The other side of the Great War
“Sir, it’s the 107th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand,” said one of the Year 8 class.
Indeed, it is.
The assassination of the Austrian archduke, on this day in June 1914, by a Bosnian nationalist in Sarajevo triggered an illogical, cataclysmic chain reaction across Europe. The Austrians declared war on Serbia; the Russians declared war on the Austrians; the Germans declared war on the Russians, even though they had not liked Archduke Ferdinand; and the downward spiral into hell continued.
The war depended on the demonization of the …