Upon the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the European powers were quickly engulfed in an all-out war now known as World War I. Germany had prepared for this scenario years in advance, though the failure of the Schlieffen Plan led to a long drawn out conflict.
Nearly every country nowadays will plan for future conflicts. These plans are typically called “wargaming.” The modern version of wargaming was invented by Prussia in the 18th century, but not adopted widely by other nations until after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871.
The dominant German victory in the war was largely credited with their wargaming plans and other nations adopted the practice so as not to be left behind.
In the lead up to World War I, Europe increasingly became caught up in a series of entangling alliances. Should one nation go to war, it could drag virtually the entire continent along with it. A classic description of Europe at the time was of a “powder keg” just waiting to explode.
The primary divisions were among the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) as well as the Triple Entente (Great Britain, France, and Russia). Russia also supported the Balkan region, including Serbia.
