The Origins of WW1

Writes Ralph Raico at Unz today:

The origins of the First World War is probably the most disputed question in all of the historical writing. It cannot be settled by a few random facts, e. g., that the Germans invaded Belgium. The Triple Entente of Britain, France, and Russia encircled the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Russia was intent on the breakup of Austria and the “liberation” of its Slavic inhabitants, who would then fall under Russian tutelage. The misguided Schlieffen Plan dictated that France, as the presumably more vulnerable continental Entente power, be tackled first; Belgium was the pathway to Paris. The treaty of 1839, guaranteeing Belgian neutrality, posited that all the guarantors acted unanimously, which was not the case in 1914 since Italy didn’t go along. British Foreign Minister Edward Grey misused Belgian neutrality as a pretext; his real reason was his fear of a German victory over France. An excellent introduction to this whole complex of issues is Christopher Clark’s The Sleepwalkers. Clark’s conclusion is that what made a general war inevitable was Russian mobilization.

The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.