This is a two volume work. Volume 1 is "Before Sarajevo - Underlying Causes of the War." Volume 2 is "After Sarajevo - Immediate Causes of the War." By "Before Sarajevo," it is meant before the assassination in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. This volume two starts with the Serbian Plot to Assassinate the Archduke and continues to the mobilizations in France and Germany on August 1, 1914. Unlike some other authors, Sidney Fay believes that the assassination of the Archduke was part of the plot by the Black Hand. Others, however, state that the assassination was a coincidence caused by a wrong turn by a driver and that there is no proof that the assassin was part of the Black Hand. This book deals with the incredible series of events in which in only 37 days after the assassination of the Archduke and his wife Sophie, Germany invaded both Belgium and France. These events have ever since been studied by career diplomats, seeking to learn the reasons for this so as to try to prevent another pointless war like this one from happening.