I've never un derstood- what was the Great War all about?

I do not think the cousins disagreed. Edward VII was quite happy with his situation and had no arguments with his first cousin.

On the other side Prussia, the driving force behind the united Germany had a strong militaristic culture, especially among its aristocracy. The pinnacle of the aristocracy was the Kaiser - and he had been born with a damaged left arm and this would, under normal circustances, have precluded him from joining the army and thus casting him out from the elite.

To say his disability preyed on his mind is an understatement. Obviously as King, damaged arm or not he was an army officer, Lord High Marshal but his disability made him the most militaristic in a very militaristic society.

The business of uniting Germany had meant that unlike other European countries, even Sweden and Belgium, Germany had acquired no overseas posessions, while Britain had more than any other country. The Kaiser became obsessed with proving that Prussia was not second rate compared with Britain. this led to a huge expansion in the country's navy and army. The Kaiser also wanted an empire and his plan was to drive the British out of India and replace them with himself.

The incredibly and frankly almost unbelievable story of how he planned to do this can be read in Peter Hopkirk's book On Secret Service east of Constantinople It reads like a John Buchan adventure and Buchan did use elements of it in his novel Greenmantle

Almost inconceivable, but not quite! The killer Ape doesn't just cover war, look at the destruction that humans cause the environment, animals both wild and domestic, people trafficking! You name it, humans are doing it, always have and sadly always will!
A disagreement between cousins?!!!! Think there was a bit more to it than that!
Showing off? Maybe, ? , but it is interesting. History is full of if, buts and maybe's, hence its fascination!

A disagreement between cousins.

You're just showing off now, Jabberwok

Do you really think that nothing changes? Don't you think that the longest period of peace that Europe has ever known is an indication that we have learned from history and worked out a better way of living with our neighbours? Such that it is almost inconceivable that countries on the European continent would ever again send their young men off to fight each other in the name of national aggrandisement?

And that it is equally almost inconceivable that many other modern nations would do the same?

Of course war still exists and for much the same reasons that have propagated war in the past, religious intolerance, vying for power, influence and resources and tribal rivalries.

But the over all trend seems to be towards settling differences in a way less devastating in human cost. I'm optimistic about the future of the world in that respect; though aware that climate change could reverse this trend if resources fail and competition for what is left becomes intense.

Men

Of course not! Human beings are, and always have been, the killer ape! Civilisation is just sugar icing disguising an extremely unpleasant cake the moment you cut it which we often do!!
Interestingly the direct line of the Queen goes back to James V1th of Sotland (1st of England) via his daughter Elizabeth, and further back through the Queen of Scots to James 1Vth who married Margaret Tudor, elder sister of Henry V111th. This made the Scottish claim to the English throne superior to the Greys, who were descended from Mary Tudor Henry V111th's younger sister! Don't tell Nicola!!!!

Mans greed for Power and Resources - nothing changes

Much of the causes lay on imperialism. The Austro Hungarian empire was crumbling, as was the Ottiman empire, Surroundung countries felt threatened by a unified Germany a legacy of the Franco Prussia war. A series of treaties were put in place to keep the balance. A domino effect kicked in once Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed. This brought Russia in to support the Serbs against Austria Hungary and then triggered the treaties. When Germans invaded Belgium which was neutral this triggered our obligation to protect Belgium. Which led to Britain being at war. Such a waste of young lives and not properly resulted at the end which left a power vacuum that Hitler was able to exploit. Land grabbing was driven by Leibersraum the need to secure fertile land to feed the growing German population also played a part.

The Greek monarchy was established in the mid 19th century when a German Princling was appointed to the post and then elected to the position. The Greek Monarchy has a very checkered history being abolished and reinstated several times. Final abolition was in 1967

As most of the Greek (German) kings had German wives, ethnically Prince Philip is German. However, like most of the members of the royal houses of Europe he is a descendent of Queen Victoria, as is, obviously, the Queen.

Thanks for the clarification MaizieD

Please can someone think up another topic for our history lesson next Sunday?
?

It may have been the Greek Royal family, but his father wasn't any more Greek than was his mother.

From the link that no-one followed:

The Greek royal family (Greek: Ελληνική Βασιλική Οικογένεια) is a branch of the House of Glücksburg that reigned in Greece from 1863 to 1924 and again from 1935 to 1973. Its first monarch was George I, the second son of King Christian IX of Denmark. He and his successors styled themselves "Kings of the Hellenes".

think one has to understand the mentality of people before then to understand how it happened, but it's always useful to remember when observing current events

Indeed, which is why I don’t think it’s fair to judge history up against today’s values too harshly.

It's all about living memory for many, we have always warred with neighbours and been subject to invasion ... the Viking, the Romans, the French, 1066 and all that! Peace has prevailed for very short periods. The EU has created and helped maintain a blissfully peaceful interlude. Long may it continue?

Thank you all- this is so interesting.

Growstuff ''I think one has to understand the mentality of people before then to understand how it happened, but it's always useful to remember when observing current events. ''

this is just so so important and poignant.

Thanks everyone who has contributed to this thread. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my history lesson.

BTW I too though the DoE was Greek. His mother (?Alice) was deaf and dressed very strangely didn’t she for her son’s wedding?

In 1903, Alice married Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and lived with her new husband in Greece until their forced exile in 1917 thanks to Andrew’s involvement in the Greco-Turkish war. The pair had four daughters before giving birth to their first son and youngest child, Prince Philip.

Prince Philip was born in Greece and to the Greek and Danish Royal families.

Five empires collapsed as a direct result of WW1. It defined the future of European history. I think one has to understand the mentality of people before then to understand how it happened, but it's always useful to remember when observing current events. One relatively small incident in Sarajevo sparked a light in a tinderbox.

I think it's difficult to understand because we have become used to having relatively good relationships with our European neighbours, but go further afield to North Korea, Iran or Ukraine and it's easy to see how a major war could start.

No problem Jabberwok. I was originally having a senior moment.

Here is a link that gives the main reasons www.historyhome.co.uk/europe/causeww1.htm

You will need to copy and paste, I think

WW2 wasn't inevitable, but the Treaty of Versailles certainly did lay seeds. It was one of the reasons the Americans (some of them) were keen to get Europe (especially Germany) back on its feet after the WW2. It didn't want a weak Germany, which could have succumbed to Communism or sparked yet another war.

Prince Philip isn't even Greek! Danish and German...

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_royal_family

It might also be worth remembering that the Royal Family are German by descent, they changed their name to Windsor in 1917 because of high anti-German sentiment in Britain. Prince Philip is of course Greek and George V's cousin was Nicholas II of Russia. There was much intertwining of politics and royalty which created a background to narrow, nationalist concerns.

Rivalry amongst the European powers had been running for centuries before the 20th century right back to the demise of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. It was Napoleon who won the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 so bringing this about. The Holy Roman Empire was then replaced by the Austro Hungarian Empire/dual monarchy which gradually lost control of the Balkans through the 19th century. This provided the context for the disastrous assassination of Duke Ferdinando.

One might also remember land grabbing going on around the Globe from the America's to the Far East to the race for Africa! Rampant colonialism and the race for resources!

Yes, thank you Jura 2 for asking the question. Maisie, I agree, it’s great not to be arguing about politics.

I too love history.

I think everyone's contributions have been excellent, MOnica, but thank you . Nice to be talking about something non controversial I do love History...

Britain and Germany were involved in a battleship arms race. There were concerns in Britain that Germany wanted to expand in Africa, in addition to the growing strength of the now united Germany. The Austro-Hungarian empire was also loosing power, especially over the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire was known as “The sick man of Europe” as it was failing economically. Both Germany and Britain recognised how important this could be in the future.

There was also a treaty between Russia and France to combat the growing power of Germany, whilst the British signed up to the Entente Cordiale, with France and I think Russia promising help in case of invasion. The invasion of Belgium was the straw that broke the camel’s back as far as the UK was concerned.

There is no quick answer to the question and as mentioned before and historians are still debating the issue at least a hundred years later. As more documents are still becoming available the discussions will probably continue indefinitely.

Just as an aside, many historians think that the Treaties in Paris, Versailles included, laid the seeds for WW2. A favourite question could be “to what extent was WW2 inevitable, following the outcome of WW1”

BBC bitesize would be a good place to look for the causes of WW1. Hope this helps.