A very bad war

Reflections on the tragic blunder that was World War I | Marvin Olasky

Associated Press

Fatalism is when two trains race toward each other on one track and no one applies emergency brakes, mistakenly assuming a full-speed collision is destined to happen. Tragedy is when either train could shift onto a siding, but neither does because neither engineer thinks he should give way.

World War I, which ended 90 years ago on Nov. 11, was a tragedy because it grew out of the German, Russian, Austrian, French, and British arrogance that took relatively minor differences in governance and elevated their defense to matters of principle. Yes, Britain could point to German autocracy, but the differences between London and Berlin (both, after all, pledging allegiance to the same royal family) weren't all that great.