12 Petty, Trivial, Or Downright Dumb Reasons War Was Declared

Wars are sad. Wars are fought by people who think they're right and people who think they're wrong. Both sides lose in the end. The innocent people who die in wars never wanted to be a part of any of it, but they were caught up in something much larger than themselves. And when it's all over, there is usually a lot of devastation left in its wake. Countries have been destroyed, families have been torn apart, and millions of people have died – all because someone decided that war was the best way to solve their problems. It’s a tragic cycle that seems to repeat itself over and over again throughout history.

August 1914. The Germans had just marched into Belgium, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had declared war on Serbia, setting off a series of events that would lead to World War I. While the causes of the war are complex and still debated by historians, there are certainly some downright dumb reasons why it started. Here are three of the most absurd reasons the war was ever declared.