Yesterday was Veterans Day. But November 11 began as Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I. As such, it stands as a stark reminder of the stupidity of war. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 World War I came to an end. Although the battlefield slaughter stopped, deaths continued as Great Britain maintained its starvation blockade of Germany until the peace treaty was signed at Versailles the following June. Still, in succeeding years allied states commemorated the conflict’s end on November 11. Many observed a moment of silence at 11 am, when the Armistice took effect.
Some 20 million people died in World War I. But they were not its only casualties. The horrific conflict brought down the continent’s established order, loosed the pestilence of totalitarianism, and led to even deadlier World War II. The Great War, as it was originally called, was stupid beyond measure.
As the 20th century dawned, Europe enjoyed both peace and prosperity. Elected governments were replacing imperial despots. Even the monarchical relics to the east were evolving haphazardly toward more liberal systems, with greater pressure for constitutional freedoms and elected assemblies. The century-old horrors unleashed by the Napoleonic Wars continued to recede in memory.
However, all was not well among the ambitious nationalists who predominated across Europe. Military outlays were rising and personnel levels were growing. Democratic but imperial Britain was determined to maintain its predominance against a rising Germany. The latter, a latecomer to national power, felt shut out of the imperial game. Humiliated by a string of military defeats, most recently by Prussia in a conflict which led to Germany’s unification, France wanted to recover territory and prestige.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire, a Rube Goldberg contraption that included a host of squabbling ethnic minorities, sought to fend off violent Serbian nationalists who had murdered the previous rulers of the small, independent Serbian kingdom. The equally decrepit, but less democratic, Russian Empire pushed against Austria-Hungary while seeking predominance in the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire, dubbed the “sick man of Europe,” was weakest of all, having steadily lost geopolitical ground to Russia and smaller Balkans states.
There also were minor players. Republican but imperialistic Italy desired territorial gain at the expense of its nominal ally, Austria-Hungary. Bulgaria, Romania, and others also were looking for advantage after several rounds of Balkan battles.
In short, the European landscape was covered in combustible materials. It took but one match strike to set the continent—and elsewhere in the world—ablaze.
That strike came in Sarajevo, capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia. On June 28, 1914 the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip gunned down Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne, and his wife. A month later war began.
This month may be the most closely studied period in history. Vienna decided to use Belgrade’s act of state terrorism to break its Serbian antagonist. Germany stood by what was its closest, and essentially only, ally. However, Serbia was backed by Russia, which in turn was allied with France. The contending blocs, the Central Powers versus the Entente, turned out to act as transmission belts of war rather than firebreaks to war.
As conflict erupted other combatants jumped or were drawn in. Germany invaded Belgium in an attempt to outflank French forces. Britain used Belgium to justify joining the fight, though the former’s chief concern was maintaining the continental balance of power; Commonwealth powers such as Australia and New Zealand followed Britain and made the war truly global, seizing German territories in the Pacific. Nominal Central Power allies Italy and Romania played jackals, determined to gain spoils by joining the Entente, which they saw as the winning side. The Ottoman Empire believed a Russian victory would result in its destruction so Istanbul joined the Central Powers. Bulgaria, Greece, and Montenegro also chose sides, the first the Central Powers, the others the Entente. Japan saw opportunities for territorial gain in Asia and also joined the latter.
There really was little to choose from between the two militaristic blocs. Imperial Germany’s flaws were obvious, but it was no authoritarian state. Germany’s popular franchise was broader than in the allied states and the rule of law prevailed. Austro-Hungary, inefficient and incompetent, nevertheless included significant democratic and liberal elements.
In contrast, Serbia’s military intelligence aided violent anti-Austrian nationalists and perhaps even assisted in the Archduke’s murder. The anti- Semitic despotism of Tsarist Russia was an embarrassment to any enlightened democrat. Historically France was the most dangerous and militaristic of the powers, and revanchist desires for war with Germany remained strong. Britain’s opposition to Germany reflected commercial and imperial far more than humanitarian concerns. Belgium, though posturing as an international innocent, was perhaps the worst of the colonial powers, responsible for the deaths of millions in the Belgian Congo.
Equally striking was the paucity of potential gains from war. The major players imagined weakening a rival, grabbing a province, securing regional influence. These offered possible benefits, to be sure, but nothing that could justify a global conflagration. However, everyone thought everyone else would back down.
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