Duke Reginald IV, Hereditary Ruler of the Duchy, made off with Lady Aethelreda of Gandersheim. This forced the good Lady's husband, Gandalf of Gandersheim, to muster his forces and attack the Duchy even though all evidence (e.g., careful packing by the lady involved, various notes and letters) indicated willing compliance.

The Merovingians became involved, of course, and forced the Lombards to attack both Rome and Naples. In due course this led to the 100 Years War, the Wars of the Roses, Henry VIII, the Defenestration of Prague (and its subsequent impact upon the Windows Operating System), the Treaty of Ghent, Otto von Bismarck, and a whole bunch of other stuff which ended up starting WW1, which was a mistake but which left Germany bankrupt and opened the door for A. Hitler & Co. Of course, Teddy Roosevelt and Britain and others forced Japan to build giant battleships and that led (as we all know) to the Battle of the Coral Sea, the invasion of Kiska and Attu, and eventually to the founding of the UN.

HOWEVER, unfinished WW2 business brought about the Indo-Chinese War, the Mau-Mau, and other hyphenated combats.

This should clarify things.

Thank you.