'Precipice' - book by Robert Harris, describing the start of the war that started a century of wars

Such a brilliant title for the July/August 1914 catastrophe of the Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman Empire v France, Russia, British Empire War.

In those two months, Europe went over the edge, over the precipice and set in train European/American-initiated wars to this day.  The summer of 1914 saw the precipitous decisions of the Great Powers to bring an end to the peace that led to two World Wars, a Cold War and, to this day, the Russian/Ukraine War.

The Great War that ended the Peace for 111 years - so far.  Historian Margaret MacMillan called her book, 'The War That Ended Peace'.

Ian Duncan Smith, former Leader of the Tory Party said on 'Today' that the 1WW led on to the 2WW.  That started with rounding on Germany in 1919, rather than our statesmen, diplomats and politicians recognising that all of them had failed the people and needed to show some remorse for what they had brought upon the world.

So the unjust Treaty brought recriminations upon Germany with unfair retributions placed upon only that country.  Revenge was the order of the day as the Nazis rose to power and more slaughter became inevitable.

Next, godless Communism had to be opposed.  There was a Russia threatening our power as the top dog and our position as the Judge, Jury and Executioner of the world.  Nuclear holocaust was narrowly avoided when Russia tried to ape our side's installation of Jupiter rockets on the USSR/Turkey border.  Only one player is allowed to play that game and it can never be Russia, China or any other Power on earth.  That was the Cold War.

The end started in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall and ended in the 1990s by Gorbachev and other Russian leaders no longer wishing to play the Cold War game.  It came with the Warsaw Pact being disbanded as former Soviet satellite states sided with Europe and NATO.  Far too much to expect NATO to disband, too!

Putin came to Presidential power in 2000 and was already restless at the diminution of the former territories in the days of the USSR.  It seems that in the 1990s he felt that his predecessors gave too much away as former Soviet states became part of the EU and even NATO. Ukraine being invited to start the long journey to full EU membership was the final straw for Putin, especially with 'our' Revolution of Dignity in Feb 2014.

And so the Judeo-Christian nations continue their precipitous fall from grace.  Too often the militarisation of diplomacy, American-led domination in world affairs and the fueling of world wars with weapons exports.

We continue to live in dangerous times.