War breaks out in Europe on August 2, 1914.
Germany and Russia chose up sides, with Austria-Hungary and Seriva respectively. France was coming, England was posturing and all of Europe was bracing for what was to come.
Germans, the paper noted in the bottom right corner, were being attacked in London, but in Berlin the "populace is in a frenzy of patriotic fervor.
The art, courtesy of the Bain News Service (one of the oldest such services in America), feature the Crown Prince of Germany and his staff, German infantry under cover on the top right, Belgrade, the Austrians and then the Serbian infantry. Czar Nicholas, of Russia, gets the center photo.
The paper says the first shots were fired by Russia and almost favors Germany. The Kaiser's hand, the paper says, was forced by France's military buildup for the war, a thesis that many scholars still maintain: An arms race that reached critical mass before someone twitched. There's also the Willy-Nicky telegrams which, if you consider the consequences as context, is easily the most depressing thing you'll read today.
Check out some incredible and rare World War I color photos.
The U.S. was trying to broker a peace, officially maintaining an isolationist policy, but that would soon change ...