Stupid Origin of WWI

Imagine, if you will, your most recent confrontation. Remember it as vividly as you can: the adrenaline rush, the rapid beating of your heart, the hot flashes in your eyes that made you lose sight of things. Now, I want you to tell me why you felt this way. Look back at the origin of these events from a third-party perspective and tell me why you were so angry. From such a viewpoint, the reason most fights start seems stupid and easily avoidable. What you consider an insult to your pride is a problem solvable by a conversation with a third person. You could argue that the third person does not know the whole story; that's why he thinks the problem at hand can easily be solved. What if he does know the whole story? Will he change his mind? Will he support your conquest to beat up your roommate for eating the beans you prepared to eat after a hard day in the laboratory? This writer does not know. What is well known are the overall events that led to WWI, and I assure you, it is incredibly stupid.

Now, in 1914, it was no secret that the major powers in the world wanted a war. Technology had advanced since the last major war, and tension was high between nations as each improved their military power. Nations were claiming their independence with the help of countries like Russia. The world was changing.

The empire of Austria-Hungary was made up of nations that were not particularly happy to be under its rule. It was against this backdrop of high tensions that the Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, decided to tour the capital city of Sarajevo, with his routes published in advance and in an open-top car. The people of Sarajevo were among those not happy to be under the rule of Austria-Hungary, so it was no surprise that the Archduke was a victim of an assassination attempt. Though the Archduke survived the initial attempt, some of his officers were injured, so he wisely decided to visit them in the hospital of the same country where he had just nearly lost his life. On his way back from the hospital, his driver coincidentally took a wrong turn and had a run-in with one of the failed assassins, who then killed the Archduke.

The death of the Archduke was blamed on Serbia, and a list of impossible demands was made by Austria-Hungary. When Serbia declined to meet these demands, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and this was the first event that led to the disaster that is World War I.

We look at historical events to learn from them so as not to repeat them. Most of the time, we do learn from them, and other times we do not. The events leading up to WWI could have been easily avoided; for instance, do not let the Archduke of your country go to places where he is not loved and could be easily assassinated. The point is to learn from your earlier confrontations and avoid the same mistakes that led to whatever problems said confrontations caused. When we fail to look at our past and learn from it, we are likely to repeat the same mistakes. The world learned from Archduke Franz Ferdinand and tried to avoid his mistakes. The world learned from Austria-Hungary and did not make unreasonable demands from other countries that wronged them, and we are all better for it. It is time that, as individuals, we look back on our previous flaws and try to better ourselves; otherwise, we will be the ones being studied as a "stupid" event in history.

Olajide Olamide