By Andrea Widburg
European politics are driven by a fusion of leftism, arrogance, and a desperate desire to avoid a repeat of WWI and WWII, the two most destructive wars in European (and probably world) history. However, national character may be destiny, because, if British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has a say, they’re lining up for a repeat.
Most people know that WWI started because of a cascade of events, each of which, if stopped, could have prevented that blood debacle.
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was visiting Sarajevo, Serbia, a city then located in the Austro-Hungarian empire, when Gavrilo Princip, a member of a movement that wanted Bosnia to gain independence from the empire, assassinated him. The Austro-Hungarian foreign minister used the event as an opening to declare war on Serbia, an act he would have German support. From that point forward, a combination of bad timing, stupidity, and various machinations by bad actors on all sides led directly to a conflation.
Russia responded to the Austro-Hungarian declaration by preparing for war against Germany, so Germany preemptively declared war against Russia. At this point, France began mobilizing to aid Russia against Germany. Germany therefore also declared war on France. Germany followed this declaration by invading Belgium, at which point Great Britain got involved. While Great Britain had no beef with Serbia, Russia, or France, it had previously committed to defend Belgium. Therefore, it declared war on Germany. From there, the cascade was unstoppable:
Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia on August 5; Serbia against Germany on August 6; Montenegro against Austria-Hungary on August 7 and against Germany on August 12; France and Great Britain against Austria-Hungary on August 10 and on August 12, respectively; Japan against Germany on August 23; Austria-Hungary against Japan on August 25 and against Belgium on August 28.
Italy eventually joined, too. The war ended only when America entered on the British side, breaking a trench war stalemate that, in all likelihood, would eventually have favored Germany. Along the way, of course, the Bolsheviks took over Russia.
WWI resulted in over 17 million military and civilian deaths. It was also the perfect vector for the Spanish Influenza, which killed around 25-50 million worldwide. By paving the way for the Bolshevik takeover, it laid the groundwork for the approximately 100 million who died in the 20th century because of communism. And of course, WWI paved the way for WWII, which saw almost the entire European Jewish population erased (6 million dead), along with the deaths of around 70 million other people, both civilian and military.
Why does all this matter? Because of what Keir Starmer said when Zelensky (egged on by Democrats from the Deep State and Congress) walked away from a Trump-brokered agreement that was a start to ending the war:
The Prime Minister said Britain and France were developing a “coalition of the willing”, and that talks would “intensify” to create security guarantees that include British troops on the ground in Ukraine and fighter jets.
[snip]
Sir Keir said Britain was “doubling down” on support for Ukraine and pushed for a greater contribution from European allies to continent-wide security, but needed “US backing”.
He also announced a new £1.6-billion-pound deal that would allow Ukraine to purchase 5,000 air-defence missiles using export finance.
Holy shit…
— Clandestine (@WarClandestine) March 2, 2025
UK PM Starmer proposes a new plan for Ukraine and wants Europe to up their economic spending and says “the UK are prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air”.
It’s about to become clear to the world that NATO are the ones pushing for WW3. pic.twitter.com/jjQsmXXbi2
I don’t care if Europe finally steps in to fund the misbegotten war, since America’s already spent tons of money with no direct benefit to itself. Trump’s proposal about mineral rights was an effort to recover some benefit for all those taxpayer dollars (at least half of which ended up vanishing). America’s contribution to funding the Ukraine war—and it’s carried most of the funding compared to Europe—has always been all about keeping Europe happy. So, now, let Europe pay.
But boots on the ground? Really? Has Starmer learned nothing from history? What we’re witnessing is a territorial squabble over land along Ukraine’s Eastern flank. It never should have come to this (we can thank Obama for this disaster), but having Europe go head-to-head with Putin will not make things better; it will only make them worse. Europe is rapidly becoming a “too dumb to live” continent.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/03/are_the_europeans_asking_for_another_european_war.html