Was WWII Inevitable?

[Commodore]

I have been on an old game kick and fired up Command & Conquer Red Alert. For those who don't know Red Alert is a game that is based on the premise of an alternate WWII in which the Soviet Union is the aggressor instead of Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire. This is caused by Albert Einstein who, after the real WWII, built a time machine and went back in time to assassinate Hitler before he came to power in an attempt to prevent the war.

So, while playing the game I started to think about whether or not the Second World War could have been prevented.

I now ask you all: Is there any realistic way WWII could have been prevented? Or was a war of that magnitude bound to happen one way or another?

 

[Ergo Sum]

I have been on an old game kick and fired up Command & Conquer Red Alert. For those who don't know Red Alert is a game that is based on the premise of an alternate WWII in which the Soviet Union is the aggressor instead of Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire. This is caused by Albert Einstein who, after the real WWII, built a time machine and went back in time to assassinate Hitler before he came to power in an attempt to prevent the war.

So, while playing the game I started to think about whether or not the Second World War could have been prevented.

I now ask you all: Is there any realistic way WWII could have been prevented? Or was a war of that magnitude bound to happen one way or another?

The course of history is such a contingency-laden monstrosity that calling anything inevitable seems (to me) rather self-important. So no.

 

[Power_of_Beer]

The Allied Powers should have known what happens when you humiliate your opponent. Because it happened before, when the German Empire humiliated France in 1871 by demanding insane reparation sums + Alsace-Lorraine, which was the reason for many tensions and a desire for revenge on the french side. But with all that Nationalism still going on, war would still have happened with opposite signs... Ruskies crushing everybody etc.

 

[Ajidica]

If the 'Spirit of Locarno' had been more fully followed by the UK, if the UK had stayed more involved in continental geopolitics, and if it wasn't solely the French involved in Eastern Europe, war could probably have been averted for a while.

That said, I'm relying mainly on Kissinger here and whatever I can recall from Dachs and Lord Baal talking about interwar Germany, so I could be mistaken.

 

[sophie]

The Allied Powers should have known what happens when you humiliate your opponent. Because it happened before, when the German Empire humiliated France in 1871 by demanding insane reparation sums + Alsace-Lorraine, which was the reason for many tensions and a desire for revenge on the french side. But with all that Nationalism still going on, war would still have happened with opposite signs... Ruskies crushing everybody etc.

Yeah, except there was way more to the causes of wwi than France was insulted and wwi wasn't really all that inevitable at all.

 

[Commodore]

If the 'Spirit of Locarno' had been more fully followed by the UK, if the UK had stayed more involved in continental geopolitics, and if it wasn't solely the French involved in Eastern Europe, war could probably have been averted for a while.

That said, I'm relying mainly on Kissinger here and whatever I can recall from Dachs and Lord Baal talking about interwar Germany, so I could be mistaken.

You say "averted for a while". Does this mean you think global war still would have occured eventually or do think it could have been averted altogether?

 

[Ajidica]

You say "averted for a while". Does this mean you think global war still would have occured eventually or do think it could have been averted altogether?

To many variables to say. If war was put off in our timeline by continued British involvement after Locarno, the French and Belgians might not have occupied the Rhineland, and so on.
For example, if Britain had stayed involved, Hitler probably would not have tried a reoccupation of the Sudetenland because while France could not have fought Germany alone, British involvement would have tipped the balence in favor of France.

 

[RickFGS]

If people and mainly the elites start opening opportunities for meritocracy to exist instead of the usual "old europe" style of exploitation and exploration of lower classes and making everyone limited, ignorant and miserable maybe WWII could have been avoided, for that matter, maybe even a lot of future wars, still mankind as yet to evolve to a higher degree of moral and brotherhood standards, its the "i want it all for me" mentality that ruled those days and it´s still present in nowadays.

It doesn´t matter how you get rich, you can steal, bribe, kill or destroy entire nations, as long as you become rich and number one, let´s not forget that Hitler was elected, the people wanted him, paint the subject as you like... in yellow, blue or red, the fact IS they wanted him, ignorants, poor, rich industrials and miserable common man, and he gave them what they wanted for sure without a doubt, and in the end they paid for it with their lives.

 

[Leoreth]

let´s not forget that Hitler was elected

Except he wasn't.

 

[emzie]

Inevitable from what point? The question you're asking has very different answers if your start date is 1939 rather than 1899....

WWII wasn't inevitable immediately after the finish of WWI, no matter what Ferdinand Foch might have quipped.

 

[RickFGS]

Except he wasn't.

Elected in 1933 with aprox. 49% of votes, got the 2/3 of the parliament he needed for the "enabling act" a month or so later by deceiving the conservative party.

Political campaign, SS and SA terror and violence troops were paid and supported by germany elite, industrials and bankers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_federal_election,_March_1933

 

[aelf]

If people and mainly the elites start opening opportunities for meritocracy to exist instead of the usual "old europe" style of exploitation and exploration of lower classes and making everyone limited, ignorant and miserable maybe WWII could have been avoided, for that matter, maybe even a lot of future wars, still mankind as yet to evolve to a higher degree of moral and brotherhood standards, its the "i want it all for me" mentality that ruled those days and it´s still present in nowadays.

I agree, and that's why I deplore Portugal's past as a large and oppressive empire.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

and he gave them what they wanted for sure without a doubt

The people voting for him "for sure" and "without a doubt" wanted WWII?

 

[Agent327]

No. Hitler´s plans for war were disputed even among German top military, who considered Germany not to be ready for war - as did Hitler by the way, who expected war to break out no sooner than 1941. In 1939 nobody was ready for war, yet war was inevitable given Hitler´s will. Could Hitler have been stopped dead in his tracks before 1939? Yes, obviously, but apart from some admiration for his law and order regime, appeasement made this impossible. When even Chamberlain realized Hitler would never keep his promises of peace, the die was cast.

Elected in 1933 with aprox. 49% of votes, got the 2/3 of the parliament he needed for the "enabling act" a month or so later by deceiving the conservative party.

Political campaign, SS and SA terror and violence troops were paid and supported by germany elite, industrials and bankers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_federal_election,_March_1933

From that article:

The election took place after the Nazi Machtergreifung of January 30.

In the last free election the Nazis actually lost votes; so it was now or never for Mr Hitler.

So no, Hitler was never elected.

 

[Leoreth]

From that article:

In the last free election the Nazis actually lost votes; so it was now or never for Mr Hitler.

So no, Hitler was never elected.

Plus, under the Weimar constitution you cannot elect a Chancellor. You can elect the President and the parliament, and the Chancellor is appointed by the President.

 

[Kyriakos]

Rick, how dare you claim the german people had anything to do with ww2. They were just innocent sheep manipulated by a group of madmen. No way were they at any fault.

 

[Verbose]

Rick, how dare you claim the german people had anything to do with ww2. They were just innocent sheep manipulated by a group of madmen. No way were they at any fault.

And that is a worse description of that situtation than... well... what other version precisely?

 

[Agent327]

Rick, how dare you claim the german people had anything to do with ww2. They were just innocent sheep manipulated by a group of madmen. No way were they at any fault.

Well, you could make a case that the German people fell into the same trap that the Western governments did: they believed Hitler when he talked about ´peace´...

 

[Commodore]

Inevitable from what point? The question you're asking has very different answers if your start date is 1939 rather than 1899....

WWII wasn't inevitable immediately after the finish of WWI, no matter what Ferdinand Foch might have quipped.

I will place 1924 as the start date since that was the year Hitler was released from prison after his coup attempt.

So the new question is: Was WWII inevitable from 1924?

 

[emzie]

I will place 1924 as the start date since that was the year Hitler was released from prison after his coup attempt.

So the new question is: Was WWII inevitable from 1924?

Well, if you're including an alt history like is found in C&C... probably. A major conflict between the Soviet Union and Europe was highly likely from that point in time, though not because of Hitler and not necessarily the conflict we know from history.