I mean if I were the French I'd be inclined to shove a enormous pipe up Germany's ass for turning the north and east of my country into a continous warzone too. So I can't exactly fault them for that bill

they send us a big fat bill every year

The war wasn't really Germany's fault though and when Germany had beaten France in the Franco-Prussian war earlier on the restrictions placed on the French were much more lenient

if you look at your tax receipt it will tell you exactly how much you personally sent to the EU every year

And that war was absolutely France's fault

The Franco-Prussian war was tiny and lasted one year, maybe 900,000 died on both sides. The First World War took 4 years and killed 1.4 million Frenchmen alone. For that you have to get a victory that is worth more than the one gained for a one year war of less than 1/10th the casualty scale. Also the war was in large measure Germany's fault for giving Austria a blank cheque of unconditional support to do literally anything to Serbia. There's a boat-load of literature about the German high-command (who were a prominent government institution, not just a military body) being eager for conflict beyond their natural duty to prepare for the eventuality.

Small point but slavery was about as beneficial as the mass importation of low income labour is today.

It doesn't help society.

What it does is hold it back.

It's a way for a rich few to hold onto their position and avoid making real advancements or dealing with the market properly.

But, the comically stupid figure of Conrad von Hotzendorf, the Austrian cheif of staff who wanted the war literally to get in a married woman's pants, makes me want to blame Austria entirely

I don't see the Royal Family lasting the next decade not with that luuvy tosser Prince Charles becoming King if I have to choose between a Republic and King Charles, I'll go for a Republic.

Lord Protector Boris tbh

You don't stop being a monarchist just because you have one less than perfect monarch or you aren't a monarchist.

Charles will rule, if he even gets to rule, for a decade at most.

Then we have William and Kate who will be a far better pair.

The recent Harry and Co. incident has shown more of their quality.

Monarchies usually fall apart when the Monarch is shite.

Not really

And yet. We prevail.

Our monarchy has a good habit of producing at worst mediocre monarchs.

charles is ok, william will be good, he 'gets it'

William does get it.

There have been plenty of kingdoms that have survived a ton of shit monarchs. Just history doesn't remember most of them because they were shit, but not shit enough to cause problems.

And Kate has done well

Charles isn't shit enough to cause problems

She's like Diana without any of the negatives.

People love her

And she does a lot of good

people dont give charles perhaps the credit he deserves

But she's not a floozy who wants to be in the family for celebrity

Charles deserves more credit

yeah markle is like fergie x2000

He'll be a mediocre King at worst

And potentially quite an entertaining and good one

Charles has massively risen in popularity recently

they should make william and kates kid the next monarch ... then we'll have another monarch living through many many US presidents

i sometimes buy from that food line he put his name to 'duchy originals'

At worst he will be an annoying preachy shit. Which honestly is one of the worst things he can conceivably be in his position

While Markle has become universally despised.

everything i've had from that brand has been exceptional