The first casualty—July 31

The cafe still exists.

Although France still hesitated to declare war, she was mobilizing and the response was overwhelming—and violent.

The French socialists, like many other pre-war European left-wing parties, preached workers' solidarity across nations. After giving a speech urging socialists everywhere to demand a stop to all mobilizations and war measures, Jean Jaures, the French socialist leader was sitting in Le Croissant cafe in Paris when a nationalist, Raoul Villain, shot him through the cafe window, creating arguable the war's first casualty.

On this day, Britain asked both Germany and France for a guarantee to respect Belgian neutrality. France gave a pledge to do so, Germany didn't reply