The First World War began 112 years ago yesterday...

Much like the actual moment, the anniversary of Austria-Hungary declaring war on the Kingdom of Serbia came and went with little fanfare. By the end of July 1914, few people actually cared about the squabble between those two countries and were more concerned about a general European war, which was becoming more and more inevitable by the hour.

Five days earlier, in reaction to the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austria had given to Serbia a list of demands that were so absurd that they were almost certainly designed to be rejected. Nevertheless, Serbia agreed unconditionally to all but one of them. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany is said to have stated: "A great moral victory for Vienna, but with it all pretense for war has disappeared."

That didn't stop Emperor Franz Joseph from declaring war on Serbia on July 28, 1914, calling the Serbian reply to the ultimatum "not good enough." Within hours, the Serbian capital of Belgrade was being shelled by Austro-Hungarian forces. By this time, however, what began as a localized conflict that looked to be limited to the Balkans, had spiraled into a full blown crisis.

The Imperial Russian Army had mobilized its forces and Germany was in the process of doing the same. Should Russia be drawn into the conflict, France - Russia's ally - would surely follow. The British Empire might also be drawn into the conflict as they, too, had an alliance with France and Russia. What would soon follow would be the greatest catastrophe to ever fall the continent of Europe.