"Anyone claiming the primary motivation in this record conflict had anything to do with fighting for democracy or promoting socialism should be laughed out of t

"Anyone claiming the primary motivation in this record conflict had anything to do with fighting for democracy or promoting socialism should be laughed out of the room." Sort of, but primary motivation may not matter in the long run. Institutions still spread, even as an accident, when people settle elsewhere. Portuguese and Spanish colonies are mostly Catholic now. Former Arab / Turkish territories are Islamic. Former British colonies are usually at least acquainted with the notion of a Parliament, even though suffrage back in the times of the Empire was far from universal. Europe still uses Roman law and Roman alphabet, though the main interest of the Roman empire wasn't to spread its legal norms and its way of writing. Democracy, for all its flaws, is kinda contagious. The idea of having a word in political topics may be weird for peasants, but is attractive for the educated middle class. If Helmut from BRD gets to vote for his representatives, Zbigniew from Poland would like to, as well.