“War is organized murder, and nothing else.” This quote was once said by Mr. Harry Patch, the last surviving soldier from World War One. World War One. Known back then as “The Great War” and “The war to end all wars.” This massive battle killed over 15 million people, left over 20 million injured and resulted in many cities, such as Paris, France in ruins. With all of this devastation, it raises the question, was this bloodshed avoidable? If Archduke Franz Ferdinand had not been killed by Gavrilo Princip, would the world have known peace?
Historians have argued over this for years; some like Dr. Heather Jones believe that through the aggression of a few Austrian-Hungarian leaders, an Austrian-Hungarian-Serbian war was indeed certain but only because of Germany’s “blank check” did the world become involved; therefore only through the mistakes of the leaders at that time did the Great war occur. Another historian, Professor Margaret MacMillan states that it was the mindsets of the leaders at the time
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Almost every country was nationalistic at the time and constantly trying to prove themselves. Wishing to own land in Africa like Italy and Japan respectively; trying to have the most powerful military like Germany or even trying to redeem their reputation after an embarrassing loss like Russia, each country was determined to prove they were the best. So when a nation such as Serbia, is being told that it must let foreigners take some of its people for trial or else, it is no wonder they got angry. In fact, the very reason that the Black Hand attacked the Austrian-Hungarians was because of the Austrians taking Bosnia from the Ottoman Empire. This angered Serbia because they had wished to form a new independent state with Bosnia. Franz Ferdinand was shot in protest against the Austrian-Hungarian rule. He was shot because some people wanted to be independent and rule their own