In a recent New York Times Op-Ed column (10/12/00), William Safire drew an analogy between Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount and the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand. In both of these instances the press and the general public have found a answer to the question of "who started it?". In Sharon's case, the recent crisis in Israel and in the other, World War I. Safire was using these two seemingly non-related incidents to show how often people will place the blame on a specific incident rather than seeing the greater whole, and how in many cases a single action rarely leads to a mass conflict.

With this in mind, the question of who or what caused the First World War is now left unanswered. The primary catalyst is Bismarck's ability to juggle with three balls and his successor, Caprivi's, ability to only handle two, this is Caprivi's own explanation as to why the alliance system fell apart under him.. It was the alliance system more than anything else that took what should have been a local Austrian war and turned it into a world war. The great powers involved themselves with what should have been an internal empire issue for the Austrians. This meddling was what

The Russians more than anyone else were responsible for the death of the Archduke. They apparently knew of the plot and did nothing about it, in addition, they had been aiding the Serbs all along (Erik Kennedy). Once the Archduke was murdered the Germans saw the opportunity to take advantage of the situation and pushed Austria towards war. The Russians had been mobilizing in the immediate weeks following the assassination and for the Germans "mobilization meant war" . The Schleiffen plan called for the Germans to cross the border into Belgium within days of mobilization, it was this speed that the generals saw as an advantage they could sacrifice. "Thus it was that Alfred von Schlieffen's dead hand pulled the trigger that started World War I." (www.worldwar1.com)

Once Russia began it's mobilization, Germany had no other choice but to declare war, thereby dragging Austria and Italy in, and since Russia was now involved France and England had to follow. It was the alliance system, or more likely the failure of the earlier alliance systems, that dragged the whole of Europe into conflict.

France, quickly beginning to feel both isolated and vulnerable, rapidly began looking for help, and found a willing ally in the recently slighted Russians. The Russians had refused to renew the Three Emperor's League in 1887, and signed the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1892. It was this treaty that created the specter of a war

Some common words found in the essay are:
World War, Kennedy Archduke, War Safire, Franco-Prussian War, Wilhelm II's, Russia Wilhelm, Russia Austria, Russians Germans, England France, Emperor's League, alliance system, world war, emperor's league, front war, franco-prussian war, russia austria,
Approximate Word count = 963
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)