The war began on July 28th with shells falling on Belgrade.
Both the country firing the shells and the one being hit drew their allies into the war, and those nations, in turn, pulled in others.
An antlion pit of the desert opened in Europe.
Now, European nations had reached a moment where they had to make choices that would determine their fate.
And on August 3rd, at an emergency meeting of the Royal Commission in Romania, Carol I declared:
"We must support Emperor Wilhelm II. It is the honorable thing to do and our destiny."
Then, for the first time, Carol I revealed a massive secret he had been keeping from the commission and his subjects.
It was a secret treaty made with Germany decades ago.
"Absolutely not!"
"During the last Balkan War, we were able to gain Bulgarian territory through the Treaty of Bucharest only because Russia turned a blind eye, not because we were a great power!"