The Military Strategy of the Central Powers

The deadly shots fired in Sarajevo brought war within reach of the Central Powers’ military leadership, a war they had long anticipated through many decades of training. The German “blank check” provided Austria-Hungary with the necessary backing for a “punitive expedition” against Serbia but the danger of a Russian intervention as well. Any chance for the swift fait accompli predicted by the Germans was squandered by the lumbering progress of the political a…