As early as the autumn of 1914, that most ­reluctant of warriors, President Woodrow Wilson, conceded “England is fighting our fight”, recognising the threat posed by a German victory for democratic institutions. Why is it that people who doubtless respect the subtleties of theological discourse seem to believe that historical study can be reduced to simplistic formulas of which Fr Ashley Beck’s (Letters 11 January) “the war … was simply unjustified” is a prime example?John Kentleton, Meols, WirralRobert Fox (“The world turns”, 4 January), analysing how the 1914-18 war started, wrote: “The problem with the First World War is that the motivations and causes for which most fought, and continued to fight, are so utterly remote from th