# The World Wars **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2014, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-wars/689365 "2014-05-27T13:25:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-wars/689365/21 "2014-05-30T11:42:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The alliance between the three countries was only invoked in a defensive war. There was no obligation to join in an offensive war. Germany chose to support Austria-Hungary in its attack on Serbia but Italy did not. It wasn’t a surprise; while they were technically allies, Italy and Austria-Hungary were not generally friendly to each other (they had rival claims around the Adriatic). Which is why they came in on the side of the Allies in 1915: to gain territory at the expense of Austria–Hungary. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-wars/689365/22 "2014-05-30T19:32:05Z")
I also loved Lenin’s sealed train (looked like something a bit more sinister from WWII) full of crates marked with Nazi eagles. Again, very authentic! ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-wars/689365/23 "2014-05-31T03:53:49Z")
One nitpick that bugged me: They show MacArthur as a five-star general thru the whole series. That rank didn’t even get created untill the end of '44… ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-wars/689365/24 "2014-05-31T06:29:06Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > One nitpick that bugged me: They show MacArthur as a five-star general thru the whole series. That rank didn’t even get created untill the end of '44… The whole show was one long nitpick. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-wars/689365/25 "2014-06-01T00:32:32Z")
Can tell it’s made by the same crew that did The Men that Built America. So. Much. Slow. Motion. Walking. Slow. Motion. Walking. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-wars/689365/26 "2014-06-01T00:57:14Z")
And 20min worth of commercials per hour and fast forward disabled. Don’t know if I’ll be able to watch like this. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-wars/689365/27 "2014-06-01T04:28:25Z")
Barbara Tuchman’s "Guns of August " is one of the best books ever on WWI. JFK read it and was impressed. She was a top-flight historical author. I read it many years ago and thought it one of the best histories on that ‘war to end all wars’. That wasn’t considered a joke, back then. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-wars/689365/28 "2014-06-01T10:17:31Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > Barbara Tuchman’s "Guns of August " is one of the best books ever on WWI. JFK read it and was impressed. She was a top-flight historical author. I read it many years ago and thought it one of the best histories on that ‘war to end all wars’. That wasn’t considered a joke, back then. It’s an excellent book but it isn’t really a history of the war. It only covers the first few months of the war. If you’re looking for a general history of the war, my recommendation is _A Short History of World War I_ by James L. Stokesbury. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-wars/689365/29 "2014-06-04T17:53:35Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > One nitpick that bugged me: They show MacArthur as a five-star general thru the whole series. That rank didn’t even get created untill the end of '44… I noticed that too. This show is clearly marketed to history nerds (like me 🙂 ) How do they goon stuff like that up for God’s sake??? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-wars/689365.md?page=1)