This book makes two distinctive contributions to one of the most fundamental debates in modern European history. First, it presents readable and judicious accounts of the events and decisions directly precipitating the outbreak of war in each of the main belligerent countries; second, it assesses the role of public opinion and popular mood in determining and responding to the `July Crisis' of 1914.With a list of contributors who are all distinguished in different aspects of the subject, this stimulating survey covers the historiography of the immediate causes of the war, and includes new refle