by Stephen Yellin
I first want to thank everyone who read, recommended and praised my articles covering the “Countdown to World War I” from July 23rd through August 4th, along with the 3 articles published in the weeks after the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophiein Sarajevo. Your feedback was of great benefit to both me and the quality of my work!
For this, final, piece on the outbreak of the catastrophic war which in turn triggered the calamities of the 20th century and beyond – an even more terrible sequel, Fascist and Communist totalitarian nightmares, the Holocaust and other mass genocides, the cauldron of Middle Eastern instability and more – I want to make the argument as to why this global tragedy was one that need not have occurred. It is commonly, but not universally, accepted that World War I was inevitable: if Franz Ferdinand’s murder hadn’t happened, something else would have triggered an Entente vs. Central Powers showdown. I hope today’s article will demonstrate that, far from being inevitable, the “Peace of Europe” crumbled in July 1914 due to a unlikely combination of events: the sudden removal of major forces for peace from the scene at the worst possible moment.