On June 28, 1914, Gavril Princip had participated in a failed attempt to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. A co-conspirator had thrown a bomb at the Archduke’s motorcade but failed to hit his target. The motorcade got away from the planned route. However, not long thereafter, the Archduke’s driver took a wrong turn and, as he was backing up, the car stalled. As it happened, the car stalled in front of where Princip was standing. Taking his chance, Princip pulled out his pistol and shot the Archduke and his wife.
Princip was part of a Serbian separatist group that wanted parts of the Austro-Hungarian empire to split off and become part of a new Yugoslavia. The archduke was the heir apparent to the throne of the empire, so the Austro-Hungarian Empire was enraged and issued an ultimatum to Serbia – with a number of demands that Serbia simply couldn’t be expected to accept. After partially rejecting the ultimatum, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Serbia turned to Russia which regarded itself as “protector of the Slavs.” Austria-Hungary turned to Germany with which it had an alliance against Russia. Russia, in turn, had an alliance with France against Germany.
Germany’s plans for war with Russia (Schlieffen Plan) was premised on the notion that it would have to fight France in any conflict with Russia. Being situated between Russia and France, and believing it would take Russia some time to mobilize, the war plan for such a conflict required Germany to move swiftly into France, neutralize the forces there, and then swing back east to deal with Russia. The longer it entertained diplomatic solutions, the less likely the plan was to work. Additionally, the German plan took it through neutral Belgium to get to France more quickly. England was allied with Belgium against violations of its neutrality and was drawn into the war when Germany invaded.
There are a lot more details and nuances involved in the beginnings of World War I, but that’s the thumbnail sketch. The details get hopelessly complicated pretty quickly. But, at that point, Europe was like a forest full of dry dead wood and undergrowth. The relatively small spark of Princip’s assassination of Franz Ferdinand was all it took to set the whole thing off. The Great War was really a bridge into modern times. The early parts of the war feature guys on horses with plumed uniforms and whatnot facing off against industrial weaponry. The conflagration would turn into an absolute meat grinder, particularly after it settled into the trench warfare for which it became famous. It was a war of attrition on a scale not previously seen. And, for the most part, it seems that the combatants were fighting out of a combination of pride and accident.
It tends to be a forgotten war – overshadowed locally by the “good” wars like World War II, the Civil War, and the Revolutionary War, where the United States can be discussed in heroic terms and the narrative of the war and what it accomplished can be stated more simply. But, I think we ignore the lessons of World War I at our peril: that pride and lack of foresight can cause enormous losses; that there is nothing inherently noble about war; that individual bravery can be meaningless.
I suspect I’ll have more to say about the Great War in the near future. Among other things, I was a history major in undergrad and Great Britain’s involvement in World War I was the subject of my senior seminar. I don’t pretend to be any kind of an expert, but it’s an area of interest for me.
IMHO if there is a tinderbox in today’s world — at least in Europe — is Article 5 in NATO. Basically “an attack on one is an attack on all.” This is a strength but could also set up a domino effect especially since the newer members (mostly former Warsaw Pact members) — the baltic states, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, etc. — could be threaten by Russia, et.al. Even a more stable situation — e.g., Turkey — could domino if Syria or Iran attacked it.
My knowledge of European history comes from what I read and two survey courses in undergrad. I somewhat agree with TIMB that the secret alliances made the dominoes fall. But know, at least the NATO is know, if somewhat being teased at the Russian border. And I see how the treaties brought in the great powers. But in our later reincarnation in the 2010s, parties might negotiate again before belligerency. We have seen the horror of modern war, as perhaps the WWI powers arrogantly ignored.
I see WWI as the beginning of the 20th century. The 1880 European order ended and a dance macabre held for the next 34 years. I used to play a thought game where I sat in the comfortable shade of an English estate garden and asserted my hereditary right to be there. We matter of factly talked about the global reach and unimpeahability of the British empire. Then I ask myself if I was 26 or 56, and wondering how would die for the conceit-Me at 26 or my son if I was 54. Die in mud and irreonciable insanity.
Dan Carlin’s description of the trenches in his podcast was gripping. The idea of guys having to dig deeper into the trenches to bury the dead and having to fling bodily waste into No Man’s Land to get it out of the trench are the kinds of details that don’t immediately come to mind. I guess the smell was something else.
Dog, I have read most of the WWI Soldier Poets. Rupert BrooKs Wilfred Owens. , Sasson In fact I think “Dulce et Decorum Est” is one of the best ten poems ever written. But there is another soldier poet I would direct you too. A very unique poet was Geoffrey Dearmer. He was a religious man that wrote a popular poem, “Turkish Trench Dog.” His poetry was workmanlike and well done, but he was a lesser know poet of the era. I discovered him in 1993 during an NPR story. Basically, he had only il
recently retired from writing childrens’ radio material for the BBC. So the BBC followed up and interviwed him. And I found his poetry. What I find salient about Geoffrey Owens is the disruption of the death of his beloved brother and his maintenance of his faith during the war. Owens held conventional Chrisitian views( I capitalize Christian to honor Goeffrey;s devotion). Geoffrey Dearmer and his brother served England for many years as poets and patriots in the post war(s).
Sorry to Rick Westerman. I should have mentioned him instead of TIMB 16 on my point.
I was touched anyway