by Stephen Yellin
Last week marked the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie in Sarajevo by a Bosnian terrorist – the spark that led to World War I and the horrific repercussions of that conflict (Hitler, Stalin, World War II, the Holocaust, the Cold War, Middle East instability and more). I greatly appreciate the warm reception of my article on Franz Ferdinand and Sophie. Inspired by this I've written today’s story: for today marks the 100th anniversary of another pivotal point leading to the “Great War”: Germany’s decision to give Austria-Hungary free reign to invade Serbia in retaliation for the killings – the infamous “blank check”.
While the impact of Germany’s decision is well known, the events that led to the “check” being issued are much less so. Who were the prime movers and why did they act as they did? Was the “blank check” truly as open-ended as it suggests? And could a wider European war been averted had events turned out differently?