Hurtling towards all-out European war

The conflict between France and Germany in 1914 really was one of right vs wrong

It was seven o’clock in St Petersburg on the evening of August 1, 1914 when, on the other side of Europe, the Germans entered Luxembourg. At that moment Ambassador Pourtales, ‘his watery blue eyes red-rimmed, his white goatee quivering, presented Germany’s declaration of war with shaking hands to [Sergey] Sazonov, the Russian Foreign Minister.’

‘So this …