User blog comment:LovingKate/Once Again/@comment-415040-20131201033635/@comment-2052424-20131201044530

In Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century, there was a balance of power, created primarily by Otto Von Bismark. What this basically meant was that there was an intricate web of alliances between military and economic powers, enemies and friends, which dissuaded people form going to war with one another over the fear that it would bring all of their allies into a big huge world war. And it worked. Until some crazy Serb shot the arch-duke of Austria and everything imploded in on itself.

That, basically, is what happened.