A new video essay from delve

100 summers ago the countries of Europe collapsed quickly into war: it was sudden but also kind of inevitable. Countless books have been written since about the causes of the Great War, but in this video essay we offer an alternative history. By tracing the story backwards in time we stumble upon a very unexpected cause and discover that sometimes the most harmless of things can have terrible consequences. 

Story Design & Direction: Adam Westbrook 
Animation: Adam Westbrook
Additional Photography: Brett Walsh www.brettwalshphotography.com
Archive footage from the US National Archives released in the public domain
Stock footage via Videohive and Pond5
All photographs in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Satie’s Gymnopedie No. 2 performed by Kevin McLeod www.incompetech.com
Additional music and sound effects via AudioJungle 
Story assistance from Caroline Vanier, Cody Delistraty and Chris Schaefer.

Here are the books I used in researching this essay.

• The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Guns-August-Bestselling-Outbreak/dp/0241968216/
• The War that Ended Peace by Margaret Macmillan https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-War-that-Ended-Peace/dp/1846682738/ 
• Catastrophe: Europe Goes to War 1914 by Max Hastings https://www.amazon.co.uk/Catastrophe-Europe-Goes-War-1914/dp/0007519745/
• Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the coming of the Great War by Robert K Massie https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreadnought-Britain-Germany-Coming-Great-ebook/dp/B00D5FOGL6
• The Last Kaiser by Giles MacDonogh https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Kaiser-Life-Wilhelm-II/dp/0312305575/
• The Influence of Sea Power on History 1660-1783 by Alfred T Mahan https://www.amazon.co.uk/Influence-Power-Upon-History-1660-1783