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Originally Posted by John L
Tobias, This is a touchy subject, but it needs airing out. Your post is the first I have heard that Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania, Serbia, Lichtenstein and the Dutchy of Grand Fenwick were all trying to colonize the world ...
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I can't comment on the Dutchy of Grand Fenwick nor Serbia, but Poland, Latvia and Lithuania did NOT exist in Europe as Nations just prior to WWI. The Area of post WWI Poland was carved from the German and Russian Empires. Latvia and Lithuania were carved from the German Empire only to be consumed by the USSR after WWII.
After WW2, Poland was pushed further West consuming more of Germany as the USSR kept most of the Poland they occupied in 1940. This is why present day Gdansk was Danzig Germany and why 1/4 of Present day Poland still has German as its first language.
The major players who were busy colonizing the underdeveloped nations were France, The British Empire, Belgium, and, Portugal. Spain had also been a major player until the Spanish American War, when the US 'liberated' most of the Spanish colonies and put them under American protection.
Three of these major players, Germany, France, and England were also major industrial rivals. Germany had especially been a major challenge to England and its industrial exports.
The origins of WWI can be traced back to 1871 when Germany was unified as an Empire. Both England and France were fearful of unified Germany and rightly so. The fear was partially Germany's military but primarily Germany as a major economic rival. Germany's industrial revolution proved these concerns legitimate as Germany quickly turned into a major industrial rival on the world stage.
During almost any given year from 1898 until 1914 there had been incidents that had almost caused these major players into an all out war, typically over trade tarriffs, colonial possessions, idnustrial growth, or water rights. And Germany wasn't always the first one to rattle the sabre. From what I remember TR had to soothe some English Ruffles in order to prevent a European War during his presidency (around 1906, I beleive).
As for the US and its involvement in WWI, it took a long time for the propoganda machine to convince the majority of the nation to side with any of the European nations in spite of the U-Boat attacks. Most Americans saw it as a Europen problem even as late as 1916.
Tobias