Editing Preemptive war (section)

===World War I (1914–1918)===
{{Main|World War I}}
The [[Austro-Hungarian]] Chief of the General Staff, [[Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf]], argued for a preemptive war against [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]] in 1913.<ref name="DiNardo2015">{{cite book|author=Richard L. DiNardo|title=Invasion: The Conquest of Serbia, 1915: The Conquest of Serbia, 1915|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZeIBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA13|date=14 April 2015|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-4408-0093-1|pages=13–}}</ref> There is however no agreement among historians that Conrad's proposals were preemptive and not preventive. According to other historians, Conrad (a [[social Darwinist]]) proposed a ''preventive'' war against Serbia more than 20 times before, starting in [[Bosnian Crisis|1909]].<ref>Preemption: Military Action and Moral Justification, OUP 2007, p. 31</ref> Serbia had the image of an aggressive and expansionist power and was seen as a threat to Austria-Hungary in [[Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia and Herzegovina]].<ref name="DiNardo2015" /> The [[assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand]] (June 1914) was used as an excuse for Austria-Hungary [[Serbian Campaign of World War I|to attack Serbia]], leading to [[World War I]].<ref name="Neiberg2007">{{cite book|author=Michael S. Neiberg|author-link=Michael S. Neiberg|title=The World War I Reader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BGaKxNWlFBwC&pg=PA7|year=2007|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-5832-8|pages=7}}</ref>

During the course of the destructive and costly World War I, for the first time in history, the concept of "[[the war to end war]]" began to be seriously considered.<ref name="woodrow wilson's idea">{{cite web|year=2010|url=http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1108.html|title=United States History: Woodrow Wilson}} Discussion of Woodrow Wilson's desire to make World War I the War to End All Wars.</ref> As a further expression of that hope, upon the conclusion of the war, the [[League of Nations]] was formed. Its primary aim was to prevent war, as all signatories to the [[Covenant of the League of Nations|League of Nations Covenant]] were required to agree to desist from the initiation of all wars, preemptive or otherwise. All of the victorious nations emerging out of World War I eventually signed the agreement, with the notable exception of the United States.<ref name="league of nations summary">{{cite web|year=2010|url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/elro/glossary/league-of-nations.htm|title=Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site: League of Nations article|access-date=2010-11-30}} Article summarizing the primary objective of the League of Nations.</ref>