So the guys who started the whole shebang off aren’t even in power and/or alive anymore, and when someone posed the question of who started it, all fingers pointed toward Germany who was just trying to back up their Austrian bros. WW1 is sometimes called the graveyard of empires because no less than four got knocked the f*ck out during the fighting: the German, Russian, Ottoman, and Austro-Hungarian empires. We had some laughs, and when it was done, every country got together to lick their wounds and determine who won what. It was a fun time, good for the whole family. There’s machine guns and mustard gas, and tanks enter the picture for the first time,and some dude by the name of Laurence of Arabia has a few books written about him. So, what should have been a mild border skirmish that was quickly quashed when a larger nation like Germany entered the picture, on intimidation value alone, turned into the Grandaddy of all wars. At the same time, the Ottoman Empire sees all this going down, and rushes to Germany’s defense, who they have a treaty with, and Bulgaria, who is largely under Ottoman influence and does what they’re told, declare war on Serbia, forming the central powers. This brings the big three, Britain, Russia, and France, into the Allied Powers. A little country by the name of Belgium was in the middle of this $hitstorm that had just started flailing around Europe wildly, and Germany stepped one tiny pinky toe into its borders (actually marched straight through it, thinking to conquer it along the way), which prompted Britain, who had a treaty with them, to declare war on Germany. France has an alliance with Russia, and they get involved next.
Russia has a defense treaty with Serbia and declares war on the previously two mentioned countries. Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, prompting Germany, who has a treaty with the prior, to back their play. This one event made the whole world explode not once, but twice, and that is due largely to the interwoven diplomatic fabrics of alliances between various countries. So to understand our enemy, we must understand their people and their history, and that all starts with the death of one man: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, slain by assassins of the Black Hand, a Serbian secret military society. If you know neither the enemy, nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle” If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat. It was inevitable that I’d have to cover Germany’s Wehrmacht because, as Sun Tzu so rightly said, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. Well well well.I leave for a day and the Nazis are invading while the Soviets were upgrading.
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