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In ww1 Germany and France declared war on each other despite both their armies being where they're supposed to be. Both Germany and France had the security system that has every power.
Britain didn't declare war on Germany until the German army had gone through Belgium. The German army is not supposed to be in Belgium. Britain had mi5 that does agent handling and surveillance, and then police that display badges and arrest people. 211.29.202.35 (talk) 23:49, 24 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I think we can be more tolerant and welcoming of people whose first language may not be English and what they say is reasonably intelligible even though some clarifications may be needed. Sincerely, Thinker78(talk)03:28, 26 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I agree that tolerance should be encouraged, but contributors do have a basic responsibility to be reasonably articulate and concise. It's not the responsibility of other editors to puzzle out the meaning of an incoherent submission. Mediatech492 (talk) 10:29, 26 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe rather than complaining about how some of us acted, user's time would be better spent doing what they are telling us to do, as this is about WW1, not any editor. Comment on content, not users.Slatersteven (talk) 16:39, 28 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Request to review Central Powers leaders of infobox
To some extent there is a consistent simplification of leadership in the infobox which is completely necessary, and for this reason I believe the Allied side of the leaders makes sense. I don't share this sentiment for the Central Powers Leaders listed. Like George V who is not on the infobox, Mehmed V was not calling any shots during his reign and was totally out of power, I would instead replace Sultan Reshad with Enver and Talat, they were the key decision makers on the Ottoman side during WWI. I would also advocate putting von Hindenburg, von Bethmann Hollweg, Ludendorff, or von Hotzendorf there as well but I don't have as much confidence to back up this request. I would appreciate input from a Bulgarianist in this discussion to verify whether Tsar Ferdinand was the leader of Bulgaria during the war or if there was a massive power behind his throne. Benlittlewiki (talk) 19:01, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
In listing leaders, we should be aiming to list no more than seven leaders a side (per template documentation). Furthermore, per WP:INFOBOXPURPOSE any entry must be supported by the article - ie, why they were key or significant should be evidenced by the article, otherwise a listing would be meaningless to the reader. Cinderella157 (talk) 23:05, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Given this criteria, Mehmed V doesn't have a single mention in the article, at least Enver has one mention. Presumably we can at least replace the Sultan? Perhaps someone can add more information about the Ottomans during WWI in this article. Benlittlewiki (talk) 01:10, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I think we need to clarify the criteria we are using. The heading in the info box is "Commanders and leaders" which sugget a distinction between political leaders and military commanders. However, given the importance of the home front and political aspects of the war, I'm not sure that such a distinction in meaningful. There is a huge historiography on the question of "who was really in charge" of Germany alone (and of course the answer often changes over the course of the war). Perhaps we should first settle the issue of who the major allied and central powers were. If we can do this we can then list the nominal head of government and the nominal head of the military for each major power. I suspect that this will be a lengthy process. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 01:41, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I believe the current list of Allied and Central powers is sound. I am sympathetic to adding Serbia and/or Belgium to the infobox, but I would also like to hear arguments against this. Benlittlewiki (talk) 23:48, 21 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
After a week there hasn't been any more input. Since no one objects to not adding Talaat to the infobox, I'm thinking of going through with this edit soon. To answer a likely FAQ, Djemal Pasha was not a key decision maker like Talaat and Enver were, and was principally a soldier on the Syrian front. He had a lot of political authority in that sector, but he did not have national decision making power. Talaat was Interior Minister, CUP leader, and then Prime Minister; he was basically running the civilian government, it doesn't make sense to exclude him from the infobox. German, Austrian, Hungarian, and Bulgarianists should do a similar inspection of the infobox. Benlittlewiki (talk) 21:04, 2 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
You appear to have missed the implications of what I said. Enver is at least supported by on mention in the body of the article. Wheter such a passing mention is sufficient to place them in the infobox is another issue. Cinderella157 (talk) 21:27, 2 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
If that's the case I can add some information of the dynamics within the Ottoman Empire's government to the article. This said, given this criteria Vittorio Orlando, Poincaré, Franz Joseph I (who is mentioned not as a war leader but in the context of the July Crisis), and Yoshihito should never have been listed in the info box either, given that they are never mentioned in the article. Benlittlewiki (talk) 22:06, 2 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.
It says "In 1911, the Russian Stavka agreed with the French to attack Germany within fifteen days of mobilisation...". Isn't it 1914 and not 1911? Frogeater1 (talk) 16:53, 26 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Benlittlewiki If you wish to add more information about the Ottoman Empire please ensure that your contributions are properly sourced and do not just represent your own interpretation of events. It might be better if you discuss your proposed additions in Talk and seek consensus before adding them to the article. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 22:37, 9 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
A Small Misunderstanding
Although Japan did occupy Germany’s colonies, It did not further fight Germany or the Central Powers, And was not in the Triple Entente either. I would request an edit to fix that problem, have a nice day! ;) DogeofWisdom69 (talk) 18:55, 15 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I would like to propose the following addition to the article's lead paragraph on the results of the conflict. It would highlight the new middle eastern order dominated by France and Britain in place of the Ottoman Empire and the end of the Islamic Caliphate, both very important historical developments unmentioned in the current lead. This edit would also help move the lead to be less eurocentric. I would like to establish a consensus first before going through an edit. The following paragraph is the current lead paragraph of the result of WWI, and the paragraph after my suggestion.
Hmmmm, this suggest that the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire led to instability causing WW2. I do not think this would be an improvement. The Bannertalk16:05, 21 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Truth Social video
Part of this article (specifically part of the first sentence of Arms race) appeared, unattributed, in a video posted on Truth Social. Since the word "Reich" is plainly visible there is naturally a widespread negative reaction, without general realization that it's referencing Bismarck's Reich. Not that it makes it much better. I tried using {{Press}}, but can't identify any RS that mentions WP. David Brooks (talk) 21:59, 21 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
"The classic expression of Bismarck’s approach to diplomacy was his 'Kissinger Diktat,' which laid out his foreign policy maxims for the unified German Reich."
"Not only was it an independent kingdom until 1871, when it became part of the newly unified German Reich; this southern state is also home to the Alps,"
And in fact is the "second" reich, preceding Hitler's Third Reich. Thus removing context around the term "third reich" instead of adding context. 108.35.187.202 (talk) 00:51, 24 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
GA and infobox collage
In light of the GA request, I would raise concerns about the use of a collage as the lead image as it relates to prevailing P&G. The purpose of the lead image is not to be a photo essay of the article subject. WP is not a picture encyclopedia. Per the WP:LEADIMAGE, the lead image should carry a representative image ...to give readers visual confirmation that they've arrived at the right page. We might think of a representative image as one which is emblematic. Per WP:COLLAGE, Collages and montages are single images that illustrate multiple closely related concepts, where overlapping or similar careful placement of component images is necessary to illustrate a point in an encyclopedic way [emphasis added]. Per MOS:IMAGERELEVANCE, Images must be significant and relevant in the topic's context, not primarily decorative [emphasis added]. WP:INFOBOXPURPOSE tells us we should not try to write the article in the infobox. This applies equally to text and images. Mutiple images stacked togeather are smaller and more difficult to see (making them more of a distraction rather than a benefit) while extensive captioning bloats the infobox when WP:INFOBOXPURPOSE tells us that less is better. I would observe that the placement of these images togeather is not necessary and that the collage here tends to being decorative in function and intent. WP:OTHERCONTENT is not of itself a sound rational for use. I would suggest that the present tank image is suitably emblematic. Cinderella157 (talk) 04:05, 11 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Cinderella157: There's nothing wrong with the collage. We cannot represent World War I with one image; that's impossible. We instead use a collage to showcase the focal points of this global conflict. Using a single image on this article is like representing the animal kingdom with a pig, which obviously serves no one. My point is that certain subjects cannot be represented by one image and this is one of them. So if we were to use a single image, what would it be? WolverineXI(talk to me)10:53, 11 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I see your point, but the problem is that you can't capture a global conflict with six small pictures either. On my (fairly large) screen most look like pictures of lines of tiny figures in a landscape that could be anywhere in the world. You have to read the lengthy captions and click on links to figure out what the hell they are. If you need an image that seems typical of WWI, I remember one that AJP Taylor used: it shows a headless soldier lying in a trench. It's pretty graphic but it captures the horror of the war far better than the current six pictures. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 06:56, 12 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
GA request
A couple of editors have worked hard to tidy up this article and I understand one has put in a GA requests. It looks like they have made considerable improvements, but I think there are still quite a few problems and it probably would have been more productive if there was more discussion of the recent changes on the Talkpage before the GA request was made. Some concerns I have are:
1) Overlinking. The lead has too many links making it look like a sea of blue. There is no need to link common words like "machine gun" and the names of well known countries etc. There are also multiple examples of the same thing being linked more than once.
2) Some of the sourcing looks dubious. There are some pretty controversial assertions which are linked to websites or media articles rather than scholarly sources.
3) I have concerns over the balance of the article: with some relatively less important events with their own articles getting too much space in what should be a high level summary article.
4) The collage and other aspects of the info box needs improvement and more input from interested editors would be valuable.
I don't have the time at the moment to make detailed edits but I would be interested in comments from other editors with good knowledge of the subject. Aemilius Adolphin (talk) 23:22, 11 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I have removed the GAN per WP:GANI: the edits made by the nominator were not significant contributions in terms of content, and the discussion on this page makes it clear that there are substantial issues remaining. BlueMoonset (talk) 15:21, 13 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]