Would you exist if time travelers stopped World War I?

[Dandelion]

Without WWI, probably I would be born as a German-speaking Prussian, even with the exact same ancestors. Perhaps independent Poland would still exist, but maybe my region would not be part of it. As of 1914 all of my ancestors lived in the German Empire. And without WW1, any form of independent Poland would probably be created just from Russian lands.

Without World War I, the whole world would most probably be very different. That war dismantled the Old World Order and triggered a lot of social changes. Without WWI we would probably be living in a much more conservative and still more European-dominated world. There also would be no WWII, but instead a whole series of smaller wars. Probably no European Union.

I think independent Poland would still have existed. Nationalism would have been a thing and it could have taken more civil form without WWI and Poles never fancied being under Russian yoke (hence they revolted when they could).

[Peterski]

I think independent Poland would still have existed.

Yes but it would probably not include any parts of Prussia.

Nationalism would have been a thing and it could have taken more civil form without WWI and Poles never fancied being under Russian yoke (hence they revolted when they could).

But none of my ancestors was under Russian yoke in 1914:

https://www.theapricity.com/forum/sh...s-live-in-1914

Poles never fancied being under Russian yoke (hence they revolted when they could).

During the 19th century they revolted a few times, but lost.

[SkyBurn]

WWI caused WWII. The war and Holocaust completely changed the path of my mother's side. So no, I wouldn't have existed - although I'm sure plenty of other theoretical relatives would have.

[Dandelion]

Interestingly, in 1830, the year of the Belgian Revolution the Poles revolted against the Russian Empire. 1830 was a year of poor harvest and the winter of 1829-'30 was particularly harsh. It was a revolution year for Europe.
The Polish revolt might have been the reason for Russia not to come to the aid of the Kingdom of the United Netherlands, by the way.

Not such a fan of the Belgian Revolution myself, for it was a Francophone revolution and is the reason why Brussels has French as its lingua franca today whereas back then it was 95% Dutch-speaking. And the Dutch didn't really disadvantage us (they built Ghent University, dug the Canal of Ghent-Terneuzen, the harbour of Antwerp finally blossomed again, Dutch was made official where it was spoken). I just see more disadvantages with what came after, except if I were a Francophone, which I'm not. But of course, I do sympathise with those Poles.

[Peterski]

Nationalism would have been a thing and it could have taken more civil form without WWI

So what ??? Basque nationalism or Catalan nationalism did not bring them independence. So why should my region become independent without WWI. It was hard to achieve even with WWI. And some of my ancestors could not even write in Polish, because at school they had all lessons in German. Without WWI, Polish language in my region would get extinct and we would all be German-speakers:

[Dandelion]

So what ??? Basque nationalism or Catalan nationalism did not bring them independence. So why should my region become independent without WWI. It was hard to achieve even with WWI. And my great-grandfather could not even write in Polish, because at school they had all lessons in German. Without WWI, Polish language in my region would get extinct and we would all be German-speakers:

Basques and Catalans are fewer in number though, but true, it might have been difficult for Poles as well. I know too little about the state of education of Poles, but you'd be safe if you were millions strong and un-Germanised by the time all of Europe would have mandatory education. In Belgium that was fairly late for Western Europe, by the start of the 20th century. In the Netherlands they reached that level already in the late 19th century. Frenchification pressure still existed tough. Nowadays that slowed down (only in the Brussels periphery which is a natural migration of urban white middle class people to the surrounding municipalities; many of them are Francophone majority now and the linguistic situation is shaky).

[Peterski]

Basques and Catalans are fewer in number though, but true, it might have been difficult for Poles as well. I know too little about the state of education of Poles, but you'd be safe if you were millions strong and un-Germanised by the time all of Europe would have mandatory education. In Belgium that was fairly late for Western Europe, by the start of the 20th century. In the Netherlands they reached that level already in the late 19th century. Frenchification pressure still existed tough. Nowadays that slowed down (only in the Brussels periphery which it a natural migration of urban white middle class people to the surrounding municipalities; many of them are Francophone majority now and the linguistic situation is shaky).

What about the case of Alsace-Lorraine, which was part of Germany before World War I, but became part of France after World War I, and then again after World War II.

German language pretty much got extinct there, and everyone speaks French today.

German-speakers (%) among the population of Alsace by year:

1900: 95%
1946: 91%
1997: 63%
2001: 61%
2012: 43%

Percent of German-speakers in Alsace by age group as of 2012:

60+ - 74%
45-59 - 54%
30-44 - 24%
18-29 - 12%
3-17 - 3%

As of 2012, only 3% of age group 3-17 and 12% of age group 18-29 could speak German.

Source:

http://www.olcalsace.org/fr/observer...te-en-chiffres

It is possible that in my region something similar would have happened.

And we would all be speaking German today, and identifying as Germans.

=============

Without World War I taking place, Alsace-Lorraine would be German today.

[Dandelion]

What about the case of Alsace-Lorraine?

German language pretty much got extinct there, and everyone speaks French today:

German-speakers (%) among the population of Alsace by year:

1900: 95%
1946: 91%
1997: 63%
2001: 61%
2012: 43%

Percent of German-speakers in Alsace by age group as of 2012:

60+ - 74%
45-59 - 54%
30-44 - 24%
18-29 - 12%
3-17 - 3%

As of 2012, only 3% of inhabitants of Alsace aged 3-17 could speak German.

Source:

http://www.olcalsace.org/fr/observer...te-en-chiffres

It is possible that in my region something similar would have happened.

And we would be speaking German today.

True. However Alsacians have a history of negative memories of WWII and the draft in the Wehrmacht. Many of them despised the Third Reich. This might have catalysed their Frenchification some extra. It's surprising to me how accepting they seemed to have been of their linguisic shift and loss of a part of their identity.
Luxembourgers also switched to French for a large part (language in administration and education) and for them it's their trauma from the Nazis that made it the way it is. But they're still largely bilingual in German and French though, they should put French above German seemingly, despite their native dialects being German. Weird to me, but it exists.

[Neon Knight]

I'm talking about soul (or consciousness for you, since you are an atheist). Do we get our consciousness from all of our DNA? If just one ancestor is altered, what happens then?

Would it be some totally different soul / consciousness? Or still me?

If by consciousness you mean an individual point of awareness, has that got anything to do with DNA? The former is a non-physical thing, the latter physical (biochemical). If we do not have souls then it would not be the same you. If we do have souls then it might or might not be the same you (the same soul in a different body).

[Ilma]

Yes, my great great grandfather, paternal line, managed to have my great grandfather with his wife before to be killed by Germans as a soldier at the end of WWI.

But what is interesting is without this war, his own son would have maybe never wanted to get into the army himself as young man. He engaged the army and so did his son my grandfather as well.

This is how my Norman mother met my Septimanian father, because he was living in Normandy because his father worked for the air army here.

It's because my paternal line is military men for generations that my mother met my father in Normany then, they would have never met another way.

Funny thread, I would wonder that for everyone : would you exist if WWII didn't happen ?