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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: kumar who wrote (13182)	12/8/2001 1:05:31 AM
From: DavesM	Respond to of 281500

re: contrarian view When the United States declared war on Japan in World War Two, about 2400 American Sailors and Soldiers were killed at Pearl Harbor. The United States declared war on Germany in World War One due in large part to the deaths of 128 Americans (RMS Lusitania). When the United States declared war on Spain 254 sailors were killed aboard the USS Maine.

To: kumar who wrote (13182)	12/8/2001 2:46:02 AM
From: Bilow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Hi kumar_rangan; Re: "Nobody (including in many cases, themselves) gave 2 hoots about their homeland under attack." Actually, every war, big or small, between major powers or total nobodies, that I can think of started from stuff that could be classified almost as "trivia". 1914 Austro-Hungarian Empire starts WW1 over the assassination of one man (crown prince). 1940 Britain and France declares war on Germany after invasion of Poland by Germany and almost no British or French citizens killed. WW2 starts. 1873 France declares war on Prussia because "Bismarck, intent on provoking war with France, made the king's report of the conversation public (July 13) in his celebrated Ems dispatch, which he edited in a manner certain to provoke the French." encyclopedia.com This one seemed reasonable, except that England was so much more powerful than the US: 1812 US declares war on England because they impressed (forced to work for British) ~10,000 US sailors. 1793 Britain declares war on France because France had a revolution. 1969 El Salvadore attacks Honduras because of World Cup Soccer match. 1982 Argentina and Britain come to blows after Argentina leaves a flag on an uninhabited island near Antartica. 1865 Paraguay attacks Brazil because of how Brazil treated Uruguayan citizens when Brazil intervened in Uruguay's civil war. Paraguay marches through Argentina believing that Argentina would welcome them, but instead ends up crushed by the combined forces of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Half the male population killed. 1965 India and Pakistan come to blows over unpopulated and useless high altitude territory in Kashmir. 1971 India and Pakistan come to blows because of Indian support for rebels in East Pakistan (Bangladesh). 1950s-60s India and China fight over territory so useless that vast majority of fatalities are caused by altitude sickness. 1904 Japan attacks Russia because of Russia's refusal to withdraw from Manchuria. -- Carl