Splendid isolation ?

“Clearly, Field Marshal Haig is about to make yet another gargantuan effort to move his drinks cabinet six inches closer to Berlin.”

 

-       Captain Blackadder [Rowan Atkinson], from ‘Blackadder Goes Forth’, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton.

By some accounts, the general populace in Europe during July 1914 was largely unaware of the imminence of war until the end of the month. “Enjoying the warmth of a golden summer, Europe’s citizens turned their attention chiefly to news of more local importance.” And then a network of alliances, and events, exerted their inexorable gravitational pull, drawing what would become millions into a pan-Continental mincing machine. Archduke Franz Ferdinand had been assassinated on 28 June. Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia on 23 July, and issued a formal declaration of war on 28 July. Russia and Austria-Hungary mobilised on 30 July. Germany demanded that Russia demobilise on 31 July. Germany and France ordered mobilisation on 1 August. By way of response, “Stock exchanges panicked and many were closed.” But it was a bit late by then. As the saying goes, if you’re going to panic, panic early.

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