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The what ifs are many. If The Archduke’s car does not turn up the wrong street...if Whilhelm’s and Nicholas’ phone call results in both seeing the stupidity of going to war... If the Christmas Truce spreads from the North Sea to Switzerland causing the leaders to think about what they were doing.
1913 may have been a pathway to a bright future. You could travel by rail from Madrid to Moscow with no need for a passport. Philosophy and Science were on the brink of great developments. The New World was only beginning to cast its shadow in business and industry. And then the car took that wrong turn.

Very thoughtful "what IF'S"; however, Willie was set on a dangerous course, wanting to one up his cousin in the UK, with an arms build up, long before the horrid assassination of Franz Ferdinand and he wife.

If you haven't read "DREADNOUGHT", by Robert K. Massie, I suggest that you do. Also, there are some fine books about the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Emperor Franz Joseph. If you'd like those titles, just drop me a FRmail note.