I’m an odd duck. Ever since I was young, I was fascinated by the origins of the First World War. Unlike most other Americans, I thought of the Great War as a more profound conflict in that its origins and execution contained a treasure trove of lessons for humanity. Even more profound were some of the nations that ceased to exist because of it, and some of the nations that found a new identity because of it.
One hundred years ago to the day, Austria-Hungary declared war on the Kingdom of Serbia which began the process of dragging the rest of Europe into what was eventually going to be called the Great War. It seems such a small thing – there aren’t any major commemorations going on near where I live – but out of this one statement of intent millions suffered and died. At the time there were parades and erroneous claims that the war would start and end before Christmas; this is just one of the many false beliefs that had to be dispelled by blood and misery. Sadly, other similar beliefs which should no longer exist still persist. I want to honor the loss of all those who died in 1914 by examining some of them.
The July Crisis was the period from June 28 to July 28 that led up to the opening of hostilities. The Emperor of Austria-Hungary, Franz Joseph I, wanted an excuse to exact revenge upon the Kingdom of Serbia for sponsoring terrorist acts in his Empire, and he found it in the assassination of his son by a young terrorist named Gavrilo Princip. He had one glaring problem though: Russia had a mutual defense agreement with the small kingdom, so he couldn’t rattle his saber without having to fight off the Russians.
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