It's not the terrorist act that changes the world. It's the response of the victims.

An assassination plot in Sarejevo fails. Fate allows it to succeed anyway.

How did a 19-year-old Serbian freedom fighter successfully assassinate an Archduke without any broader support?

A 19th century German diplomat created a system of alliances that both expanded Germany's possibilities and preserved a general peace in Europe, only to see it all fall apart.

On the day that the German Empire was formed, it instantly became the most powerful land power in Europe. The other major European powers were less than thrilled.

Otto Von Bismarck famously advised that in a five superpower world, make sure your country is always one of three, so that it’s always three against two, and that Russia was always to be kept on your good side.

And then, he was fired.

It had been a hundred years since there had been a general war in Europe. In the years since, new weapons and massive armies had become the norm.

For years, Germany had continually produced brilliant diplomats and high quality leaders that propelled the country forward and worked tirelessly to preserve peace in Europe.

Unfortunately in 1914, diplomacy was the last thing on the militaristic new German monarch's mind.

The fear of Germany's military ambitions leaves France desperate to find a regional ally before war is declared. But how can they convince Great Britain, a naval and economic superpower protected by sea, that going to war with Germany is worth the cost?

There's a bit of a dead zone after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. France needs to figure out what they're going to do if war breaks out. France only have a handshake deal with Britain and they're on Germany's dinner menu.

Jul 28, 1914, exactly one month after the assassination, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia and they're shelling Belgrade in like five minutes.

The Russians declare mobilization in response to this.

German military plans give them a 950-hour window to crush France before they would need to have their troops on their eastern border, ready to fight the Russians.

All that stands in Germany's way into France is the most fortified border in the world.

Germany realizes they cannot meet their military timeline by entering France directly. What they decide to do next will go down as one of the worst military blunders in modern history.

When Germany decides to enter Belgium to get around the French military border, international opinions of Germany change overnight. Germany was now the villain of the Western world, and the British public, who had previously been against going to war, were now demanding it.

The bankers and investors are saying that this is a crisis. It will destroy Britain fiscally! Communists are hopeful there will be a silver lining. Warnings are ushered about putting the fuse to the powder keg.

What we are about to see is a true heavyweight clash. The Germany army that is about to enter Belgium might be the greatest army the world had ever seen.

At the beginning of the war the German army has more than 80 divisions (a division is equivalent to an entire army in the medieval period).

Belgium teaches the great first lesson of the war as they show how much killing power machines can have. This is the war where machines take over completely.

( 5 August - 16 August, 1914 ) The Battle of Liège was the opening engagement of the German invasion of Belgium and the first battle of the First World War.

Germany was a hot bed of human culture: the cutting edge of art, science, religion, philosophy and music. They threw that reputation away with their Schrecklichkeit Policy. Schrecklichkeit is the German word for terror or fright. The military tried to frighten the Belgian civilian population. These fear tactics, scaring regular people, began here in the invasion of Belgium and would continue to be used prominently throughout both world wars.

They're on the way. The British are landing troops on the continent to aid the French who are preparing to launch an offensive. The Russians putting together enough troops to remind Germany that you can't just leave your eastern border undefended and throw everything against France.

The Austro-Hungarians are about to find out why the Serbs have such a ferocious military reputation.

And all of this is going to happen more or less simultaneously.