1. Why Did the WWI Start? Int’l Security & Peace 20/9/15 Hyemin Yong

2. Cult of the Offensive? Strategic military dilemma, where leaders believe that offensive advantages are so great that a defending force would have no hope of repelling the attack; consequently, all states choose to attack. Most often used in context of WWI and the subsequent heavy losses that occurred year after year, on all sides, during the fighting on the Western Front.

3. Alliances

5. West Front

7. Trivial Explanation Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by Serbian nationalists on June 28, 1914 But, why are states preemptively declaring war on each other?

8. Cult of the Offensive Statesmen, intellectuals and military leaders at the time believed the offense had an enormous advantage, with new military technology; machine guns, chemical gas, railroads

9. Strategies and Outcomes Imagine a world with only two states Strategies: preempt or defend A preempt, B defend Both preempt (WAR) Both defend (PEACE) B preempt, A defend

10. Prisoners’ Dilemma

11. Conclusion Regardless of Germany’s move, France is always better off preempting Regardless of of France’s move, Germany is always better off preempting as well