TRIGGER WARNING: In which I challenge conventional wisdom about the outbreak of WWI.
For John, BLUF: Sometimes Governments are parsimonious with the truth when it comes to war. Nothing to see here; just move along.
Did you note that yesterday was the 101st Anniversary of Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia over what it saw as an unsatisfactory response by Serbia to the assassination of the ArchDuke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, and his wife, in Sarajevo? The Nation♠ has an article up commemorating the anniversary and reprinting its own reporting from that time.
I expect that most people put the blame squarely on Germany, but I believe a careful reading would suggest that Russia should bear a great deal of of the blame. Even today we should think carefully about the role Russia is playing in European affairs. Another war might not be out of the question. In such a war only President Putin would be the winner.
Regards — Cliff
♠ The Nation characterizes itself as "the flagship of the left".
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