Poor writing leads to war!

The importance of brevity and clarity in our presentations can’t be overstated.

On July 25, 1918, Serbia responded to a set of ten demands from Austria-Hungary stemming from the assassination of the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand. As G.J. Meyer writes in A World Undone, Serbia’s response was not defiant, but actually “conciliatory, respectful, and at times submissive in tone,” the type of response that very well should have served to de-escalate the tensions mounting across Europe.

But according to Meyer the response “was also long, and its language was artfully oblique.” Meyer concludes “as positive as it was in many ways…the response can fairly be regarded as one of the mistakes that led to war.” World War I began shortly thereafter.

In the interest of peace, in your presentations, please be clear and concise!!

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