For over a century, scholars, politicians, and pundits have debated the supposed causes of the First World War, from German naval provocations to the rising global tide of nationalism. All of these explanations tend to ignore the simple fact that the war began in eastern Europe, triggered by regional feuding and violence in what had previously been the Ottoman provinces.

We begin our exploration of the roots of World War I by following the struggles of the declining Ottoman Empire to hold its ground and contain ethnic and religious strife as Western powers circle like vultures around the so-called "sick man of Europe."

Image: View over Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, to the Bosporus

Suggested further reading: Alan Palmer, "Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire."

music: "Fandango," by Scarlatti or Soler, midi file version by El Gran Mago Paco Quito.

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