The War Begins

100 Years ago, Europe was a stick of dynamite in a match factory.  The elements for a massive, catastrophic war were all in place and constantly rubbing elbows, ready at an instant to strike out at each other.  The fact that World War I was preceded by one of the longest periods of relative peace in European history did nothing to moderate the violence.

To put things in perspective, the major political and military powers in Europe were standing toe to toe like massive boxers, weighing in for a fight.  In the middle of the continent were the Central Powers, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.  Germany had only recently become a unified nation, as well as Italy.  Austria-Hungary was a once proud empire that had fallen from grace, and was desperate to retain as much of its glory and poise as it could.

In the other corner of the ring, you had the Triple Entente powers of the United Kingdom, Imperial Russia, and Republican France.  These three nations had come together to limit the growth of a unified Germany.  The alliance was one that was tenuous at best, but with the massive land armies of the French and Russians, and the venerable Royal Navy commanding the world's oceans, they were not a power to be trifled with.

So what was the bell that rang in the war?  What match hit struck the fuse?  To quote Otto Von Bismarck, famous German state maker, it was "some damn, fool thing in the Balkans."  The Austria-Hungarians had annexed Bosnia Herzegovina, a former territory of Serbia.  When the Austrian Monarch to be visited the Serbian Capital of Sarajevo, he was assassinated.

(Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in the background, was shot and killed in Sarajevo, sparking World War I)

The powers of Europe fell like dominos into conflict.  Russia had an alliance with Serbia, so when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, the Russians joined into the conflict.  The Austrian alliance with Germany brought Germany into the conflict as well.  Not long after, the French also joined into the fray, due to their alliance with the Russians.  The British wavered in supporting their duties as a Triple Entente member, but Germany's invasion of neutral Belgium crystallized the British entry into the war.

Germany was faced by the two largest armies in the world to its east and west. The Russians, bear- like in their movements, were expected to take a long time to mobilize and call up their army.  The French were expected to be more ready for the fight and the swifter enemy.  The German plan called to defeat France quickly, so all attention could be turned to the Russian bear.  The Germans dashed through Belgium and the Netherlands and entered France.  The invasion reached the outskirts of Paris before it was stopped.  The war stagnated.  Instead of being thrown out of France, the Germans began digging a line of trenches, stretching across the entire border.  And so the war settled into a stalemate.