The year before the sky fell in

摘要

Viewed from the capitals of Western Europe, the world looked pretty good in 1913. There were many, it is true, who heard rumblings of war; but this was so often the case in Europe, even after two decades of peace. The Economist was not alarmed. In June 1913 it described the recent entente cordiale between Britain and France as "the expression of tendencies which are slowly but surely making war between the civilised communities of the world an impossibility."