Why Britain should never have entered the First World War | Dominic Sandbrook

The Times columnist Dominic Sandbrook tells Matt Chorley why he thinks Britain would have been better off without WWI as he picks out the echoes of history in present-day politics. The host of The Rest Is History podcast also reveals how he deals with being a “historian pin-up”.
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[@michaeljamieson3582]

The chemistry between Dominic and Tom, combined with their passion for the subject matter, is utterly infectious. I challenge anyone to listen to one of their series of podcasts and not be hooked by the end.

[@thejoin4687]

It's a sign of their quality that they'll sell me on a topic I'Ve never found interesting (Custer's Last Stand, for example).

[@kieranb7582]

The rest of history podcast is a fantastic podcast. Whilst I disagree with the title of this, Dom and Tom are well worth the time, great chemistry.

[@NPA1001]

The Rest is History has become my favourite podcast.. the only positive thing that came out of lockdown

[@minnyh]

Brilliant interview - relaxed and non-interruptive - 10/10

[@kirstymcdade4249]

There is someone infinitely reassuring about Dominic, very fond of him and Tom

[@johndavenport8843]

History is critical, and The Rest is History is the best podcast. Dominic and Tom are simply great.

[@GafferBob]

From a Yank in Virginia,Thanks for introducing me to Dominic,definitely not Toynbee. 😁

[@martinaaron609]

Part of the success of the superb Rest Is History podcast must surely be because both Dominic and Tom have such nice voices to listen to (which is very much not the case with this interviewer!)

[@therighthonsirdoug]

Funnily enough to me, having never seen him before, unusually he looks pretty much how I expected him to!

[@Joe-og6br]

Interesting podcast. The broad range of subjects is enjoyable.

[@user-hh6mq3rw5x]

Already aware of Dom, but this is the first time I’ve come across Matt (very smart, congenial guy). Gotta say that TRIH is my fave podcast, one of the few worth listening to.

[@stevengarside]

Even though both Sandbrook and Holland are right-leaning, and I am anything but, I absolutely love their podcast. They are just fabulous together. Sandbrook especially, is so engaging. Warm, witty and generous. And a wonderful voice. I especially love his stuff on post 1945 Britain, his forte. The episode on Jeremy Thorpe was gold.

[@LarryLoudini]

Agree with that for Sandbrook but Holland’s always come across to me as more leftwing (Irish so familiar but not 100% au fait with British political divide). That said, I do love the in-jokes about Dominic being a noted leftwing intellectual 😅

[@WorshipinIdols]

I have to listen to this pod cast right away. I am a huge history buff and I have never even heard of it.

[@piccalillipit9211]

OH its brilliant

[@Dude0000]

I’ve just found it quite recently and it is very good. The good thing about finding it late is having a large catalogue to choose from, already.

[@saphy45-uu8rd]

The Rest is History is really excellent. You will enjoy it I am sure.

[@exquisitecandy2684]

LOVE the two sided writing method of the interviewee. Going to check the podcast. ExPat in Canada 🇨🇦

[@davew4998]

Well that's funny; I just turned off Neil Oliver talking about Stone Henge to listen to you Dominic.

[@carlsmith8815]

Having lived in a Viennese rented pre 1914 apartment . I can first of all say yes they are wonderful , however Vienna is not necessarily Austria.. Imperial Vienna was a conscious creation with its monumental apartment blocks. It was a way to house the new imperial governmental apparatus and the rising middle class. It was modelled on Paris. The suburbs and small town ( where l used to teach ) is far more like Britain with people aspiring to owner occupied houses set in gardens . Home ownership is a desirable in most European countries , if decided less in Germany but an established given in the Angloshphere.

[@859902]

The benefit of hindsight makes it obvious Britain ought to have stayed out but even without that it was sufficiently clear that her essential interests did not require supporting France

[@justineroberts2645]

Hahaha I came here from.a search to find images of Tom and Dominic as I realised I have no clue what they look like, as the interviewer suggests here, and also expected them to be older, as per Dominic's answer 😅

[@johanswede8200]

Every minute there are children born being intelligent and curious...

[@jamesryan82]

Hits the nail on the head here - history has in many ways been lost to academia, when everyone owns it. TRIH is bringing history back to the people

[@859902]

Fascinating topic among all alternative histories

[@piccalillipit9211]

*IVE JUST READ - THE ROAD TO WIGAN PIER* definatly people should read it - written about life in the north of Britain in 1935, and honestly it is SO much like life today. The differences, no cola dust, hot running water, indoor toilets - apart from that its identical. Even in 1935 we knew that processed food was bad for poor people...!!!

[@davidrodgersNJ]

Well, the first question was how the guest felt being a "historian pin-up" or something, so I start jumping ahead to find his argument of why Britain never should of entered ww1, and I get to the end and is it really not there? Wow....:/

[@stephenwise2735]

Yes the car!

[@kilianklaiber6367]

If you cannot write about history without having a dog in the fight, then the history of the second world war hasn't been written. This war has been turned into a sacred religion, which no one is allowed to question.

[@kilianklaiber6367]

if you have a dog in the fight... sorry, but I think my point is clear.

[@rhysnichols8608]

Nothing here is really very relevant to the title.

[@kevindocherty7081]

He's right

[@GarySanchez-ro5zm]

Captain Hindsight to save the day

[@KKTR3]

Since the nuke boom was first heard - any one with an ounce of understanding would change nothing about history,

[@td2456]

Hot take

[@davebolowski7925]

… “and quite rightly…” Yup👍

[@samargles]

We’re hungry for it DOMINIC HUNGRY

[@tombrydson781]

It was not our war we should not got involved

[@bgt54rfvcde32wsxzaq1]

News Flash! Human beings created Stone Henge!

[@77roadhog]

Misleading video title

[@charlesburgoyne-probyn6044]

Why did we do this that or the other

[@maxbelcourt7973]

Can't not notice the that the mic looks like a match and the background has the strike stip.

[@geertdecoster5301]

Reinventing Columbus's egg 🙄

[@seanlander9321]

Couldn’t agree more. Besides the completely thankless task of rescuing France and Belgium, the French have never repaid their war loans to Treasury. Not a penny paid since 1931 and the debt is now over a trillion pounds and doubling every 14.5 years.

[@KKTR3]

If that is the case why are we paying millions to them over the boats ?

[@seanlander9321]

@@KKTR3 Because Parliament is stacked with cowards who prefer to take more from their own instead of collecting debts from foreigners.

[@missk1942]

​@@KKTR3but didnt the French deposit gold in the Bank of England?

[@KKTR3]

@@missk1942 didn’t they send gun boats to New York for gold

[@missk1942]

@@KKTR3 i know Britain sent gold to the States and Canada I think gor safe keeping, maybe the French gold was part of that?

[@nic-ee25]

“the funner thing”?

[@cliveclerkenville2637]

YES YES YES and 50 million died because we did.

[@robertmiller2173]

I think you are correct! Yes Keep the British Empire out of WW1. The Central Powers would have dealt to Russia and France etc.

[@chrisyoung2179]

Maybe not just the first one..

[@ClaberUK]

Britain was dragged into WW1 by a naval treaty with France. But if Britain hadnt entered the war and Germany and the Axis powers had swept across Europe, they would have more then likely controlled the channel and the Mediterranean. It would have meant that British interest in the far east would have been exposed and difficult to control. It could have lead to a lot of the middle east and Asia under the Empire being attacked. It would have also meant that Britain could have been exposed to naval blockades and its European commerce being massively effected. The thought that Prussian generals had wanted to attack Russia for decades and the Kaiser was jealous of the Royal navy. and after the Franco Prussian war the Germans/Prussians were confident they could sweep across Europe using the Von Schlieffen plan, which had been designed almost a decade earlier. European War was inevitable as the Prussians had been eager, the quicker they could start the war the quicker it would be over. So yes the British had to get involved, just had they had done to prevent Napoleon and the French controlling Europe.

[@Dude0000]

You’re basing all that on the assumption that we would have still had an antagonistic relationship with the Central Powers.

[@johnnotrealname8168]

The Germans are not the bloody nazis for goodness sake.

[@KKTR3]

@@johnnotrealname8168who were then the Buddhists?

[@thejoin4687]

@@KKTR3 You mean "who were they *zen*"

[@simonclarke2939]

Archaeology is about people too, or should be. It is possible to explore the human experience through objects, just takes more skill. I must admit that the Roman period is my favourite because it allows a rich artefact and architectural record to be embellished with the evidence of inscriptions and graffiti, but archaeology does have some key advantages over document led investigation of the past, principally that everyone gets a voice - women, slaves, executed prisoners, children etc. History tends to be written by the winners, white middle aged and elderly men!

[@jaycarl4486]

The reason the British became involved in WWI is because of Sir Halford John Mackinder...A rabbit hole you probably don't want to go down (hint: the world island)

[@bramhallbill]

feeble answer on why we should not have entered ww1 but nice podcast nevertheless

[@TheLiverpolitan]

Without doubt the worst decision Britain ever made, we still haven't recovered x

[@davidgatheral792]

Dominic is excellent. I can even overlook his writing for the Daily Mail.

[@alexratzloff894]

HE'S WRONG!!!

[@TheChiconspiracy]

About what exactly?

[@seanmoran2743]

@@TheChiconspiracypossibly a bot and a narcissist

[@matthewburns7989]

LIAR!

[@carloskleiber8500]

Get rid of royals

[@mackenshaw8169]

He's right. British participation in WWI was a catastrophic disaster.

[@p.h.3987]

And in 100 years: Why the UK should never have left the EU.

[@DJFAmenHeavy]

Nah. More like why it was the right choice…

[@kenbroadbent7288]

What was the EU? Oh what they briefly called the Hanseatic league.

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

No reason to wait 100 years for that. How do you feel about say October 2023?

[@DJFAmenHeavy]

@@TheDavidlloydjones Fantastic. As a remain voter, I can see leave was the right decision.

[@p.h.3987]

@@DJFAmenHeavy Good for the EU.

[@joeytputter1]

Get to the subject of the title already bloomin heck

[@Trecesolotienesdos]

very arrogant. What if Germany then threatened Britain, which it could have with a subdued France?

[@JimboPrague]

Dominic and Tom are two of the kind of people who say "basically" in every other sentence. Listen to their podcast and you'll see what I mean. It drives me mad.

[@DOGSARETHEBEST.]

Am I the first here 😊

[@toby9999]

Yes, but I hate dogs.

[@JHimminy]

You’re comparing real kings with this celebrity non-entity. Is this a sop for the plebs? 😂

[@seanmoran2743]

The Great War for Civilisation I didn’t believe in it then and I believe in it less so now JRR Tolkien circa 1960s Now compare that to this Churchill, Winston: "On July 28, 1914, he wrote to his wife that everything was now heading for a conflict and a catastrophe: 'I am interested, in a complete turmoil, and happy.' And in 1915 he told Margot Asquith that he would not at any price wish to live outside this 'delicious war'." “I think a curse should rest on me - because I love this war. I know it’s smashing and shattering the lives of thousands every moment - and yet - I can’t help it - I enjoy every second of it.”- Winston Churchill letter to a friend

[@johnnotrealname8168]

This is not uncommon in soldiers. They tend to enjoy War.

[@ianmills5237]

Vile man

[@FiveLiver]

'Gary Lineker's production company' - instant down vote

[@abuyusef27]

History’s Laurel and Hardy

[@chrissandi9613]

Why does the presenter call Dr. Sandbrook "a histowian and wock star podcaster"? [Or should that be Dr. Sandbwook?]

[@Bobmudu35UK]

I love their podcast more than I loathe the hypocritical Gary Lineker.

[@ahartify]

Oh no, not another retrospective peacenik.Spare us, please. Where do these people come from?

[@kerriwilson7732]

Not the grave, unlike millions from 1914-1918.

[@seanmoran2743]

It was a pyrrhic victory that ruined us

[@johnnotrealname8168]

There were peaceniks at the time. It was not like Britain intervened in every European War.

[@user-oc8nx7ki5w]

Romans 10:13 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Ephesians 1:4-5 KJV 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

[@sepposinerva]

A lot of confusing talk, but almost no substance! This interview is very frustrating to listen as the person just keeps talking about anything but the substance. Please, don't ever interview him again!

[@antonydavis2764]

Radio interviews are, by their very nature superficial. If you want to hear something substantial try a podcast. The Rest is History is an excellent podcast if the subject interests you.

[@sebastianwrites]

The Times is a right wing paper, which often lies and pushed Brexit! In respect of WWI, strikes me that a lot of the time people say something controversial to get attention to themselves? Certainly in respect of World War I, if we had acted sooner... then "millions" of lives would have been saved. Seems to me that World War I, although I do not know as much to the background of this as World War II, that this was was a similar situation, and therefore it is irresponsible for people to say we should have just stood aside!

[@TheChiconspiracy]

It's not completely controversial though. "Tiny innocent Belgium" was conducting one of the most horrific atrocities the world had ever seen in the Congo, while France was itching for revenge for a war they started (over the wording of a telegram) and lost a few decades prior, and Russia was one of the most backwards and repressive states in Europe... Are they really worth the human costs of not only the first world war, but the millions dead as result of the second and the rise of Stalin?

[@indybruining]

The 1st and 2nd world war were quite different morally speaking (which it sounds like is the perspective you're coming at this from), the germans were no nazi's.@@TheChiconspiracy

[@johnnotrealname8168]

@@TheChiconspiracy Belgium was not to blame for the Congo Free-State and France won. Russia was becoming much more progressive and honestly what came afterwards was much worse. However I do think the War should not have begun nor that Britain should have entered.

[@Horwitz86]

Romanov the Windsors