting..." *NM*
- 08/04/2010 08:06:56 PM
354 Views
I'm pretty sure of that too. *NM*
- 08/04/2010 08:33:46 PM
358 Views


