In many ways, the papering over of hundreds of problems and conflicts after WW1 still is causing problems today.
The decision by the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) to ally with Germany and Austria-Hungary resulted in a rapid and unstable dismantling of the Empire after the War. Despite never losing a single battle in WW1, Turkey paid a far heavier price than Germany or Austria. Thus we had bizarre boundaries drawn and artificial nations created (e.g. Iraq, Transjordan) throughout the Arab world, and the problems created by these demarcations were further papered over after WW2.
So, while the "settlement" of Germany's loss led to WW2, the "settlement" of the Ottoman loss is one which continues to produce multiple smaller "aftershocks" nearly a century later - and will probably continue to do so for another 50 years or more.
The British handled all of these issues "Bush-style", with abundant optimism and a belief that the Empire could deal with any fallout handily through military force. In effect, they handed the steaming bag of crap to the Americans after WW2 with the same attitude Republicans have now with respect to Obama: "Let's see how well you do with this, then, since you're so clever".
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4 Comments:
In many ways, the papering over of hundreds of problems and conflicts after WW1 still is causing problems today.
The decision by the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) to ally with Germany and Austria-Hungary resulted in a rapid and unstable dismantling of the Empire after the War. Despite never losing a single battle in WW1, Turkey paid a far heavier price than Germany or Austria. Thus we had bizarre boundaries drawn and artificial nations created (e.g. Iraq, Transjordan) throughout the Arab world, and the problems created by these demarcations were further papered over after WW2.
So, while the "settlement" of Germany's loss led to WW2, the "settlement" of the Ottoman loss is one which continues to produce multiple smaller "aftershocks" nearly a century later - and will probably continue to do so for another 50 years or more.
The British handled all of these issues "Bush-style", with abundant optimism and a belief that the Empire could deal with any fallout handily through military force. In effect, they handed the steaming bag of crap to the Americans after WW2 with the same attitude Republicans have now with respect to Obama: "Let's see how well you do with this, then, since you're so clever".
By Todd Dugdale , at 9:14 AM
Good summary Todd. The Suez War in '56 was Britain's last fling.....with a bit of help from France and Israel.
By Anonymous, at 10:22 AM
Y'all are deeper than me.
(And, Todd, I think I edited down the post during your comment, cutting out the timeline references of WWI and WWII.)
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