Comments by "Itinerant Patriot" (@itinerantpatriot1196) on "How did WW1 Start? | Causes of the First World War" video.

Saying nobody expected a war in 1914 is not accurate. Europe had been teetering on the brink for quite some time and people spoke openly about the inevitability of war at some point, like a relief valve popping due to too much pressure being exerted on it. What they didn't anticipate was the mass causalities inflicted as a result of tactics not keeping pace with technology. The major powers witnessed what unfolded in the American Civil war a half century earlier but they learned the wrong lessons. As for who started it, I pin most of it on Austria-Hungary and Russia but as I say, the other powers like France and Germany were itching for a fight and it was going to happen at some point before 1920. Too much bad blood and too many guns pointed at each other. It was the seminal event of the 20th Century and we are still dealing with the aftermath today. War is hell and that was one helluva war.
1