Part 6/11:
This critical juncture exemplified a miscalculation by both Austria-Hungary and Germany. Austria underestimated Serbia's capabilities and the inevitability of Russian intervention, while Germany overestimated its ally’s readiness to engage in a swift and decisive conflict. Mobilization became a cascading event, with the Schlieffen Plan — Germany's military strategy that called for a rapid offensive through Belgium to defeat France before turning to face Russia — being activated, thus spiraling the situation into a confounding web of alliances entangled in a conflict.