Central Powers victory in WW1 script feedback

NoMommsen

Donor
I can not track back to which book I read on how Britain could have avoided declaring war on Germany in 1914. The author though made the points that the Tories were more anti-German than the Liberals and were more likely to win the 1915 general election. Note the caveats. ....
That's sad. I would be happy to find/see/being pointed to some sources for that. It#s kind of a 'blind spot' for me.
 
I still think you've got to take into consideration what would have been the public reaction to the slaughter in the trenches from a neutral Britain prior to the 1915 election. The Tories might still have been pro-war but would the people?
 
The Tories might still have been pro-war but would the people?

The Tories might not have been quite as keen either. One of the things that is very evident about the outbreak of WWI is that practically no-one in the political class anywhere in Europe understood just how costly in terms of life and treasure the War would be, even including anti-war liberal and socialist internationalists, who were acting on moral grounds not (in the main) superior understanding. Two visionary thinkers had some awareness, a Jewish banker from Warsaw (called Bloch if I recall correctly) in 1899 and a British left-wing journalist, Norman Angell (around 1912 or 13). Sadly neither were widely read prior to 1914-18. By 1915/1916 WWI might not have been exactly an attractive proposition for a neutral power that would have been (presumably) economically booming on sales of goods to both sides and a rearmament programme at home. "Preparedness" rather than "Have at them!" I would imagine.
 
The Tories might not have been quite as keen either. One of the things that is very evident about the outbreak of WWI is that practically no-one in the political class anywhere in Europe understood just how costly in terms of life and treasure the War would be, even including anti-war liberal and socialist internationalists, who were acting on moral grounds not (in the main) superior understanding. Two visionary thinkers had some awareness, a Jewish banker from Warsaw (called Bloch if I recall correctly) in 1899 and a British left-wing journalist, Norman Angell (around 1912 or 13). Sadly neither were widely read prior to 1914-18. By 1915/1916 WWI might not have been exactly an attractive proposition for a neutral power that would have been (presumably) economically booming on sales of goods to both sides and a rearmament programme at home. "Preparedness" rather than "Have at them!" I would imagine.

Well said!

My thinking entirely.
 
The Tories might not have been quite as keen either. One of the things that is very evident about the outbreak of WWI is that practically no-one in the political class anywhere in Europe understood just how costly in terms of life and treasure the War would be, even including anti-war liberal and socialist internationalists, who were acting on moral grounds not (in the main) superior understanding. Two visionary thinkers had some awareness, a Jewish banker from Warsaw (called Bloch if I recall correctly) in 1899 and a British left-wing journalist, Norman Angell (around 1912 or 13). Sadly neither were widely read prior to 1914-18. By 1915/1916 WWI might not have been exactly an attractive proposition for a neutral power that would have been (presumably) economically booming on sales of goods to both sides and a rearmament programme at home. "Preparedness" rather than "Have at them!" I would imagine.
And yet the USA joined the historical war.
 
And yet the USA joined the historical war.

It's also true that the USA was reluctant to join the historical war (likely because of the reported slaughter), it joined as late as possible and only when in 1917 Germany decided to resume all-out submarine warfare on every single American ship headed toward Britain. Germany also offered to help Mexico regain territories lost in the Mexican–American War in the Zimmermann Telegram.

So if we use USA as a precedent, a neutral Britain will stay out of the war until someone starts killing its citizens and inviting someone else to invade its territory!
 
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