Peace and War

1914 dawned with Britain at peace, albeit troubled by faultlines within and threats without: Ireland trembled on the brink of civil war; suffragette agitation was assuming an ever more violent hue; and suspicions of Germany''s ambitions bred a paranoia that was expressed in a rash of ''invasion scare'' literature.

Then when shots rang out in Sara-jevo on 28 June, they set in train a tumble of dipl...