Contemporary historians of WW1 such as Michael Neiberg object to calling actors of that war stupid. See this interview where he mentions "the stupid box": http:

Contemporary historians of WW1 such as Michael Neiberg object to calling actors of that war stupid. See this interview where he mentions "the stupid box": http://rorotoko.com/interview/20110822_michael_neiberg_on_dance_furies_europe_outbreak_world_war_i/?page=2 http://rorotoko.com/interview/20110822_michael_neiberg_on_da... A lot of the seemingly obvious explanations for that war is just wrong, and tainted by the official narrative that came later. One example among many: French revanchisme about Alsace-Lorraine did not factor in starting the war, or at least not significantly and very indirectly. It was a hot topic in the 1890s, but that had been almost entirely absent from the political debate for 20 years by the start of the war. The reason you might think otherwise is simply that it was used during the war as a motivation to conjure up patriotic morale.