“Mommy, please tell me again, how did World War I begin?”“Sweetheart, I already told you, that was longago. A century is a very long time.”“But, Mommy, please.”“Well, it’s complicated. Do you really, reallywant to know?”“Yes, Mom.”“It’s a sad story. The world was organizedin one way, and that way collapsed, and in theprocess millions of people were killed.”“Wow. How was it organized before?”“There were things called empires. Theycontrolled vast territories full of differentpeoples, and some of these peoples wanted torule themselves rather than be governed by afaraway emperor.”“O.K.”“The Austro-Hungarian Empire was one ofthem. It had lots of grand palaces in its capital,Vienna, where people danced at fancy balls. Itgoverned parts of a poor corner of Europe calledthe Balkans where its rule was disliked. One dayin 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throneand his wife were assassinated in a Balkan citycalled Sarajevo by a young man, a Bosnian Serb,who wanted the freedom of the south Slavs fromimperial rule.”“That’s sad, Mommy. Guess the musicstopped. But so what?”“The empire got really angry. It told Serbiato do a bunch of things or face war. The ruler inVienna was confident because he had a closefriend, a rising power called Germany. Serbiaalso had a good buddy, a country called Russia,which is big. Anyway, Serbia kind of ditheredaround, like you with homework, so Austria-Hungary went to war against it.”“And then?”“Then Germany declared war on Russia,whose friend was France, which didn’t likeGermany for various reasons. Soon Germanyattacked France through Belgium. That madeBritain cross. It went to war against Germany.
Another empire — a sickly one — called theOttoman Empire, eventually joined the Germanand Austro-Hungarian side. Later the UnitedStates, a rising power, came in on the Britishand French team. After a few years, more than16 million people were dead. The Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, German and Russianempires had collapsed.”“All because a couple was killed? Mom, that’sweird.”“Sometimes little things get bigger, peoplelose patience and perspective, there’s a sparkand you get a big mess.”“Mom, it couldn’t happen again, right?’“Nope.”“Are there any empires left today?”“Some people call America an empire even ifit doesn’t have an emperor. It is the most powerfulcountry on earth, with soldiers all around the worldand different peoples that rely on it for direction andprotection. But America’s getting weaker.”“So, Mommy, is it kind of like what you saidabout the world being organized one way, andthen being organized in another way, and lots ofpeople dying in the process?”“Not exactly, sweetheart. Dying where?”“In Syria. Mom, what’s Syria?”“It’s a small country with different peoplesand religions that came into being when theOttoman Empire got so sickly it collapsed.”“Why are people fighting there?”“It’s complicated. Do you really, really wantto know?”“Yes, Mommy.”“Well, there was this brutal, remote tyrantbehaving like an emperor and some of thepeoples in Syria rose up against him. The tyrantstarted shooting them. America and Britain andFrance, among other countries, didn’t like that,and they said they’d kind of support the rebels,but didn’t really.”“Why?”“Because, like I said, America is sickly. It’sgetting weaker.”“Okay. Then what?”“The tyrant had a big friend called Russia. Hehad another quite big friend called Iran. Theyboth really did support him.”“So he won?”“Not quite. Many of the people who wanted toget rid of the tyrant were Sunni Muslims. Theyhad the backing of Saudi Arabia, which is SunniCentral and hates Iran and has supported Sunnifanatics. Turkey, which was the successor to theOttoman Empire and hates the Syrian tyrant,also got on the rebel team. But Turkey hatesanother people in Syria called the Kurds evenmore than the tyrant — so much it’s been readyin a sneaky way to help one group of Sunnicrazies who slit throats, kill Kurds and shootpeople in Western cities.”“Mom, I’m confused.”“Syria has broken up, like the OttomanEmpire. Russia is bombing some enemies ofthe Syrian tyrant. America is bombing thethroat-slitters. So is France. Turkey shot down aRussian plane. Russia is angry. The Kurds wantthe state they didn’t get 100 years ago. SaudiArabia is fighting a region-wide war againstIran. That war is most intense in Syria, wherehundreds of thousands are dead.”
“All because some folks wanted to get rid of abully?”
“Sometimes little things get bigger, there’s aspark and it’s a big mess.”
“Mom, what would World War III be like?”
“Don’t worry, darling, everything is different now.”
“Totally?”
“Totally. We have life, liberty and the pursuitof happiness. Happy Thanksgiving, my love.”
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