"they seem to think they are winning something"

Not at all Gnome - what we are and have been doing for quite sometime now has been knocking all those "Revisionist Myths" on the head and you and your pals have not put up one single argument that withstands even the most cursory examination.

"I think one of them was that the war had to be fought, and we see from Adonis and many others that it did not. It was avoidable, and once started it could have been ended early. All of those lives could have been saved." - Academic Dave

Adonis was not alive at the time Grey and those who supported him were - The decision of the British Government OF THE DAY is the only thing that counts

It could not have been ended early in any manner that would have been acceptable to the people of France or of Belgium.

As for saving lives? The following lives would not have been saved.

The war on the eastern front would have been fought with it's consequent loss of life.

The war in Luxembourg, Belgium and France would have been fought with it's consequent loss of life.

And as YOU are allowed to state what WOULD HAVE BEEN then please afford me the same opportunity.

Europe would have been plundered and impoverished in the decades following the peace imposed by Germany. The Germans would NOT have to have facilitated Lenin's trip to Moscow to knock Russia out of the war, the terms and conditions of the peace treaty dictated to the defeated Russians would have brought about the revolution and the loss of land would have made it's effects that much harder on the population of Russia. Any destabilisation on Germany's newly established eastern border would have led to further incursions and loss of Russian territory.

With former French and Belgian colonies to use as bases the Germans would have fomented trouble throughout the world damaging Britain's trade and interests.

Germany would ultimately take on the British with an Army ten times that of Great Britain's and Great Britain fighting without a single ally would have lost that war.