History repeating itself?

[JMBuilder]

Just an interesting parallel that I noticed between current events and the events leading up to World War II.

1939-1941:

German forces were launching offensive after offensive on neighboring nations, taking advantage of the lack of resistance before war finally broke out.

Japanese forces were taking over areas of China and the Pacific for territory and natural resources before launching the attack on Pearl Harbor and officially declaring war on the US.

Present day:

Russian forces invade the Crimean region of Ukraine, also taking advantage of the lack of resistance and relying heavily on pro-Russian rebels to keep the Ukrainian military at bay.

Chinese forces are spreading their territories down into the South China Sea, establishing new borders and constructing artificial islands for military bases.

Road to World War III, or just another little flame that will die out soon?

[Flymetothemun]

All I have to say is this:

Third time's the charm.

[Bill Phil]

All I have to say is this:

Third time's the charm.

Anybody up for Oceania?

Or would you not be willing learn Newsspeak?

[Dodgey]

Except that we have long range intercontinental weapons now. Mutually assured destruction is a powerful thing.

[Flymetothemun]

Anybody up for Oceania?

Or would you not be willing learn Newsspeak?

Think abut this: Civilization, or a very crucial and large part of it, was very nearly destroyed during the 1st and 2nd world wars. 3rd time's the charm is used whenever you've failed twice at something and are attempting it the third time.

[Shpaget]

Think abut this: Civilization, or a very crucial and large part of it, was very nearly destroyed during the 1st and 2nd world wars.

Not even close.

Each year more than three times as many people die than the death toll of entire WW1.

Even total deaths in WW2 are lower than the number of deaths each year.

Contrast that to some extraordinary advances in practically every aspect of our modern lives.

[Yukon0009]

I really hope that dosen't happen. (I'm Chinese)

[Bill Phil]

Not even close.

Each year more than three times as many people die than the death toll of entire WW1.

Even total deaths in WW2 are lower than the number of deaths each year.

Contrast that to some extraordinary advances in practically every aspect of our modern lives.

Only if you use the lower death estimates.

Civilization wasn't nearly ended. A large amount of infrastructure, sure. But not all of civilization.

But in WW3, I doubt civilization will survive unscathed. Thus the 1984 reference.

[r4pt0r]

Crimea is majority ethnic Russian, and I fully support its reunification with its mother country. Remember Crimea was Russian territory for almost 200 years prior it falling into Ukranian control during the 50's.

[RainDreamer]

It is unlikely that a major open war will break out though. Citizen will not support it, not all of them, and a country with its citizen revolting will have it's economy ruined, production crippled, and be stuck in a serious disadvantage. It is much easier to do complete blackout of information back then than now for war purposes.

If there will be any conflict, it will be small scale, high impact black ops that can easily be hidden and have other things distracting the public from it. I think the age of open hot warfare is over.

[Azimech]

Now that we the people increasingly have access to vital information, starting the next big war has become a lot harder. I don't think WW3 will happen anytime soon.

This is from 1999. Some governments still try it, and I hope their people will eventually punish them.

[ChrisSpace]

And while you all be nuking yourselves, i'll just chill here in the outback.

[Dispatcher]

One of the first things to happen prior to war may be limited or controlled communications and access to news (at least in some places). As for weapons of war, these could be a combination of conventional and unconventional (i.e. nuclear, biological, chemical).

Even those who think they live in remote or isolated locations may be impacted in unforeseen ways.

Regrettably, history and archeology (and contemporary news) show that war is always associated with human activity. Various belief systems predict that war will always attend humanity. No matter one's views, its likely that war in the future continues to be possible, if not probable.

[GDJ]

And while you all be nuking yourselves, i'll just chill here in the outback.

And I'll be hunting seals in the Northwest Territories. We both have alot of real estate to choose for a new home.

[Brethern]

And I'll be hunting seals in the Northwest Territories. We both have alot of real estate to choose for a new home.

If either of you think you're going to be surviving WW3 unscathed you got another thing coming.

WW3 is going to happen, the timer has been counting down since 1945 the only difference is that the clock got a fresh paint job back in the 90's but either way it will happen and there's nothing any of use can do to stop it.

[GDJ]

If either of you think you're going to be surviving WW3 unscathed you got another thing coming.

WW3 is going to happen, the timer has been counting down since 1945 the only difference is that the clock got a fresh paint job back in the 90's but either way it will happen and there's nothing any of use can do to stop it.

Well, you have the right to speak your opinion of course. As to whether or not it's inevitable, that's up to argument and conjecture. Frankly I have a little more faith in people.

[Brethern]

Well, you have the right to speak your opinion of course. As to whether or not it's inevitable, that's up to argument and conjecture. Frankly I have a little more faith in people.

The war is coming if you have to deny it in order to continue to live normally that's your choice but it's lying to yourself if you think it's not going to happen.

[RainDreamer]

I think if the war happens, it is not going to be anything like previous wars. Open, long term warfare is getting prohibitively expensive for small nations and costly even for the countries that can afford it. Heck, just the cost of fighting terrorists are already a serious problem, and they are the ones with less economy and production backing and almost no popular support. Two countries going fisticuff with each other is going to ruin the economy of both as transnational companies pulls out of there due to risk, stocks and investments would fall, trading is going to be disrupted, etc. And the aftermath for both countries (or the victor if it is a complete take over) to clean up is going to be a pain too, with the kind of weapons being used these days and their destructive power. It would be decades to catch up to the rest of the world again after something like that, while they take advantage on your weaken economy and get ahead on the global stage. Unless there is something that is worth so much that can recuperate the cost of a large scale war quickly, usually nations will just talk it out instead.

This war maybe fought with money, natural resources, and words instead of guns and bullets.

[Kryten]

The situation in Ukraine is history repeating itself, but on a much briefer scale than OP is proposing; it's the Russian playbook from Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Adjara, and Transnitria on a slightly larger scale. It didn't lead to open war then, and it's unlikely to now, especially as the intense fighting is long past.

[GDJ]

The war is coming if you have to deny it in order to continue to live normally that's your choice but it's lying to yourself if you think it's not going to happen.

We're done here.

[Brethern]

I'll be sure to start a topic when the war starts saying I told you so.

If we survive long enough to get to a computer.

[Kryten]

If you think tensions right now are worse than they were at any point in the cold war, you haven't been paying much attention. If '62 didn't lead to world war terminus, what's happening in Ukraine is barely even going to register.

[jmiki8]

I hope history doesn't repeat itself. I hope my country's government wouldn't be so insane to join a global scale war (it's likely as Hungary is a NATO state). The country lost around 800,000 people in the 2 world wars (not counting the 200,000 regugees who left after 1956 revolution), which is a huge loss if you consider it wasn't a major belligerent and it has less than 10 million citizens today. Many other countries have seen comparable or worse destruction. What would come in WWIII?

Edited August 16, 2015 by jmiki8

[Vanamonde]

This forum draws people from all over the world. Whether or not our home countries are enemies of each other, there's no need for us as individuals to attack each other. That's why we have a rule against politics on our forum (2.2.b), and why this thread will be closed now.