| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
According to a recent monograph on the Great War's origins, the July crisis of 1914 may very well be 'the most complex event of modern times'.1 Hence, it is next to impossible to track all the causal effects and interactions, let alone to specify their relative importance. Moreover, even a comprehensive picture of these causal relations in itself would hardly answer our most relevant questions and thus uncover 'the truth' about the origins of the war. Given our diverse perspectives on the meaning and constraints of human agency in a particular cultural context, such a comprehensive picture would not lead to a consensual understanding of the key decisions and their underlying motives - and perhaps not even to an agreed list of those decisions.2
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