““In other words, it was unavoidable, and probably inevitable, so we might as well close our minds and accept that 16.5 million people had to die. On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, it is time to re-examine these sops of self-exculpation, which posterity still largely applauds or tolerates, aided by recent histories that re-peddle the myths that the governments of Europe groped blindly towards war; or that Germany was solely responsible for the catastrophe, and thus had to be vanquished and utterly destroyed.””
