"When a Serbian-backed assassin gunned down Archduke Franz Ferdinand in late June 1914, the world seemed unmoved. Even Ferdinands own uncle, Franz Josef I, was notably ambivalent about the death of the Hapsburg heir, saying simply, "It is Gods will." Certainly, there was nothing to suggest that the episode would lead to conflictmuch less a world war of such massive and horrific proportions that it would fundamentally reshape the course of human events.
As acclaimed historian Sean McMeekin reveals in July 1914, World War I might have been avoided entirely had it not been for a small group of statesmen who, in the month after the assassination, plotted to use Ferdinands murder as the trigger for a long-awaited showdown in Europe. The primary culprits, moreover, have long escaped blame. While most accounts of the wars outbreak place the bulk of responsibility on German and Austro-Hungarian militarism, McMeekin draws on surprising new evidence from archives across Europe to show that the worst offenders were actually to be found in Russia and France, whose belligerence and duplicity ensured that war was inevitable.
Whether they plotted for war or rode the whirlwind nearly blind, each of the men involvedfrom Austrian Foreign Minister Leopold von Berchtold and German Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Sazonov and French president Raymond Poincarésought to capitalize on the fallout from Ferdinands murder, unwittingly leading Europe toward the greatest cataclysm it had ever seen.
A revolutionary account of the genesis of World War I, July 1914 tells the gripping story of Europes countdown to war from the bloody opening act on June 28th to Britains final plunge on August 4th, showing how a single monthand a handful of menchanged the course of the twentieth century." - from publisher.
Prologue: Sarajevo, Sunday, 28 June 1914 --- I REACTIONS --- 1 Vienna: anger, not sympathy --- 2 St. Petersburg: no quarter given --- 3 Paris and London: unwelcome interruption --- 4 Berlin: sympathy and impatience --- II COUNTDOWN --- 5 The Count Hoyos mission to Berlin Sunday-Monday, 5-6 July --- 6 War council in Vienna (I) Tuesday, 7 July --- 7 Radio silence 8-17 July --- 8 Enter Sazonov Saturday, 18 July --- 9 War Council in Vienna (II) Sunday, 19 July --- 10 Poincaré meets the Tsar
Monday, 20 July --- 11 Sazonov's threat Tuesday, 21 July --- 12 Champagne summit Wednesday-Thursday, 22-23 July --- 13 Anti-ultimatum and ultimatum Thursday, 23 July --- 14 Sazonov strikes Friday, 24 July --- 15 Russia, France, and Serbia stand firm Saturday, 25 July --- 16 Russia prepares for war Sunday, 26 July --- 17 The Kaiser returns Monday, 27 July --- 18 "You have got me into a fine mess" Tuesday, 28 July --- 19 "I will not be responsible for a monstrous slaughter!" Wednesday, 29 July --- 20 Slaughter it is Thursday, 30 July --- 21 Last chance saloon Friday, 31 July --- 22 "Now you can do what you want"
Saturday, 1 August --- 23 Britain wakes up to the danger Sunday, 2 August --- 24 Sir Edward Grey's big moment Monday, 3 August --- 25 World War: no going back
Tuesday, 4 August --- Epilogue: the question of responsibility..
