37 Days: The Road to World War I

If you ask any with a modicum of historical knowledge how World War I started, they will tell you it all began with the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Maybe if they are showing off, they can tell you it happened in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. And if it’s a Final Jeopardy question about who pulled the trigger, those who have done their homework will say, Who is Gavrilo Princip? But is that really all it took to send the entire world spiraling off to war? Not according to his film from director Justin Hardy which takes you behind the scenes to get a better understanding on how the many little decisions that lead up to the launching of total war were made by the people in power. It’s hard to keep your jaw from dropping as you listen to top British officials calmly talk about what they stand to gain if they decide to get involved, while the German officials in the film practically foam at the mouth for a chance to try out their new weapons on human targets. It took a little over a month for these talking heads to turn a single shot into the cause they were looking for, and it’s a countdown the world would come to regret.