1914
(and things you may have been afraid to contemplate)

by Morley Evans © March 2005
v 1.1.5

RE: THE 20th CENTURY

Dear Paul,

Didn't it happen this way?

The American Empire continued picking the bones of the old Spanish Empire with the Spanish-American War in 1898. Then, there were still all those other Empires that weren't so decrepit. What to do with them? Ah Ha! 1914:

1. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia because it felt Serbia was behind the assassination of the archduke (Did they really?)
2. then the Russian Empire declared war on Austria-Hungary because Russia was the protector of the Serbs
3. then the German Empire declared war on Russia because it had an alliance with Austria-Hungary
4. then France declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary because France had an alliance with Russia
5. then Great Britain joined in against Germany and Austria-Hungary because it had an alliance with France and Russia
6. then the American Empire joined the probable winners in the last months so it could participate in the looting (before that, Americans had been selling matériel to — and financing — both sides)

I'm not sure how the Ottoman Empire got dragged in. They had been Russia's enemy (and allied with France and Great Britain!) in the Crimean War. The Ottomans had been the enemy of Austria from the 15th century onward. Perhaps British avarice did the job. Or something else.

Somehow, the system that was adopted in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna with the final defeat of Napoleon — that was explicitly designed to avoid general war and which had worked for a century — came unravelled. Why? How?

Maybe all this was merely a happy coincidence, as far as Uncle Sam was concerned: The BIG Powers sat down in a circle and blew their brains out leaving only the American Empire. Actually, it took W.W. II to completely finish off the Germans, the Japanese, and the British. The French and Austrians and Ottomans had been killed off in W.W. I and the Russian Empire had been taken care of with the Bolshevik Revolution.* Then in 1945, after fighting the Nazis as allies (and losing more than everyone else combined including the enemy), the U.S.S.R. immediately switched sides and emerged from W.W. II as a worthy foil for the American Empire. Another necessary coincidence!

This American Empire requires adversaries to stay in business, which is why the Empire had to hurriedly invent the Islamic hordes with "9/11" after communism had petered out. (Otherwise Lockheed-Martin and Boeing stock would have crashed and their world would have come to an end along with so many other worlds of warmaking. It was all coming • to • an • end.) Maybe the current "terrorist threat" is just one more happy coincidence for all concerned. But, maybe it isn't a coincidence. Maybe it is an unintended consequence of ignorant policies. Maybe it is an intended consequence of ignorant policies. "I have seen the enemy, and he is us."

Personally, I am pretty certain we could find people at the highest levels in Washington who would think that this program of conquest and looting in the 20th century (and before!) is exactly what happened and that they, themselves, had everything to do with it. We wouldn't even have to look very far or very hard. Of course, they would — like Bonaparte — only admit to being motivated by libération and légitime défense.

But some people do like to boast when they think they have won. Listen to the neocons. And that giant sucking sound you can hear is the Empire at work.

What was the most lethal weapon in the Great War? The machine gun, of course (the Maxim gun, an American invention). What was the most lethal weapon in W.W. II? The atom bomb, of course, an American invention.

We are all safe now, right?

- Morley

This is the enemy of the world:

(All these years, I thought they were on our side.)

Am I too harsh? See what you think.

Recommended reading: Wilson's War

* The Chinese Empire had been mortally wounded by the Opium Wars, a project of the East India Company, Great Britain, France and the United States in the 19th century. This oldest of modern empires was overthrown by the American inspired Sun Yat-sen in 1911, setting China's revolutionary course for the 20th century. Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands retained overseas possessions, yet were not important military powers in the 20th century.

Paul wrote:

> Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia (because they thought Serbia was behind the assassination)
>
> France declared war on Austro-Hungary to protect Serbia (France thought themselves protectors of the Serbs)....
>
> Germany declared war on France (because of their promises to Austro-Hungary)....
>
> And before we all knew it everyone was prepared for a short jolly war full of adventures and glory for young men....
>
> Then came the trenchs and a generation of potentially productive young men led to slaughter...
>
> It took the world decades to recover (and in some ways we're still not there). An international money, freedom to travel, an international intelligentsia....What a loss.
>
> Just purchased Higgs new book " Against Leviathan". Best thing I've read in years.
>
> Paul

Visit me on the Web
http://www.morleyevans.com
Accurate Solutions to Complex Problems