Virtually all of Europe’s statesmen and military leaders failed to anticipate the nature, duration and effects of World War I in the run-up to that great calamity. They also had only a vague idea of the factors that could lead to such a war. Given these failures, it is all the more interesting that the German political theorist Friedrich Engels managed to make a number of accurate forecasts about WWI. Engels based his forecasts on an analysis of the trends that had developed in the system of world politics after the Franco-Prussian War from 1870–71. He also took into account developments in European military affairs.
Engels was a serious author who covered various fields of the social sciences. He paid a great deal of attention to the development of arms and military equipment, conducting a number of very interesting studies in this field. However, it goes without saying that Engels’ predictions about the future were influenced by an ideological agenda, which inevitably affected certain elements of his foresight. But as it turned out, it was the most ideological parts of his forecasts that did not materialize.
Read Full Article »