Let’s hope the Israeli-Hamas war isn’t another 1914 moment
European leaders failed to stop the first world war breaking out after the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand. The US hopes Saudi Arabia, Qatar and even China can stop Iran widening the current Middle East flashpoint.
Historians are fascinated by the outbreak of World War I. How could the assassination of an Austrian archduke in Sarajevo in June 1914 have led, just a few weeks later, to a conflict that dragged in every major power in Europe, and eventually the US?
The question is particularly troubling because many of the leaders involved tried hard to avoid a general European war. The German and Russian emperors exchanged numerous messages trying to defuse the month-long crisis that led to conflict. But they failed.
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Financial Times
Gideon Rachman is chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times. His particular interests include American foreign policy, the European Union and globalisation.
