Source: Common Dreams
by Richard Heinberg
“In the course of human events there are times when everyone seems determined to pick sides and brawl. A prime example was the First World War: Over a dozen countries divided into two camps — the Allied Powers and the Central Powers — and fought for four years, with 40 million casualties. Afterward, few seemed to agree on what the conflict had been about (probably the best explanation was that it had been over tensions between a fading colonial superpower, Britain, and a potential rival, Germany). World War II, which left 60 million dead, was in many ways a continuation of the same conflict, with the terms of surrender for the first war setting a 20-year fuse for the second (the punitive terms of the Versailles Treaty were partly a response to German demands at the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, a reminder of how revenge echoes through history).” (07/23/25)