Ah, I see.
I read a book once, I think it was called Germany's Aims in the First World War. The author pretty much laid all the blame for WWI on Germany. He said because of the Schlieffen Plan and some other evidences, Germany was determined to find some reason to attack France and that it was inevitable. Do you agree with that?
Not completely. The situation was much too complicated for such a simplistic view, and Fischer - the author of the book you mentioned - has been criticized for using some rather dubious fringe sources to back up his thesis. Since his book came out - almost 60 years ago already - there have been a lot of historians relativating his very harsh views.
But what you wrote is not without merit. As I said: it's complicated.
Problem one, in most of the European countries: the political goals of about every possible government, monarchic or republican, was directly set against the goals of some other major power.
France was focuses on regaining Alsace-Lorraine and avenging 1871. All her plans for a war in Europe were aimed at Germany as her main opponent. All her alliances were meant to give her assistance in such a conflict.
Germany of course wanted to keep the Alsace and saw France as the one inevitable enemy. The alliance with Austra-Hungary set her against Russia, her ambitions to gain status as a "worldpower", colonial interests and the related military expansions set her against all other colonial powers, especially Great-Britain.
Russia could find ways to deal with the other great powers in her colonial interests, but in Europe, her goals of dominance over the Balkans and the all-important goal of having free access to the Mediteranian lead to inevitable conflicts with Austria-Hungary and Turkey.
The British Empire just wanted to keep its hegemonial position, by keeping the "balance of power" between the other european countries... and as their current main opponent to that they saw the rising power of Germany.
None of the great powers even tried to find a way for a peaceful solution or even cooperation. They all felt that conflict was inevitable, all their diplomacy was set on giving themselves an advantage in this case. That was a major shift from the system of Bismarck, who tried to make alliances in order to
prevent or at least localize wars.
And all of them we sold to the idea to wage a war before the enemy got even stronger.
That brings us to problem two: the dominance of strategic over politics.
All european powers were working under the assumptions that their differences could only be settled by force of arms, sooner or later.
That meant that the question of
how to wage such a war was more important than
if to wage war.
The strategical situation dictated the politics.
Germany knew that any war it would get involved in would also involve France. The most likely case for a war between the major powers was the Balkans (as it indeed would happen), that would mean Russia and Austria, maybe Turkey. Germany would have to backup Austria. That would means a war between Russia and Germany... and that would bring the French-Russian alliance into it.
War with France was inevitable in any potential scenario.
And that would mean the German nighmare of a war on two fronts. The military did not consider it possible to keep up with both France and Russia at the same time. It also considered Russia to be the bigger threat, with her almost unlimited manpower and vast territory.
So the Schliefen-Plan was born. Deal with France quickly, then push all your might against the Russian onslaught.
In a way, the existence of and reliance on the Schliefen-Plan was one point of Germany "fault" for the Great War. It was unreliable, a logistical nightmare. It was a strict one-way road... once set in motion, there could be no deviation. It didn't take into account the political and diplomatic situation. And there was absolutely no contingency plan. No alternative.
Once a war started... any war... Germany had to invade France via neutral Belgium... or their whole military strategy would collapse. And all would be too late, Germany would be overrun from east and west. Game over.
In that way, it really was Germany's fault.
The timing was another problem. For the last 40 years, since the Prussio-French War of 1870/71, both sides had gone through several military reforms meant to strengthen their power. Germany, with her larger population and industrial base - and less need to secure an overseas empire - always had the upper hand.
The russian military was considered to be large, but outdated. But since Russia's embarrasing loss against Japan in 1905, a series of military reforms had started in Russia also, and there full effects would be seen soon. Soon it would be too late to hope for a victory over Russia at all. Better war now, while we still see a chance, than later when Russia will just clobber us.
All of these plans, all of these ideas were outdated and unrealistic... militarily and politically. That would be shown quickly. But this mindset wasn't limited to Germany.
So, yes, Germany was to blame in that it started the war.
But in their mind, in the mindset that dominated all of Europe at that time... it
had to start the war. There wasn't any alternative. All of the European powers prepared for that "inevitable" war. All sough only for ways how to win it, none about how to prevent it. All sought to use it to further their goals, their own dominance. None of them thought the idea of peaceful coexistence more desirable.
A prime example for that kind of reasoning is Italy's entry into the war in 1915. Italy could have sat out the war in neutrality. Her pact with Germany and Austria-Hungary was a purely defensive one... and Italy was not required to enter if Germany attacked France.
That Italy entered, and entered on the Entente side, was solely based on the consideration: where do we have the most to gain?
And there's a final problem: the limited imagination of the politics at that time... and here really Germany is massively to blame.
It should be noted that of all the major continental european powers before the war, Germany was the only one without any plans for territorial expansion.
France always had the goal to regain the Alsace-Lorraine and expand into the Saar region to weaken Germany's power.
Austria tried to expand on the Balkans, both directly and by hegemonial systems. Russia had the same goal - backed by their "panslavic" ideology, and their goal of free access to the high seas via Constantinople.
Italy desired the remaining austrian territories in Venezia as well as the eastern adriatic coast.
But of course Germany had her own interests... and while not territorial in Europe, these goal set it against most of the other powers. She was
the rising industrial power, and at that time, industry also meant resources and markets, which meant "colonies". That set her directly against Great-Britain.
The Alsace-Lorraine question would always set her against France... neither side was willing to accept the others control over that resource-rich region.
Russia and russian expansionism was seen as a thread. Remember that Germany had a large direct border with Russia at that time.
The alliance with Austria was the only option against Russian expansion on the Balkan. Not backing up Austria might have led to the collapse of that multi-nationalites empire, and that would have made Germany only more vulnerable to russian threats.
Now all that, espcially Kaiser Wilhelm's hegemonial politics and his desire for "a place in the sunlight for Germany" manoeuvered his country into a position of isolation. A position for which Germany is completely to blame.
Bismarck tried to ensure Germany's
security with his (impossible) system of alliances. Wilhelm II didn't care for that in his strive for glory.
The conclusion that can be drawn from all that:
Germany was mainly to blame for the Great War, because of her diplomatic inability to secure her position in any other way, her military dominated way of thinking that made any other option than preemptive way unthinkable and her weak political system that couldn't stand up to what the military thought was "necessary".
But Germany is not alone in this blame. Every other european power engaged in that system that made war indeed inevitable and left no alternative.
The only reason why Germany was given the
sole blame for the war is that she lost.
Second question: Are any American comedians popular in Germany, past or present? If so, who? Also any comedy films or TV shows?
I don't think I can give specific answers to that... that is simply too diverse.
Also: I am the wrong person to ask such a question. I am quite removed from "current" culture, and all my personal ideas and informations would come from my own limited exprience from my younger days.
But generally: yes.
The USA is the biggest producer of entertainment of any kinds in the world, and Germany is a big market for that. Comedies are no exception.
Stand-up or live performances are a different topic though. These are simply not that accessible for a german audience.
Most - almost all - english movies are dubbed in Germany. You simply cannot do that with stand-up, and most Germans still have the preference of their own language over others.
I'd say it's a question of markets.
US comedians are comfortable with their market at home. Any overseas expansion is just an added bonus. It also fits with the general idea of US exceptionalism - there's the USA... and then some other minor, more or less unimportant countries.
There's no other country on earth that labels its national sporting events as "The World Series"
So even if US comedians or other performers have an audience in other countries... they stick to their original language and routine. That limits the audience.
On the other hand, the USA, with it's huge market and huge entertainment industrie, is still a magnet for artist from all over the world. To "make it" in America is something special, a draw like no other country.
But when foreign - german - artists go to perfom in the USA, they adapt and translate their routines. They know they wouldn't have
any audience if they did their usual german show.
There is a well-established stand-up comedy scene in Germany... the stars fill big arenas. But most of them are completely unknown outside of Germany, and only a few even attempt to do an "english" show.
