[nopardons]

What you wrote is only partly true!

Read "THUNDER AT TWILIGHT" for starters.

You apparently are stuck with your opinion, that you read in one book, without understanding the entire picture; nor what preceded it all, diplomacy of that time, the complete player list, nor why that war could have been at the least, somewhat forestalled.

[BroJoeK]

nopardons: "You apparently are stuck with your opinion, that you read in one book, without understanding the entire picture; nor what preceded it all, diplomacy of that time, the complete player list, nor why that war could have been at the least, somewhat forestalled. "

My little library of First World War books begins with Tuchman & Fromkin, includes MacMillan, Ferguson, Keegan, Mossier & Catherwood.
Today there are very few who still find the Great War controversial enough to debate, but there are still many who buy the German propaganda -- which Germans like Hitler himself believed -- that first, Germans did not start it and second, that Germans did not lose that war.

It's what drove Germans to Round Two in 1939.

In fact, by 1900 Germany was the great revisionist power, growing population, growing industrial power, growing cultural influence, growing military prowess.
And "lebensraum" was not something Hitler invented, it was around when Hitler was born.
So Fromkin's book "Europe's Last Summer" reviews the age overall and then reveals events between the Kaiser's High Command and Austria -- how Germans pushed reluctant Austrians into war and then responded to mobilization by Russia with a German invasion of... Belgium & France.

Sure, other countries played roles too -- by refusing to accept Austria's aggression against Serbia, or refusing to accept Germany's declaration of war against Russia, they expanded a small local conflict into global war.
But it all began with the Kaiser's High Command pushing reluctant Austrians to issue war ultimatums and then not accept Serbia's compliant response.

Fromkin's c2004 chapter titles:

Prologue
Out of the Blue
The Importance of the Question
A Summer to Remember

Part One: Europe's Tensions

1. Empires Clash
2. Classes Struggle
3. Nations Quarrel
4. Countries Arm
5. Zarathustra Prophesies
6. Diplomats Align

   Part Two: Walking Through Minefields

7. The Eastern Question
8. A challenge for the Archduke
9. Explosive Germany

   Part Three: Drifting Toward War

10. Macedonia -- Out of Control
11. Austria -- First off the Mark
12. France and Germany Make their Play
13. Italy Grasps; Then the Balkans Do Too
14. The Slavic Tide
15. Europe Goes to the Brink
16. More Balkan Tremors
17. An American Tries to Stop it

    Part Four: Murder!

18. The Last Waltz
19. In the Land of the Assassins
20. The Russian Connection
21. The Terrorists Strike
22. Europe Yawns
23. Disposing of the Bodies
24. Rounding up the Suspects

    Part Five: Telling Lies

25. Germany signs a Blank Check
26. The Great Deception
27. Berchtold Runs Out of Time
28. The Secret is Kept

    Part Six: Crisis!

29. The Fait is not Accompli
30. Presenting an Ultimatum
31. Serbia More or Less Accepts

    Part Seven: Countdown

32. to 42: Day by Day timeline of events

    Chapter 43: Shredding the Evidence

    Part Eight: Conclusion, the Mystery Solved

    Epilogue

From Chapter 20: The Russian Connection:

"Was Russia somehow involved in the plot against Austria's future leader?
In government circles, people asked that question at the time, and in scholarly circles, academics have asked that question ever since.

Russian involvement would have made little sense.
Franz Ferdinand was the leading pro-Russian in his government; therefore removing him from the scene would have run counter to Russia's interests.
Of course his political views were misunderstood elsewhere, so perhaps they were in St. Petersburg as well.
Perhaps the extent of his friendship was not fully understood.
But as a champion of monarchism throughout Europe, surely, on fiercely held principle, the Czar would have opposed such a murder."