The whole ****ty plot, or at least Europes involvement in it, could be said to have started with Wilhem IIs unholy alliance with the Muslims in around 1885.
It's not that widely known, but the Germans alliance with the Muslims, with the aim of starting a holy war that would bring Great Britain to its knees, had repercussions that are very much with us to this very day.
Queen Victoria should have put her grandson over her knee and then talked some sense into him. The world would be a very much more peaceful place if she had.