Text 21892, 39 rader
Skriven 2008-10-15 11:43:33 av Björn Felten (2:203/2)
  Kommentar till text 21887 av Ross Cassell (1:123/456)
Ärende: Socialism in the US of A
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 RC> Wasnt the first one a by-product of the stupid alliances brought forth
 RC> via Royalty Worshipping? What incident sparked WW1?

   Do you want the lame excuse used to start WWI or the real reason?

   The real reason was *oil* (what else is new)?

   In the early 1900s Germany was world leaders when it comes to petrol
driven combustion engines and it's uses. Ergo they grew an ever
increasing demand for oil import.

   But at that time England was in total control of oil transports since
they controlled the Suez Canal, which had to be used to transport the
oil from the Middle East to Germany.

   Either Germany used English ships for the transportation or they used
their own and instead had to pay a hefty fee at the Suez Canal. In both
cases the Brits collected huge amounts of money making the German oil
import cost three to four times as much as the actual production cost.

   Now the Germans came up with a great plan. They was going to build a
highway from Berlin to Baghdad. That way they could use their newly
developed cars to transport their oil. Much faster and much cheaper.

   If you know what the European map looks like you know that this means
that part of that highway must go through Turkey. And the Germans
actually, to the dismay of the British, managed to negotiate an
agreement to be allowed to build that part of the road. Sure enough the
British tried their best with threats as well as bribes to make Turkey
change their mind, but to no avail.

   So in 1914, when the road was almost finished, and the British saw
their huge income from the oil transport being at risk of getting lost,
they had only one alternative, and the rest is history as they say.
After WWI, and the despicable Treaty of Versailles, Germany had
absolutely no resources to finish the road.

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