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In the early 20th century, the rise of Germany and the decline of the Ottoman Empire disturbed the long-standing balance of power in Europe, at the same time that unresolved territorial disputes and shifting alliances created rivalries and an arms race between the great powers. Growing tensions reached a breaking point on June 28, 1914, when the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated by an young Bosnian Serb revolutionary, who intended to free Bosnia and Herzegovina from Austro-Hungarian rule. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia, as the assassination team was helped by a Serbian secret nationalist group, and declared war in the following month. Russia immediately mobilised its troops in Serbia's defense, prompting Germany, who had an alliance with Austria-Hungary, to declare war on both Russia and its ally, France. The United Kingdom subsequently marched against Germany, leading to a widespread conflict.   Although the United States was a major s...

Original release poster Directed by Frank Capra, Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) tells the story of Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant), a Broadway critic and "symbol of bachelorhood," author of several anti-marriage books , who ironically weds Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane) on Halloween . On their way to their honeymoon, they stop in Brooklyn, where they grew up next door to each other. While Elaine drops in on her father, Reverend Harper (Grant Mitchell), Mortimer visits the eccentric but lovable relatives who raised him and who still live in his old family home: his spinster aunts Abby (Josephine Hull) and Martha (Jean Adair), and his derranged brother Teddy (John Alexander), who believes h imself to be Theodore Roosevelt. As he s earch es for the notes for his most re cent book , Mortimer discovers a dead body hidden in the window seat and is s hocked to find that his aunts were responsible for the murder. Abby and Martha calmly explain that they have been k...