Entertaining and informative.

the rise of russia, the creaky monarchy which collapsed in revolution 3 years later? not much to distinguish between her and austria-hungary.

what caused the war was the rise of germany. if this scenario as presented had been avoided (basically a gambit to keep western europe high & dry), germany would yet have conquered russia for openers, and then try to imagine alternative scenarios less bloody than those which actually transpired.

germany was the ascendent power in europe from the time of the 1870 franco-prussian war onward. wilhelm, despite the representations here, was quite jealous of british sea-power and had dreams of germany as an atlantic power as well as the central & eastern european empire.

nothing short of war would have restrained her ultimately, just as it worked out in deed

of course, that is but one interpretation. many even more well informed than i feel differently, but as i see it the dynamics of germany's rise & will to power was the principle driver of events.

another view, and greatly at odds with this presentation, is that by keeping britain's defense obligations to france hidden from parliament & public view, grey, churchill and the rest of the war clique manipulated britain into a war with germany for reasons proponents of that view would need to explain.

Ben Daniels was not on this series. The Kaiser was played by Rainer Sellien.