WW1, part 2

[123everton]

What if Britain had sided with Germany in WW 1, how different would the world be today?

[VHG]

Against whom?

Without Germany as our enemy there was nobody to fight.

France, Belgium etc were our allies and Russia and Turkey were too far away for us to bother with (or reach).

Anyway the main reason we went to war was to stop German war mongering (it was only we the British who were allowed to war monger !)

[123everton]

Against France.
We went to war because of our treaty obligations to protect Belgium neutrality, the other parties went to war due to their own treaty obligations.

[Lil O'lady]

Too many variables....'what if' questions can't really be done to history without doing your head in.

[123everton]

You wanna try unpicking the riddles on R & S, like nailing jelly to a wall!
If we had sided with Germany, the exchequer would not have been indebted to America, America would have continued with it's policy of isolationism, the empire would have remained intact but political, social and economic reform would have slowed.

[VHG]

I went to the Imperial War Museum in London today.

One thing I found out about the first world war was that Germany supported the Boars in the Boar War, and this drove us to dislike Germany even more, and that led us more into the arms of France/Russia, who had a pact against Germany.

I never knew the Boar war had an impact on the first world war.

[VHG]

Sorry that should be Boer war and the Boers.

[123everton]

That's true VHG, but America was also very sympathetic to the Boer cause and it was only the Spanish American war of 1899 that their and subsequently German and probably French intervention.
Also Portugal allowed Boer munitions to pass through their African possessions and Portugal was an Aliied not a Central Power in the first Great War, our historical allegiances with Germany far outnumber our battles.

[123everton]

Good God I'm doing it too!
Should read "intervention was avoided."

[garybfsl]

"our historical allegiances with Germany far outnumber our battles"

I find this hard to believe. Can you give examples that outweigh the two world wars?