http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28062876

Pretty significant anniversary today - 100 years ago today was the killing of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand. And pretty much the start of WW1.

The world has never really been the same I'd say since. Although I imagine that would be the case if the killing had taken place or not.

(06-28-2014 05:25 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28062876

Pretty significant anniversary today - 100 years ago today was the killing of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand. And pretty much the start of WW1.

The world has never really been the same I'd say since. Although I imagine that would be the case if the killing had taken place or not.

WWI changed the world in more ways than the loss of life. It moved woman from the home into factories in countries like Great Britain pushing forward women's suffrage. It also started a trend to break down some of the economic class distinctions between the nobles and commoners. The grand life of the nobility in Great Britain changed during the war and never went back to the way it had been. Most importantly WWI changed warfare forever.

The outcome of WWI and the Treaty of Versailles emasculating Germany set the stage for WWII.

On a side note: Archduke Francis Ferdinand was shot on Franz Joseph Street. I remember it because it is the only question I got wrong on a high school exam about WWI. Yes, we were expected to know every detail of WWI down to the name of the street Francis Ferdinand was shot on. Yes it still irritates me that I got that question wrong. : )

What a turn of events in the history of the world. I wonder how different it would be today if that had not happened.

I made a 98 on a high school exam about WWI, I got all of the answers correct, but
I spelled Archduke Francis Ferdinand wrong so my history teacher deducted two-points.

That how it was back in my day.

(06-28-2014 08:51 AM)AngryAphid Wrote:  I made a 98 on a high school exam about WWI, I got all of the answers correct, but
I spelled Archduke Francis Ferdinand wrong so my history teacher deducted two-points.

That how it was back in my day.

I got a 98 on the WWI exam too for missing the name of the street!
I wonder if today's high school students are expected to know what we had be able to recall for a history exam.

(06-28-2014 08:51 AM)AngryAphid Wrote:  I made a 98 on a high school exam about WWI, I got all of the answers correct, but
I spelled Archduke Francis Ferdinand wrong so my history teacher deducted two-points.

That how it was back in my day.

Then you didn't actually get all the answers correct, did you.
Ha, ha. Couldn't resist. Sounds like Jeopardy.

(06-28-2014 08:56 AM)mptnstr@44 Wrote:  

(06-28-2014 08:51 AM)AngryAphid Wrote:  I made a 98 on a high school exam about WWI, I got all of the answers correct, but
I spelled Archduke Francis Ferdinand wrong so my history teacher deducted two-points.

That how it was back in my day.

I got a 98 on the WWI exam too for missing the name of the street!
I wonder if today's high school students are expected to know what we had be able to recall for a history exam.

Too many teachers justify that you can look too many things up on the internet today probably. It's pathetic even basic knowledge is so pathetic today in many cases.

(06-28-2014 08:48 AM)Ole Blue Wrote:  What a turn of events in the history of the world. I wonder how different it would be today if that had not happened.

No World War I, or World War II possibly.
No communism in Russia maybe.
No Hitler as a leader probably.
More monarchies in Europe still possibly.
Just examples, many more things.

For a good read about the start of WWI, pick up a copy of The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman.

(06-28-2014 10:29 AM)GoApps70 Wrote:  

(06-28-2014 08:48 AM)Ole Blue Wrote:  What a turn of events in the history of the world. I wonder how different it would be today if that had not happened.

No World War I, or World War II possibly.
No communism in Russia maybe.
No Hitler as a leader probably.
More monarchies in Europe still possibly.
Just examples, many more things.

Yep. Barring other butterflied events: Austria-Hungary would still be around with an emperor/empress, along with Russia and Germany. There are more, but those interest me the most.

Wouldn't Pearl Harbor probably have never happened?

Other things may have been slower. The assimilation of many immigrants would've happened very slowly. This was a time when entire towns spoke languages other than English. Civil rights would've probably taken a longer time.

(06-28-2014 12:33 PM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  Wouldn't Pearl Harbor probably have never happened?

Other things may have been slower. The assimilation of many immigrants would've happened very slowly. This was a time when entire towns spoke languages other than English. Civil rights would've probably taken a longer time.

I think the Japanese still would have wanted Hong Kong... attempting to disable the Pacific
Rim carrier fleet of one of the United Kingdoms biggest allies would have been a necessity.

Edit: but, then again, if there was no WWI... the U.S. may not have have a need for a Pacific Rim carrier fleet.

(06-28-2014 12:33 PM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  Wouldn't Pearl Harbor probably have never happened?

Other things may have been slower. The assimilation of many immigrants would've happened very slowly. This was a time when entire towns spoke languages other than English. Civil rights would've probably taken a longer time.

Can you explain why you think the enactment of civil rights laws would have taken longer? I am not saying I disagree, just that I don't understand.

(06-28-2014 03:48 PM)Clueless Economist Wrote:  

(06-28-2014 12:33 PM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  Wouldn't Pearl Harbor probably have never happened?

Other things may have been slower. The assimilation of many immigrants would've happened very slowly. This was a time when entire towns spoke languages other than English. Civil rights would've probably taken a longer time.

Can you explain why you think the enactment of civil rights laws would have taken longer? I am not saying I disagree, just that I don't understand.

A big accomplishment in those laws was the integration of the military. With no World War, presuming that another didn't happen and that WWII would've been butterflied away, there would have been no need to integrate.

(06-28-2014 04:07 PM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  

(06-28-2014 03:48 PM)Clueless Economist Wrote:  

(06-28-2014 12:33 PM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  Wouldn't Pearl Harbor probably have never happened?

Other things may have been slower. The assimilation of many immigrants would've happened very slowly. This was a time when entire towns spoke languages other than English. Civil rights would've probably taken a longer time.

Can you explain why you think the enactment of civil rights laws would have taken longer? I am not saying I disagree, just that I don't understand.

A big accomplishment in those laws was the integration of the military. With no World War, presuming that another didn't happen and that WWII would've been butterflied away, there would have been no need to integrate.

Agree.

it was all george bush's fault.

(06-28-2014 04:18 PM)EagleX Wrote:  it was all george bush's fault.

No, it had to be Samuel Prescott Bush's fault.

A lot of true and perceptive points here.

1914-1918 unleashed all the horrors of the 20th Century -- from aerial-bombing and genocide to the rough-drafts of modern totalitarianism. Not a coincidence that Communism/Fascism got their practical start during that era. A century later and we are still reaping that harvest.

(06-28-2014 12:24 PM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  Austria-Hungary would still be around with an emperor/empress

I don't think so, they were teetering toward collapse before the war.

Remember what the kaiser said, "I am shackled to a corpse."

(06-28-2014 06:28 PM)Smaug Wrote:  

(06-28-2014 12:24 PM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  Austria-Hungary would still be around with an emperor/empress

I don't think so, they were teetering toward collapse before the war.

Remember what the kaiser said, "I am shackled to a corpse."

Austria-Hungary, Tsarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire would have all at the very least had major internal political changes or upheavals.

Imperial Germany would have fared a bit better, having had a relatively open and free society with little internal stresses pre-war.

France would have still been looking for a way to get Alsace-Lorriane back from the hated Boche.

India would have probably became an increasing problem to contain for the British.

The Japanese would have eventually moved into Manchuria and the rest of China looking for more natural resources.