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Lenin was the first to discover that capitalism 'inevitably' caused war and he discovered this only when the First World War was already being fought. Of course he was right. Since every great state was capitalist in 1914.

A. J. P. Taylor

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A. J. P. Taylor
Age: 84 †
Born: 1906
Born: March 25
Died: 1990
Died: September 7
Historian
Historian Of The Modern Age
Journalist
University Teacher
Alan John Percivale Taylor
First
Already
Lenin
Right
Courses
Inevitably
Great
Course
Caused
Every
Since
Capitalist
World
State
Fought
War
Discovered
States
Discover
Firsts
Capitalism

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In my opinion, most of the great men of the past were only there for the beer - the wealth, prestige and grandeur that went with the power.
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The crusade against Communism was even more imaginary than the specter of Communism.
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Perfect soldier, perfect gentleman never gave offence to anyone not even the enemy.
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One of the penalties of being president of the United States is that you must subsist for four years without drinking anything except Californian wine.
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A racing tipster who only reached Hitler's level of accuracy would not do well for his clients.
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No matter what political reasons are given for war, the underlying reason is always economic.
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There is nothing more agreeable in life than to make peace with the establishment and nothing more corrupting.
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Fascism was little more than terrorist rule by corrupt gangsters. Mussolini was not corrupt himself but he did nothing except to rage impotently.
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History is not a catalogue but...a convincing version of events.
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Bismarck fought 'necessary' wars and killed thousands, the idealists of the twentieth century fight 'just' wars and kill millions.
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There is nothing nicer than nodding off while reading. Going fast asleep and then being woken by the crash of the book on the floor, then saying to yourself, well it doesn't matter much. An admirable feeling.
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American statesmen might like some Europeans more than others and even detect quaint resemblances to their own outlook but they no more committed themselves to a particular group or country than a nineteenth-century missionary committed himself to the African tribe in which he happened to find himself.
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The present enables us to understand the past, not the other way round.
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The God of Battles will throw the dice that decide.
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Psychoanalysts believe that the only normal people are those who cause not trouble to either themselves or anyone else.
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A master of improvised speech and improvised policies.
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In 1917 European history, in the old sense, came to an end. World history began. It was the year of Lenin and Woodrow Wilson, both of whom repudiated the traditional standards of political behaviour. Both preached Utopia, Heaven on Earth. It was the moment of birth for our contemporary world.
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