How World War 1 was started has had a simple answer for over 100 years: A Serb kills an Austrian Prince, Austria declares war on Serbia, Russia (Serbia's ally) declares war on Austria, Germany (Austria's ally) declares war on Russia, Britain and France (Russia's ally) declare war on Germany. Four years later, millions are dead.
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| Image source: The Interpreter. |
Christopher Clark has written a fascinating book about the lead up to WW1. Though at times, especially in the middle, it is a heavy read - nevertheless I really enjoyed reading this book (Kindle edition). Right from the start, Clark engages the reader in the politics, both imperialist and nationalist, of the time. Ireland gets a brief mention near the end, but this is not a book about Britain and Ireland's role in the wear. Rather, it concentrates a lot on the alliances - especially between Russia and France, that played a key role in the out-break of war.
The title of the book is very appropriate - it is astonishing how brinkmanship, nationalism, imperialism, and eejitness combined to cause so many nations to go to war. No nation/empire comes out of this well - my own sense of blame after reading this book is that the Versailles Treaty should simply have been a parade of political and military idiots from all sides to appear in front of a firing squad.
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