Millions died horribly.
It has been sixty years since “The Guns of August” was written, but even people who would speak out against this appear to be ignorant of it."
I read "The Guns of August" and I know something others didn't notice, namely, that Barbara Tuchman totally skipped over events of July 1914, where the German high command pushed Austrians into issuing an ultimatum to Serbia, the ultimatum intended by German High Command to be unacceptable to Serbia and so to start a major war in which Germany would begin by invading Belgium and France.
In short, WWI was no "accident" or unintended.
It was exactly what the German High Command wanted, and which Kaiser Wilhelm reluctantly went along with.
Like Vlad the Invader today, Germans in 1914 were empire builders who recognized the growing economic and military strength of their primary opponents -- Russia & France -- and believed that war was necessary in 1914 because, if they waited any longer, Russia & France would soon grow too powerful to defeat.
Because of the manifest danger of German Empire building, Russia and France were forced to ally against Germany.
Had they not allied, German victory in the First World War is a certainty.
So be careful what you wish for.
