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1. In the beginning of Chapter 2 it is revealed that the alliances and counter-alliances of the various powers of Europe had created a “heap of swords piled as delicately as jackstraws” (18). How does this complex web of alliances help lead to the outbreak of war in 1914?

With each country promising to come to the help of other countries in the even of war, a single declaration of war meant that each of the other countries would eventually be drawn into the conflict in the interest of supporting their allies.

2. Contrast the differences between the Elder von Moltke’s view of the next war being a long war and the general opinion of the younger generation who thought the next war would not feasibly last very long at all.

Von Moltke believed that a war between entire nation-states would not be resolved in a single, great battle, but would rather devolve into a years-long struggle until one side was utterly broken. The general opinion, however, was that things like the dependency of the economies of the modern world on each other would prevent a war from lasting long, as both nations would be hurt regardless of the winner.

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