Pretty much everyone (other than maybe the Russians and the Brits) thought that war now was better than war later--the Germans certainly did, as they saw themselves in trouble as the Russian economy and capabilities improved.
None of them thought it would be as bad as it got. Hindsight is 20/20.
All part of the hubris that fools itself into refusing to credit consequences that are plainly evident if an ill-advised course of conduct persists. This is the hubris driving its victims to take advantage of seeming opportunities to chew off some territory here or wrong-foot an opponent there -- especially if you've seen someone else do it before and get away withy it. All the European powers from the Franco-Prussian war up to August 2014 were self-deluded in this way by visions of gaining ground against the other players. Until it went wrong.
This is one of the chief melodies in the 24/7/365 opera of human folly. Just keep borrowing money and flipping houses because the prices are going through the roof and we don't want to miss out. Invade Poland, the other powers did nothing when you took the Sudetenland. Take the debt hostage, all the chicken littles were wrong about the sky falling before. Start a default so we get a recession, it will be blamed on the Democrats so we will win the next election.
It was quite the mess. Lots of incompetence and stupidity all around--and the end state basically set the stage for the reprise 20ish years later.
But it is hard to see how the ending could have gone differently/more thoughtfully given the events and costs of the war. The reality is without the entry of the US into the war, Germany had a high probability of what passed for victory--and that almost suddenly (and surprisingly) turned into defeat.
If the Germans hadn't dug in following the French counterattack, the pre-1914 system may have hung on a while longer.
Pretty much everyone (other than maybe the Russians and the Brits) thought that war now was better than war later--the Germans certainly did, as they saw themselves in trouble as the Russian economy and capabilities improved.
None of them thought it would be as bad as it got. Hindsight is 20/20.
All part of the hubris that fools itself into refusing to credit consequences that are plainly evident if an ill-advised course of conduct persists. This is the hubris driving its victims to take advantage of seeming opportunities to chew off some territory here or wrong-foot an opponent there -- especially if you've seen someone else do it before and get away withy it. All the European powers from the Franco-Prussian war up to August 2014 were self-deluded in this way by visions of gaining ground against the other players. Until it went wrong.
This is one of the chief melodies in the 24/7/365 opera of human folly. Just keep borrowing money and flipping houses because the prices are going through the roof and we don't want to miss out. Invade Poland, the other powers did nothing when you took the Sudetenland. Take the debt hostage, all the chicken littles were wrong about the sky falling before. Start a default so we get a recession, it will be blamed on the Democrats so we will win the next election.
Yeah, what they got was war now AND war later. What a tragic story that had such consequences for Europe that still resonate.
It was quite the mess. Lots of incompetence and stupidity all around--and the end state basically set the stage for the reprise 20ish years later.
But it is hard to see how the ending could have gone differently/more thoughtfully given the events and costs of the war. The reality is without the entry of the US into the war, Germany had a high probability of what passed for victory--and that almost suddenly (and surprisingly) turned into defeat.