War was the continuation of politics; without question, this world war was no exception!
Once capitalist economies had developed to a certain point, every country had accumulated a great many social contradictions. In the end, to divert those internal conflicts, this world war had been triggered!
By comparison, the conflicts between Germany and France, Britain and Germany, Bulgaria and Austria, and Russia and Austria were merely triggers for the outbreak of the world war. They only determined who would fight whom!
As for whether there would be a war, and when it would begin—those things were not decided by such conflicts, but by the internal contradictions of the great powers. Once those contradictions could no longer be suppressed, war would erupt!
And the older the empire, the more severe its internal contradictions. Some countries had even reached the point where reconciliation was impossible. Without war, they could only wait for revolution!
Inflation, unequal distribution of social wealth, a widening chasm between rich and poor, rigid social classes, capitalists ruthlessly exploiting the working class, overproduction, rising unemployment, and a whole series of other social problems plagued governments everywhere.
Against this backdrop, everyone tacitly chose to divert their domestic conflicts, and so the world war broke out.
Naturally, Bulgaria was no exception. As a rising power, it did not suffer from entrenched class divisions, and issues such as wealth distribution and the rich-poor gap were not especially severe. Nor did capitalists dare exploit workers with complete impunity. Only one problem had already become extremely serious: overproduction!
Since Ferdinand ascended the throne, he had launched three Five-Year Plans in order to strengthen the nation's industrial power. As the saying went, "When those above set the pace, those below follow suit." While the central government did everything it could to increase national industrial strength,