by Stephen Yellin
It was 100 years ago this July that the countdown to the apocalypse of World War I took place. It was instigated by the murder of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie by the Serbian terrorist Gavrilo Princip, and hastened by Germany’s granting unconditional support for its ally to attack Serbia in response. Beginning this Thursday, July 23rd – the centennial of the ultimatum issued by Austria-Hungary to Serbia that triggered the crisis – I will be writing a daily account of the march to war.
Most historians agree that Germany and Austria-Hungary, if not solely responsible for the calamity that followed, bear a higher shame of the blame. Yet the decision to go to war was made by many more people than the kingpins in Berlin and Vienna. In this article I will be profiling several of the most important individuals that will feature in my “countdown to World War I”. I hope this biographical information (sorted by country) will prove useful to everyone reading my articles from July 23rd through August 4th!