--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Neither London nor Paris had gone to war…" description: "\"“Neither London nor Paris had gone to war in 1914 with the aim of creating a ‘Europe of nations’, and it was only from early 1918 onwards that the dest..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/424/robert-gerwarth-45088_war_neither-london-nor-paris-had-gone-to-war_3034824.jpg" --- # Neither London nor Paris had gone to war in 1914 with the… ![“Neither London nor Paris had gone to war in 1914 with the aim of creating a ‘Europe of nations’, and it was only from early 1918 onwards that the destruction of the land empires became an explicit war aim.11” quote by Robert Gerwarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/424/robert-gerwarth-45088_war_neither-london-nor-paris-had-gone-to-war_3034824.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/424/robert-gerwarth-45088_war_neither-london-nor-paris-had-gone-to-war_3034824.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/424/robert-gerwarth-45088_war_neither-london-nor-paris-had-gone-to-war_3034824.jpg) > ““Neither London nor Paris had gone to war in 1914 with the aim of creating a ‘Europe of nations’, and it was only from early 1918 onwards that the destruction of the land empires became an explicit war aim.11”” [Robert Gerwarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gerwarth/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. World War I shifted from national rivalry to targeting empires, reshaping political goals mid-conflict. **In simple terms:** War aims changed to destroy empires. Key Takeaway Study how objectives evolve in conflict. Themes war politics history Mood analytical thoughtful Type historical educational When to use this quote - military education - policy analysis - historical research Key Concepts strategic shift imperial decline Questions to Reflect On - Why do nations alter war objectives? - How does this affect post-war reconstruction? A Different Perspective Changing aims can cause confusion among allies and civilians. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [“I am getting older and am, I daresay, impatient of lost years and months,” Fawcett complained to Keltie in early 1918. Later”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/i-am-getting-older-and-am-i-daresay-impatient-of-lost-years-and/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [I was shocked by the amount of Welsh people in L.A. We'd go to this British pub to watch the 'Six Nations' early in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-rhys/i-was-shocked-by-the-amount-of-welsh-people-in-l-a-we-d-go-to-this/) [Matthew Rhys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-rhys/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [“Fear and desire for pleasure. Aggressiveness comes out of fear, predominantly, and sexuality predominantly out of the other. But they mix in the middle.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-french/fear-and-desire-for-pleasure-aggressiveness-comes-out-of-fear/) [Marilyn French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-french/) > [If I had to guess and put a name on it, I'd say that at some point, the drug war was as much a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-simon/if-i-had-to-guess-and-put-a-name-on-it-i-d-say-that-at-some-point-the/) [David Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-simon/) > [I don't want to go into space because of war. I think we would if it was triggered. If China said they want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-don-t-want-to-go-into-space-because-of-war-i-think-we-would-if-it/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Five days or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rumsfeld/five-days-or-five-months-but-it-certainly-isn-t-going-to-last-longer/) [Donald Rumsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rumsfeld/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [“The world," said Pavone, "will swing to the left. The whole world except America. The world will swing, not because people read Karl Marx,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/the-world-said-pavone-will-swing-to-the-left-the-whole-world-except/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a batter. Love is a war. Love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-does-not-begin-and-end-the-way-we-seem-to-think-it-does-love-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“People came to our house from far and wide. Party and military bigwigs, some guy known as the “combat commander,” the village headman, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/people-came-to-our-house-from-far-and-wide-party-and-military-bigwigs/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [For us who are now in power, we need to be challenged to serve the people and ignore our own egos and personal interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangari-maathai/for-us-who-are-now-in-power-we-need-to-be-challenged-to-serve-the/) [Wangari Maathai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangari-maathai/) > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## More by Robert Gerwarth > [“Even the Jewish communities that already existed in the Reich or in Vienna viewed Orthodox Jewish refugees as outsiders who lacked social standing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gerwarth/even-the-jewish-communities-that-already-existed-in-the-reich-or-in/) [Robert Gerwarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gerwarth/) > [“This was indeed the case in the following two and a half decades, ending in the later 1940s, when the forced expulsion of millions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gerwarth/this-was-indeed-the-case-in-the-following-two-and-a-half-decades/) [Robert Gerwarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gerwarth/) > [“The CUP’s genocidal wartime policies towards the Armenians and Kemal’s ruthless expulsion of Christian Ottomans featured prominently in the Nazi imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gerwarth/the-cup-s-genocidal-wartime-policies-towards-the-armenians-and-kemal/) [Robert Gerwarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gerwarth/) > [“Few politicians observed the developments in Anatolia between 1918 and 1923 with greater interest than Adolf Hitler, who would later profess that in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gerwarth/few-politicians-observed-the-developments-in-anatolia-between-1918/) [Robert Gerwarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gerwarth/) > [“The CUP’s genocidal wartime policies towards the Armenians and Kemal’s ruthless expulsion of Christian Ottomans featured prominently in the Nazi imagination. They became a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gerwarth/the-cup-s-genocidal-wartime-policies-towards-the-armenians-and-kemal-2/) [Robert Gerwarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gerwarth/) > [“While the future fortunes of the more than two million civil war refugees from Russia differed hugely, depending on circumstances and luck, many of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gerwarth/while-the-future-fortunes-of-the-more-than-two-million-civil-war/) [Robert Gerwarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gerwarth/) > [“Mussolini and Horthy to different degrees feared Hitler and were suspicious of German military power, but by building their regimes on the basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gerwarth/mussolini-and-horthy-to-different-degrees-feared-hitler-and-were/) [Robert Gerwarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gerwarth/) > [“Mussolini had learnt more from Lenin and the Bolsheviks than he would have cared to admit, notably the lesson that parliamentary majorities were far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gerwarth/mussolini-had-learnt-more-from-lenin-and-the-bolsheviks-than-he-would/) [Robert Gerwarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gerwarth/) [Explore all 9 Robert Gerwarth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gerwarth/) ## More War quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [For us who are now in power, we need to be challenged to serve the people and ignore our own egos and personal interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangari-maathai/for-us-who-are-now-in-power-we-need-to-be-challenged-to-serve-the/) [Wangari Maathai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangari-maathai/) > [“People came to our house from far and wide. Party and military bigwigs, some guy known as the “combat commander,” the village headman, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/people-came-to-our-house-from-far-and-wide-party-and-military-bigwigs/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a batter. Love is a war. Love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-does-not-begin-and-end-the-way-we-seem-to-think-it-does-love-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The world," said Pavone, "will swing to the left. The whole world except America. The world will swing, not because people read Karl Marx,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/the-world-said-pavone-will-swing-to-the-left-the-whole-world-except/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Five days or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rumsfeld/five-days-or-five-months-but-it-certainly-isn-t-going-to-last-longer/) [Donald Rumsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rumsfeld/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [I don't want to go into space because of war. I think we would if it was triggered. If China said they want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-don-t-want-to-go-into-space-because-of-war-i-think-we-would-if-it/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [If I had to guess and put a name on it, I'd say that at some point, the drug war was as much a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-simon/if-i-had-to-guess-and-put-a-name-on-it-i-d-say-that-at-some-point-the/) [David Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-simon/) > [“Fear and desire for pleasure. Aggressiveness comes out of fear, predominantly, and sexuality predominantly out of the other. But they mix in the middle.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-french/fear-and-desire-for-pleasure-aggressiveness-comes-out-of-fear/) [Marilyn French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-french/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [I did not know that the planning for biological and chemical warfare was so widespread in England, and even in France before France fell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-did-not-know-that-the-planning-for-biological-and-chemical-warfare/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [“Peace requires a discipline more iron than war. - Easter, 1939 ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-j-turner/peace-requires-a-discipline-more-iron-than-war-easter-1939/) W.J. Turner [Browse all 38,922 War quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Neither London nor Paris had gone to war in 1914 with the aim of creating a ‘Europe of nations’, and it was only from early 1918 onwards that the destruction of the land empires became an explicit war aim.11”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Gerwarth" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gerwarth/neither-london-nor-paris-had-gone-to-war-in-1914-with-the-aim-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "War" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gerwarth/neither-london-nor-paris-had-gone-to-war-in-1914-with-the-aim-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/424/robert-gerwarth-45088_war_neither-london-nor-paris-had-gone-to-war_3034824.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/424/robert-gerwarth-45088_war_neither-london-nor-paris-had-gone-to-war_3034824.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/424/robert-gerwarth-45088_war_neither-london-nor-paris-had-gone-to-war_3034824.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Neither London nor Paris had gone to war in 1914 with the aim of creating a ‘Europe of nations’, and it was…” — Robert Gerwarth", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robert Gerwarth", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gerwarth/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Neither London nor Paris had gone...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gerwarth/neither-london-nor-paris-had-gone-to-war-in-1914-with-the-aim-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gerwarth/neither-london-nor-paris-had-gone-to-war-in-1914-with-the-aim-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```