ON THE WAY TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR: DIPLOMATIC ZUGZWANG SUMMER 1914

The article describes the events preceding the First World War. The author give an analysis of the events preceding the beginning of the war, emphasized the role of the lack of the necessary information for political decisions at the stage of the July crisis in 1914. It is assumed that the war could have been avoided if the parties, directly involved in the conflict and would have abandoned the language of ultimatums and threats to each other.