How accurate is this depiction of WWI?

by GiantWindmill

Recently this has been making rounds on Facebook and I'm not quite sure how accurate it is.

http://themetapicture.com/if-wwi-was-a-bar-fight/

epwnym

Once the fight starts, I would've said Britain whistled for the rest of his gang, whereupon Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa walk in the bar. ;)

As for France, Britain and America going through Germany's pockets, this does not fairly represent the reparation costs nor each party's attitudes. France, being physically connected and directly impacted by the war wanted serious payback. They felt far more threatened (justifiably so). The Brits and Americans however actually wanted to get Germany back and running economically as soon as it could. Fewer hard feelings, more concern about trade/economics.

Nattata-talie

All the statements are pretty general, so it doesn't exactly get anything wrong per se. It does gloss over some stuff though, and the wording makes some untrue implications.

The analogy of Serbia buying Austria-Hungary a whole new suit is... strange. You probably know it's referring Archduke Ferdinand's assassination. Austria-Hungary's reaction to this was a series of demands which was not explicitly stated to be but generally understood as an ultimatum for war. Here's an English translation. I guess in my mind asking for a new suit sounds more like economic demands, especially in the next statement.

The "cannot afford a whole new suit" thing makes it seem like Serbia was completely unable to fulfill Austria-Hungary's demands. Certainly the demands were harsh and perhaps disrespectful to Serbian sovereignty, but they could have done it. They just didn't want to. For one, the recent events in Bosnia as well as escalating tensions in Europe in general made a lot of people believe war was inevitable regardless. Furthermore, the Serbians knew they would probably have the support of at least the Russians, and then by extension perhaps the French (the French and Russians had a military alliance) and then the British. And then there's the point I mentioned that it was largely infringing on Serbia's sovereignty to make such demands. Serbia did agree to fully meet demands #8 and #10, though the other 8 demands they either partially met or outright refused for the reasons I covered.

Another point that's glossed over here is that even Russia and Great Britain were sympathetic to Austria-Hungary at this time. Of course, not to the point where they would officially declare support for it, but they did see where Austria-Hungary was coming from.

Russia calling Serbia it's "little brother" is a bit patronizing, but does hint towards the important point that Russia supported Serbia largely because they were both Slavic.

The whole exchange between Britain, France, and Germany here is a little off. Great Britain was really still trying to keep the peace at this point. But when Germany informed Britain they were contemplating war with France, Britain did not immediately go to France's side. Instead they asked both France and Germany to guarantee Belgium's independence. France agreed, Germany said nothing.

Germany did indeed send Russia and ultimatum to stop mobilizing it's reserves, which was promptly ignored.

As I suggested early, a better way to word this next statement would have been "Britain asks France and Germany if either of them are looking at Belgium."

They're calling the Ottoman Empire by it's predecessor Turkey, which is even more incorrect than calling Austria-Hungary just Austria. Yes, the Ottoman Empire did at this time sign a treaty with Germany.

The order of who attacked when is mostly accurate, though a few things are forgotten. Namely, it looks like the creator forgot Serbia exists. Austria-Hungary should be throwing a punch their way early on.

Japan did actually play an important role in WWI. It's important to remember that this was the height of Imperialism and Colonialism. Even Germany was a global empire. Japan's main role in the war was fighting Germany's pacific fleet, which it did very effectively.

Italy entering WWI wasn't exactly a huge surprise. They hadn't been making a big secret out of the fact that they were more opportunistic than anything. Although the Italian people didn't necessarily want to go to war, their potential entrance was really a matter of who to attack; France of Austria-Hungary.

Not sure what the deal with the Australia/Ottoman Empire thing is. The Australians were deeply loyal to the UK at this time, they weren't exactly being forced into anything.

The France and Russia getting thrown through a window thing imply that both faced similar hardships. The Russian front is considered to be the most brutal in WWI. Just a glance at the numbers of wounded and killed tells you this. The Russian military was basically being put through a meat grinder in order to stall the German and Austro-Hungarian advance.

America's entrance is pretty standard anti-American sentiment for this day in age. Yes, America didn't enter until Germany was at a breaking point, but so were Britain and France. America providing an influx of fresh troops is really what tipped to scales of war.

Going through Germany's pockets to pay for drinks is also somewhat wrong. More accurately, they went through Germany's pockets to pay for their own medical bills (and then some).

Silvadream

Japan did capture a bunch of German colonies in the pacific (although it was with little resistance), so perhaps it should be added that Japan snuck over to Germany's table and drank his beer.