Most plausible way to prevent WWI?

I recently read that the idea that WW1 was inevitable due to arms races and the like is spurious because the same conditions existed in the Cold War for 40 years without resulting in WW3.

So if that reasoning has merit then if we take away the particular spark then WW1 as we know it doesn't occur. So stop Princip in one way or another from killing Franz Ferdinand.

The only reason we didn't have WWIII was nukes.
 
The only reason we didn't have WWIII was nukes.

Yes, correct, which is why I qualified that statement. However while the Soviets were vulnerable to nukes from the 40s, Europe/Mid East/Asia from the mid 50s the US wasn't really vulnerable to nukes until the 60s. So the US had the better part of a decade of virtual immunity from nuclear attack after their Korean War rearmament but still there was no general war, so I'm not ready to dismiss the theory too quickly.
 

Saphroneth

Banned
No it wasnt, get better sources.
...in that case, and if the French had an offensive stance, then why did the French draw back 10 miles from the French-German border and the Germans invade Belgium? Surely if the French were on an offensive stance you'd expect it to be the French doing the invading.
 
...in that case, and if the French had an offensive stance, then why did the French draw back 10 miles from the French-German border and the Germans invade Belgium? Surely if the French were on an offensive stance you'd expect it to be the French doing the invading.

They did, they advanced into Lorraine as part of Plan 17, it's just that they fucked it up and it wasn't successful. Mobilisation offensives was standard procedure for all the continental powers, not just Germany.
 

JAG88

Banned
...in that case, and if the French had an offensive stance, then why did the French draw back 10 miles from the French-German border and the Germans invade Belgium? Surely if the French were on an offensive stance you'd expect it to be the French doing the invading.

Lol, please, that was a PR stunt aimed at the Brits and that is well recorded in history... it seems to be working still...
 
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JAG88

Banned
They did, they advanced into Lorraine as part of Plan 17, it's just that they fucked it up and it wasn't successful. Mobilisation offensives was standard procedure for all the continental powers, not just Germany.

Moreover, France and Russia had committed by treaty to attack Germany on the 15th mobilization day.
 
Moreover, France and Russia had committed by treaty to attack Germany on the 15th mobilization day.

Yes, Germany's great crime was to do better in the first part of the war and make everyone else look like a dickhead.
 

Saphroneth

Banned
Lol, please, that was a PR stunt aimed at the Brits and that is well recorded in history... it seems to be working still...
Er... pardon?
"Not invading Belgium" was a PR stunt? Drawing back, thus obviating a surprise attack, was a PR stunt?

I mean, you seem to be saying that the only way the French could have possibly de-escalated the situation would be to not mobilize at all, but since the German plan involved invading France first anyway then... that's basically saying that the Germans get more leeway for invading Belgium and France than the French do for being able to fight back.
 

JAG88

Banned
Er... pardon?
"Not invading Belgium" was a PR stunt? Drawing back, thus obviating a surprise attack, was a PR stunt?

I mean, you seem to be saying that the only way the French could have possibly de-escalated the situation would be to not mobilize at all, but since the German plan involved invading France first anyway then... that's basically saying that the Germans get more leeway for invading Belgium and France than the French do for being able to fight back.

Lol no, all that discussion is happening only in your head. I never said such a thing, but whatever.
 
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