Reply #14: The military complex. [View All]

[Rufus T. Firefly]

From what I've read, everything was set for a war. If this hadn't caused it, something else would have, and soon. Everyone felt obligated to follow their alliances, and their war plans made it obligatory to go to war. Germany's plans required defeating France first, then going against Russia. So they invade Belgium, and this causes Britain to enter the fray. Then it turns out the smallish force in Prussia whips the hell out of the Russians, and pretty much makes the Western Front a BIG mistake.

Something else though - the assassination of the Archduke caused everything from WWI to the rise of Hitler to the Cold War (since Germany sent Lenin into Russia). It's truly a turning point in history - one action that caused pretty much everything else since.