German focus on Russia in 1914.

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Baltasar
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Re: German focus on Russia in 1914.

#2356

Post by Baltasar » 14 Feb 2016, 11:22

Futurist wrote:
Baltasar wrote:
Futurist wrote:
Baltasar wrote:I tend to agree that it would have been better not to annex Alsace-Lorraine, but the nationalist sentiment wouldn't allow for anything less. If France had agreed to the first proposals, it would have been possible, but with the war prolonged by the French, it was out of the question. The Germans had to up their demands, simply as a result of pointless losses and expenses caused by the French.
Frankly, if Germany was going to annex Alsace-Lorraine, then it should have also annexed resource-rich Briey and Longwy (as well as possibly Nancy) while it was at it. After all, this might have very well significantly weakened France's military power for decades to come.
Yeah, that might be the case. However, Realpolitics would not allow for that. Germany had to consider what Britain, Austria Hungary and Russia would allow for.
Would any of these countries have actually went to war with Prussia/Germany over the Briey-Longwy area in 1871, though?
Austria-Hungary had just lost a war against Prussia, Italy and their Allies in 1866. The collective German war effort was aimed at France. I don't remember if those treaties were phrased against all external threats or just France. Just a cough from Vienna would create substantial problems, though.
The UK always made it clear that there should be no dominant power on the continent for fear of an invasion, not to mention economical issues.

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Re: German focus on Russia in 1914.

#2357

Post by Futurist » 14 Feb 2016, 11:32

Baltasar wrote:
Futurist wrote:
Baltasar wrote:
Futurist wrote:
Baltasar wrote:I tend to agree that it would have been better not to annex Alsace-Lorraine, but the nationalist sentiment wouldn't allow for anything less. If France had agreed to the first proposals, it would have been possible, but with the war prolonged by the French, it was out of the question. The Germans had to up their demands, simply as a result of pointless losses and expenses caused by the French.
Frankly, if Germany was going to annex Alsace-Lorraine, then it should have also annexed resource-rich Briey and Longwy (as well as possibly Nancy) while it was at it. After all, this might have very well significantly weakened France's military power for decades to come.
Yeah, that might be the case. However, Realpolitics would not allow for that. Germany had to consider what Britain, Austria Hungary and Russia would allow for.
Would any of these countries have actually went to war with Prussia/Germany over the Briey-Longwy area in 1871, though?
Austria-Hungary had just lost a war against Prussia, Italy and their Allies in 1866. The collective German war effort was aimed at France. I don't remember if those treaties were phrased against all external threats or just France. Just a cough from Vienna would create substantial problems, though.
The UK always made it clear that there should be no dominant power on the continent for fear of an invasion, not to mention economical issues.
The thing is, though, that the importance of the Briey-Longwy area apparently wasn't known about yet back in 1871; rather, this importance only became known about after 1871.


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Baltasar
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Re: German focus on Russia in 1914.

#2358

Post by Baltasar » 19 Feb 2016, 19:32

Futurist wrote: The thing is, though, that the importance of the Briey-Longwy area apparently wasn't known about yet back in 1871; rather, this importance only became known about after 1871.
This isn't about the importance of any area, it's about the political repercussions of annexing even more of France, regardless of the actual or potential economic value of those regions.

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