Austria-Hungary starts the bombardment of Belgrade. What follows is a deployment race of armies between all major powers in Europe. Nobody wants to be unprepared in case of an attack. Germany is implementing the Schlieffen-Plan. The idea is to avoid a two front war by conquering Paris via Belgium. After that the full attention would be diverted to Russia. One thing gets clear in the first days at the Western Front: This war is going to be different - this was modern warfare.

In the early days of World War 1, warfare is still based on ideas and ideals of 19th century generals. The technological progress during industrialisation clashes with obsolete war tactics (Plan XVII). Tens of thousands of soldiers lose their lives in carnage at the Western Front. The French Army marches into battle in bright uniforms, where the German Army awaits them with machine guns. Artillery already shows how brutal and effective it's going to be during the rest of World War 1.