Just two grand alliances spanning the entire Colonial Era world in overlapping multiple defense treaties.
One rogue actor in a small Mediterranean state pops a visiting dignitary. The state marks this as an act of war and threatens to invade the tiny Mediterranean country. This triggers a domino of allegiances, as all the regional neighbors are drawn in.
But it gets more complicated, because the war can't play out in Serbia. A war in Serbia means a war with Russia, which means Germans need to mass-mobilize to counter the less-developed-but-far-larger Russian army. And they can't do that if they've got a war on their Western front with Russian ally France. So... QUICK INVADE PARIS! GO GO GO!
The international equivalent of a Mexican Standoff with hair triggers, but also machine guns and mustard gas.
Just two grand alliances spanning the entire Colonial Era world in overlapping multiple defense treaties.
One rogue actor in a small Mediterranean state pops a visiting dignitary. The state marks this as an act of war and threatens to invade the tiny Mediterranean country. This triggers a domino of allegiances, as all the regional neighbors are drawn in.
But it gets more complicated, because the war can't play out in Serbia. A war in Serbia means a war with Russia, which means Germans need to mass-mobilize to counter the less-developed-but-far-larger Russian army. And they can't do that if they've got a war on their Western front with Russian ally France. So... QUICK INVADE PARIS! GO GO GO!
The international equivalent of a Mexican Standoff with hair triggers, but also machine guns and mustard gas.
Serb shots Austrian aristocrat, so naturally Japan takes over islands in Oceania, that's elementary!
Vietnam shouldn't have contracted with the French private security force. That's just a bad consumer decision on Ho Chi Minh's part.