World War I: The War That Changed Everything(A Good Read)

WSJ ^ | 20 June 2014 | Margaret MacMillan

[US Navy Vet]

A hundred years ago next week, in the small Balkan city of Sarajevo, Serbian nationalists murdered the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary and his wife. People were shocked but not particularly worried. Sadly, there had been many political assassinations in previous years—the king of Italy, two Spanish prime ministers, the Russian czar, President William McKinley. None had led to a major crisis. Yet just as a pebble can start a landslide, this killing set off a series of events that, in five weeks, led Europe into a general war.

[SoCal Pubbie]

The article said Russia was growing before WWI, not during the 1970s. Also it said the 19th century was relatively peaceful, not without war.