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2 minutes ago, Warts 'n' all said:

I'm not so sure. I'd go for Hindenburg handing Mad Addy power, as the worst.

Or Versailles? We could also go back to the Franco-Prussian war, had France been more competent in that war WWI would probably have never started. But than at the same time, who knows what would have happened in those alternate realities. Without mad Addy (nice name though :)), Stalin might have had some idea's and decide to bring freedom to West and East Europe on his own.

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6 hours ago, Erwin said:

Never be amazed at the stupid things people do or say under the thrall of hubris - as in when one thinks one is unbeatable.   Hillary etc.

Not to mention, autobiographical memoirs are the worst form of historical records you could use.
Not only are they completely subjective in viewpoint, but they are never free of bias or revisionism.

 

4 hours ago, DerKommissar said:

I read some of "The German Way of War", by Dr. Citino, while on holiday. I may have to finish it.

I've read that book about six times. It's endlessly fascinating.
It certainly makes one never use the word 'Blitzkrieg' in it's most popular context ever again.

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Worst decisions in history? That's a good one, here's a few:

1. Princip's decision to assassinate the Arch Duke.

2. Franz Joseph's decision to declare war on Serbia.

3. Kaiser Wilhelm's and Tsar Nicholas II's decision to declare war on each other.

I'd think Tsar Nicholas II may have more than a few up there. By definition, no WW1 means no WW2. Well, that's a rather naive conclusion. No doubt those clowns would have found some other excuse to send the world into total war.

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7 hours ago, DerKommissar said:

No doubt those clowns would have found some other excuse to send the world into total war.

I agree. I think Napoleon had fed their appetites for a really big blood-letting. There hadn't been any really big wars since the Emperor had surrendered and then had his wine poisoned. Everything since then had just been appetizers: the ACW; the various Prussian wars; the Russo-Japanese war; the Boer War. All those had left hints of what could be. Now they wanted to take it to the big leagues.

Michael

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On 16/05/2018 at 8:48 AM, Bozowans said:

If oil is completely unnecessary for armaments production, then why did Albert Speer say otherwise?

Did he wrote that is his memoirs after the war? If so, I'd take it with a big grain of salt. During the war, at the end of 1944 he said that the war would be lost, if the Upper Silesian Industrial Region was captured by the Soviets. BTW even by the end of 1944, none from the upper echelons of the Nazi elites, was seriously considering, that Third Reich would be defeated. Even the supposedly rational Speer was "working towards the Fuhrer", convinced that there could be a bloody draw, which would convince the Western Powers to ally with Germany against the Soviets. At some stage Himmler was even trying to suggest Hitler, that maybe a separate peace with Soviet Union would be possible. No rational thinking there in any case. It was really the failure of the Ardennes offensive which persuaded those who could be convinced, that there would be no German victory. According to Kersaw, half of German military dead were suffered during the war, died during the period from July of 1944 till the end of the war. Also half of the bombs dropped on Germany by the Allies account for the last nine months of the war. The efforts of Speer assured, that the Second World War agony would last for as long as it did.

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This is a topic that professional historians spend years studying and debating, and it's kind of annoying seeing random internet posters claim that they're experts on the topic.

The historians still study and debate this issue and they are very far from drawing the final conclusions. That's why a random guy from Youtube, who claims "it was oil" sounds so ridiculous. 
 

 

Ps. You really gotta love Dr Citino. 
 

 

 

Edited by Ivanov
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15 hours ago, Ivanov said:

The historians still study and debate this issue and they are very far from drawing the final conclusions. That's why a random guy from Youtube, who claims "it was oil" sounds so ridiculous. 

I've noticed that much of what gets posted on YT shares that characteristic. The self-descriptions of the items consists almost entirely of superlatives; the item is the "most" this or the "fantastic" that. And then when you open it, it falls completely flat. It has gotten so that I simply avoid anything with "amazing" or "top ten" in the title.

Michael

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3 hours ago, Michael Emrys said:

The self-descriptions of the items consists almost entirely of superlatives; the item is the "most" this or the "fantastic" that. And then when you open it, it falls completely flat. I

I think this fits well to describe both content of the internet  (directed to the millennial generation who doesn't read books, just shares links and videos ) and to modern media ( news programs, press etc ) in general.

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