The Beginning—July 28

The Austrian declaration of war.

The British Ambassador in Vienna: "postponement or prevention of war with Serbia would undoubtedly be a great disappointment in this country, which has gone wild with joy at the prospect of war."

The same morning, the Kaiser first read the full terms of the ultimatum to Serbia and the Serbian reply. He wrote in the margin, "A great moral victory for Vienna; but with it every reason for war is removed…On the strength of this I should never have ordered mobilization."

Too little, too late. At noon on July 28, Austria, certain of unconditional German support, declared war on Serbia.

Winston Churchill, never one to mince words, said upon hearing of the declaration of war, "I wondered whether those stupid Kings and Emperors could not assemble together and revivify kingship by saving the nations from hell but we all drift on in a kind of dull cataleptic trance."

The First World War had begun.