In World War I, eight million were killed within
The space of five years, and you ask how it began.
With just one death; some say, it took just one
To begin to undo the work that had been done
For Peace. So let this story be instructive:
A Serb killed the Austrian prince. That was decisive.
Austria attacked the Serbs, and partly due
To treaties between nations, so ensued
‘Supportive’ warring as Germany attacked France
Through Belgium, Britain’s guarantor, by chance.
Then Russia attacked Germany and Austria-Hungary
And, tricked, the Ottoman Empire too. By 1917,
The Russian revolution forced its pull-out,
When the U.S. blasted in to force a ‘rout.’
June Edvenson 