CHAPTER I

EUROPE BEFORE THE GREAT WAR


To understand the Great War it is not sufficient to read the daily
happenings of military and naval events as they are told in newspapers
and magazines. We must go back of the facts of to-day and find in
national history and personal ambition the causes of the present
struggle. Years of preparation were necessary before German military
leaders could convert a nation to their views, or get ready the men,
munitions, and transportation for the war they wanted. Conflicts of
races for hundreds of years have made the southeastern part of Europe a
firebrand in international affairs. The course of the Russian revolution
has been determined largely by the history of the Russian people and of
the Russian rulers during the past two centuries. The entrance of
England and Italy into the war against Germany was in each case brought
about by causes which came into existence long before August, 1914. A
person who understands, even in part, the causes of this great
struggle, will be in a better position to realize why America entered
the war and what our nation is fighting for. And better yet, he will be
more ready to take part in settling the many problems of peace which
must come after the war is over. For these reasons, the first few
chapters of this book are devoted to a study of the important facts of
recent European history.

[Illustration: EUROPE IN 1913]