The first part discusses what led up to August 1914 (with focus primarily on atmosphere and calculations, without discussing the diplomatic operations in July of that year), namely the Balkan Wars (with focus on causes, effects, and logistics rather than the exact course of military operations), as well as military operations and their impact on the region where battles took place from August 1914 to December 1916). This section of the book discusses, among other things, the consequences of ‘attacks at any price’, the everyday lives of soldiers and their relations with civilians, the espionage mania that was widespread along the Eastern front, war crimes, medicine and diseases, the siege of the Przemyśl Fortress, the Battle of Gorlice, the great retreat of Russia in the summer of 1915, and the Brusilov Offensive a year later. Separate sections are devoted to the Serbian and Romanian fronts and prisoners of war.