European Dusk

They thought they were building eternity. Bismarck said that the Federation is a cage, but life in the cage is better than the jungle outside. William II said that he wanted the land under the sun and wanted to be on an equal footing with Britain on the world stage. The French said they could make a deal with the devil as long as they could get Alsace-Lorraine back. The devil is coming. It is not wearing a black robe, but a well-tailored suit - the presidential robe that takes turns in the Federal Parliament. What it said was not a curse, but "common tariff, common currency, common defense." In the summer of 1914, before the blood of Archduke Ferdinand had dried, European countries were dragged into the abyss by their respective alliances. The Federation did not bring peace, it simply changed the war from a one-on-one duel to a free-for-all of all against all. This is dusk in Europe. Not the dusk of sunset, but the last ray of light before the collapse. Caspar von Sternheim stood on the edge of a wheat field in East Prussia, watching the beacon smoke rising on the horizon. He remembered what his father had said: "This child will read a lot of books in the future. This world will no longer belong to people who can only wield a knife."