The church was more of a cheerleader for their respective nations than they were a sane voice of calm.
People went to war with the idea that heaven was on their side.
Then they found themselves is a disaster that soilders on both sides realized was a complete farce that was doing little more than chewing up people in the name of monarchies and empires.
See the great film “Chariots of Fire” for a a commentary on the aftermath of exactly what you said in your first paragraph.
People went to war with the idea that heaven was on their side.
Most wars do. This was a relatives quarrel. All these assholes were related, the king, the czar, the Keizer, and all had pacts to defend each other. All though we came out of it looking good, we should have stayed out of that mess!