Many changes have been made to the tax laws in Hungary, effective January 2010. The major changes are listed below but for full details and other changes please contact your MS City Treuhand representative directly or email to: office@mscity.hu

 

 

 

Act on Personal Income Tax

 

All income to be considered as a part of the consolidated income shall be completed by 27% when calculating tax (so-called “super-grossing”). The tax base calculated this way shall be increased by allowances bearing no tax burden (pension and family allowance) at the time when the allowance is paid. As a consequence, the upper limit of the lower tax bracket is HUF 5 million and the tax rate for this bracket is 17%; the tax on the income above HUF 5 million is 32%.

 

Tax credit shall be 17% of the income from wages and salaries but not more than HUF 15,100 monthly. The eligibility limit shall be an annual HUF 3,188,000; tax credit is available to a reduced degree for income exceeding this amount, only for a maximum annual income of HUF 4,698,000.

 

Most tax allowances shall be cancelled; only those remaining in force are listed below:

• Ÿ  payments made to voluntary health funds and pension funds;
• Ÿ  family allowance amounting to HUF 4,000 per child if the number of dependants is at least 3;
• Ÿ  allowance for agricultural primary producers

 

No tax advance shall be deducted upon payment from taxpayers who have a tax number and are eligible to issue invoices.

 

Some types of allowance that used to be exempt from tax (family allowance and maternity grant) shall be regarded as allowances bearing no tax burden already as of September 2009.

 

The exemption from tax for optional and tax-exempt fringe benefits (so-called Cafeteria benefits) shall be cancelled.

 

A tax of 25% shall be imposed on the paying entity for the following items:

• Ÿ  Hot meal vouchers or supply up to a monthly amount of HUF 18,000. Vouchers can be provided subsequently in an accumulated way;
• Ÿ  Local travel passes up to the amount included by invoices issued to the name of the employer;
• Ÿ  Back-to-school vouchers up to 30% of the monthly minimum wage annually
• Ÿ  Holiday vouchers up to the monthly minimum wage annually
• Ÿ  Reimbursement of formal education costs up to 2.5 times the monthly minimum wage annually;
• Ÿ  Payments made by the employer to voluntary health funds or mutual funds up to 30% of the monthly minimum wage or to voluntary pension funds up to 50% of the minimum wage monthly.

All other fringe benefits (for a detailed list, please refer to §69) are liable to tax: the paying entity shall pay 54% PIT plus social security contribution at a rate of 27% (or healthcare tax “EHO” amounting to 25) on the amount increased by PIT. If a benefit is incompatible with the regulations of §69 or exceeds the value limit set forth then it shall be regarded as consolidated income liable to tax and social security contribution.

 

For partners of partnerships not liable to EVA (simplified entrepreneurial tax) and entrepreneurs who are not employed beside pursuing business, income received by partners (members) for personal participation (i.e. not under employment) shall be determined according to the market income typical for the business in question and PIT shall be paid accordingly. We do not recommend addressing this issue in detail because the relevant sections of the act are still expected to change.

 

Income tax at a rate of 54 % shall be imposed on income from interest rate reduction (for loans provided with an interest rate less than the base rate of the central bank + 5%); this tax shall be paid by the lending entity. Payment obligation shall arise as of the last day of the year or the date when the loan is terminated.

 

The entire amount of per diem payments received for trips to Hungary or abroad shall be liable to tax, except for per diem payments received by those working in international transportation of goods and passenger transport. For these sectors, the previous tax-exemption limit of EUR 25 continues to be in force.

 

Income for non-formal education shall be liable to tax if the education is provided for any other purpose than to pursue activities of the entity providing education.

 

Business entertainment and gifts provided by corporate taxpayers shall be exempt from tax because these amounts increase the corporate tax base for providers.

 

Income received in the form of products given or services provided by a paying entity free of charge or at a reduced price shall be regarded as benefits in kind liable to tax unless the paying entity is an employer of the person receiving such benefits.

 

Amendments to the Act on Social Security Contributions and Healthcare Tax

 

Employers’, employees’ and entrepreneurs’ contributions have been included in social security contributions. Labor market contributions at a rate of 1% imposed on employers shall be paid on any income liable to social security contributions. However, labor market contributions at a rate of 1.5% imposed on employees shall not be deducted from income not liable to employees’ contributions (e.g. reimbursement of holiday pay, income of pensioners, income of private entrepreneurs or partners in business partnerships employed elsewhere).

 

The rate of social security contributions shall be 27% for employers and 17% for private individuals.

 

START Cards of graduates starting their careers shall be valid for 1 year instead of 2 years; employers can apply a contribution rate of 10% for 3 months and 20% for 9 months.

 

There is no income limit for pensioners younger than 62 years who already received pension under their own eligibility as of 31 December 2007. For other pensioners, the annual income limit shall be 18-fold the monthly minimum wage.

 

The fixed-amount healthcare tax (EHO) of HUF 1950 per person per month shall be cancelled.

 

The rate of the healthcare tax imposed on private individuals shall continue to be 14% that shall be paid up to a limit of HUF 450,000. The healthcare insurance contributions of 6% deducted from private individuals from the beginning of the year shall be added to the amount of healthcare tax paid from the beginning of the year. The rate of the healthcare tax imposed on paying entities shall increase from 11% to 27%.

 

No healthcare tax shall be paid on income received by individuals insured in another member state if he/she certifies his/her insurance relationship by presenting an E101 form.

 

Rehabilitation Contribution (compensatory levy)

This liability still applies to employers with more than 20 employees. Its amount is HUF 964,500 per person per year. The average statistical headcount shall be reduced by the number of staff handicapped in their work ability pursuant to the Government Decree No. 177/2005 (09.02.).

 

Amendments to the Act on Value Added Tax

 

The most important amendment was made in the matter of place of performance of services. The following table will illustrate these changes as well as the taxable area of each. 

 

Every VAT taxpayer shall have an EU tax number for purchasing services from or providing services to a taxpayer of another member state.

 

Taxpayers shall make a summarizing statement on services used and provided, similarly to the case of product sales within the EU that has already been in force.

 

Rules of VAT refund

 

To refund VAT to a taxpayer of another member state, a claim shall be submitted to the taxpayer’s own competent tax authority in electronic form. The claim for refund shall be addressed to the member state of the place of refund.

 

Rehabilitation Contribution (compensatory levy)

 

This liability still applies to employers with more than 20 employees. Its amount is HUF 964,500 per person per year. The average statistical headcount shall be reduced by the number of staff handicapped in their work ability pursuant to the Government Decree No. 177/2005 (09.02.).

For instance, if a Hungarian company charges VAT to a Swedish company then the Swedish taxpayer shall submit the refund claim to their own tax authority, addressed to the Hungarian tax authority. In a reverse case, the claim shall be submitted to the Hungarian tax authority. Electronic claim forms will be available on the online portal of the tax authority; its format shall be specified by a Decree of the Ministry of Finance to be issued by the end of year 2009.

 

The refund claim shall be submitted not later than 30 September of the year following the year in question.

 

All other amendments affect special fields therefore we do not address them here.

 

Written by Eta Bojtos, December 21, 2009. Budapest, Hungary.

 

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Why is this potentially prophetic?

The Bible teaches that a military leader will rise up in Europe (Revelation 13:4).

Catholic prophecies foretell that just prior to the emergence of their “Great Monarch” (also called the Great King below) problems will begin to afflict Catholics in Europe, essentially because the Catholics there tend to be lax.

Several Catholic writers have referred to this as the “minor chastisement”.  Notice the writings of one of them:

At some time in the future, the corrupt faithless age we live in now will come to an end either through repentance (immediately followed by an age of peace)–or there will be a chastisement. This would be a Minor Chastisement preceding an Age of Peace. It is not the Tribulation of the Antichrist…

Civil war breaks out in France and Italy at almost the same time. This is the sign given by many prophets that the Chastisement has begun…

This will spread to general wars, and, famine and pestilence (the usual by-products of war)…

Some Moslems will cause great trouble for the Church and Europe in general…

The Great King will lead his forces to…victory…

The Great King will be crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the reigning Pope.

(Birch, DA. Trial, Tribulation & Triumph: Before During and After Antichrist. Queenship Publishing Company, Goleta (CA), 1996, pp. 553-555)

Furthermore, this chastisement, to a degree, seems to be forecasted by some Catholic writers to begin in France.

Notice the following Catholic private prophecy:

Jeanne le Royer (Sister of the Nativity). The storm began in France, and France shall be the first theatre of its ravages after having been its cradle. (Dupont Yves. Catholic Prophecy: The Coming Chastisement. TAN Books, Rockford (IL), 1973, p.59)

The fact that there were riots in Paris in 2005, might eventually be pointed to as “the first theatre of its ravages”.  (For some other possibly related Catholic prophecies that involve France or simply Paris itself, see the news item Taliban Threatens France.)

Here are some other Catholic prophecies that seem to touch on civil unrest throughout Europe and a new leader rising up in Europe:

Birch Tree Prophecy (Old German) “When the world becomes Godless: revolutions will break out against kings; fathers will be against sons and sons against fathers; dogma will be perverted; men will try to overthrow the Catholic Church…A terrible war will find the north fighting against the south. The south will be led by a Prince wearing a white coat with a cross on the front…” (Culleton, R. Gerald. The Prophets and Our Times. Nihil Obstat: L. Arvin. Imprimatur: Philip G. Scher, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno, November 15, 1941. Reprint 1974, TAN Books, Rockford (IL), p. 143).

Monk Hilarion (d. 1476): The people of the Peninsula of Europe will suffer by unnecessary wars until the Holy Man comes (Culleton, p. 137).

Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser (Born in the 17th century, in Germany). “The fifth period of the Church, which began circa 1520, will end with the arrival of the Holy Pope and of the powerful Monarch who is called “Help From God” because he will restore everything [in Christ]…The fifth period is one of affliction, humiliation, and poverty for the Church. Jesus Christ will purify His people…He will also afflict and weaken the Latin Church with many heresies (Dupont, Yves. Catholic Prophecy: The Coming Chastisement. TAN Books, Rockford (IL), 1973, p.38)

Werdin d’ Otrante (13th century): “The Great Monarch and the Great Pope will precede Antichrist…All the sects will vanish. The capital of the world will fall…The Great Monarch will come and restore peace and the Pope will share in the victory.” (Connor, Edward. Prophecy for Today. Imprimatur + A.J. Willinger, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno; Reprint: Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford (IL), 1984, p. 33)

Brother Louis Rocco (19th century): “Terrible wars will rage all over Europe. God has long been patient with the corruption of morals; half of mankind He will destroy. Russia will witness many outrages. Great cities and small towns alike will be destroyed in a bloody revolution that will cause the death of half the population. In Istanbul (Constantinople) the Cross will replace the half-moon of Islamism, and Jerusalem will be the seat of a King. The southern Slavs will form a great Catholic Empire and drive out of Europe the Turks (Mohammedans), who will withdraw to North Africa and subsequently embrace the Catholic faith.” (Dupont, p.76)

Brother Louis Rocco (19th century): All over Europe there will rage terrible civil wars…The German sections of Austria will join Germany, so will also the commercial cities of Belgium and Switzerland. A Catholic descendant of a German imperial house will rule a united Germany with peace, prosperity and great power, for God will be with this sovereign (the Great Monarch?) (Culleton, p. 195).

John of the Cleft Rock (1340): The White Eagle (Great Monarch), by order of the Archangel Michael, will drive crescent from Europe where none but Christians will remain–he himself will rule from Constantinople. An era of peace and prosperity will begin for the world. There will no longer be Protestants {there were no “Protestants” then and author Connor of that book suggests that perhaps this word should have been translated as heretics} or schismatics…God will raise up a holy Pope (Connor, pp. 33-34)

Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser (died 1658):…”Are we not to fear, during this period, that the Mohammedans will come again, working out their sinister schemes against the Latin Church? (Dupont, p.39).

“When everything has been ruined by war; when Catholics are hard pressed by traitorous co-religionists and heretics; when the Church and her servants are denied their rights, the monarchies have been abolished and their rulers murdered…then the hand of Almighty God will work a marvelous change, something apparently impossible according to human understanding. There will rise a valiant monarch anointed by God. He will be a Catholic, a descendant of Louis IX, (yet) a descendant of an ancient imperial German family, born in exile. He will rule supreme in temporal matters. The Pope will rule supreme in spiritual matters at the same time. Persecution will cease and justice shall reign. Religion seems to be oppressed, but by the changes of entire kingdoms it will be made more firm.

“He will root out false doctrines and destroy the rule of the Moslemism. His dominion will extend from the East to the West. All nations will adore God their Lord according to Catholic teaching. There will be many wise and just men. The people will love justice, and peace will reign over the whole earth, for divine power will bind Satan for many years until the coming of the Son of Perdition.

“The reign of the Great Ruler may be compared with that of Caesar Augustus, who became Emperor after his victory over his enemies, thereby giving peace to the world–also with the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great, who was sent by God, after severe persecutions, to deliver both the Church and State. By his victories on water and land he brought the Roman empire under subjection, which he then ruled in peace…

“The Great Monarch will have the special help of God and be unconquerable.

“The Fifth Epoch of time dates from the reign of Charles V until the reign of the Great Monarch.

“The Sixth Epoch from the Great Monarch until Antichrist. This Sixth Epoch of the Church–’the time of consolation’–begins with the Holy Pope and the Powerful Emperor, and terminates with the reign of Antichrist. This will be an age of solace, wherein God will console His church after the many mortifications and afflictions she had endured in the Fifth period, for all nations will be brought to the unity of the true Catholic Faith.” (Connor, pp.35-36)

Hence, many Catholics are awaiting a time when some type of trouble starts in France and elsewhere in Europe–and when their Great Monarch (who we in the Living Church of God would identify with the King of the North and Beast of Revelation 13), will rise up and restore order.

While I do not believe that these Catholic prophecies are inspired by God, the fact is that if there is much civil unrest in Europe, I do believe that the Europeans will rise up and turn to one or more military leaders to deal with it.

And the Bible shows that a military leader (sometimes called the King of the North) will be rising up soon to fulfill the role of the prophesied Beast.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? What is ahead for Europe?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States?
Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? What does the Bible say?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? When does the six thousand years of human rule end?
Do Certain Catholic Prophecies About Antichrist Warn Against Jesus? Will the final “Anti-Christ” be Jewish, insist on Saturday, be opposed to the trinity, and bring in the millennium? Catholic writings indicate this, but what does the Bible show?
End of Mayan Calendar 2012–Might 2012 Mean Something? There is a Mayan calendar prediction for change in 2012. 2012 changes were also centuries ago predicted by the Hopi Native Americans (the Hindus may have some predictions for the next decade as well). Do these Mayan/Hindu/Hopi prophecies have any value? Why might Satan have inspired this date? Does the Dresden codex show destruction of the earth by flood? Can the great tribulation start before 2012?
Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2009, 2010, or 2011? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord?

Poland is reckoned to be a small not terribly important nation, that is more often than not a victim of more powerful nations, and when Russia and Germany are neighbours, it is not difficult to see why that may be the case. But for a long time, it was Poland that was the powerful nation. Whilst Germany was an incoherent collection of duchies, principalities, small kingdoms, city states and citizen run cantons, Russia was a collection of weak and backward tsardoms, prey to the tyrannical Golden Horde and it’s heirs, whilst in the middle was a very large, powerful and wealthy Polish empire, made up of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It had an odd constitution, and by odd I mean interesting, the Polish aristocracy, the landowners all had a say in the Polish parliament, they elected their king from among their own number, who was elected for life and all votes had to be unanimous, a bit better than our modern-day ‘demonocracies’, Poland has since it’s baptism, always been a fiercely Christian nation, and their God has delivered them on more than one occasion.

The Poles have also been God’s instrument on earth on a few occasions, namely against the Turk and the Bolshevik, the following videos are very good, The first one describes the real life ‘Battle of the Pelannor Field‘ not outside Minas Tirith, but Vienna, and with the Poles as the heroic Rohirim storming into battle, coming from the north to the rescue of their Christian brothers. This battle was decisive, it ended the Turkish dream of dominion over all of Europe, it exposed the perfidity of the loathsome Louis XIV who used this to make gains in the west, and it proved the beginning of the Hapsburg liberation of Hungary.

The second video, is a summary of the Polish war and defeat of the demonic Bolshevik armies that were swarming over the corpse of the murdered Russian Empire, murdering, plundering and destroying all the way. The Poles like the Finns later on took on the Trotskyite mercenaries and fought a valiant fight, protecting Europe, which, by the way, stood by as this happened.

So Poland is not just a small European country like Slovenia or Estonia, it is one of the mighty nations of Christendom, and one we owe much to.

I defy anyone to watch these videos and not feel something stir in their hearts, to see Christian men fight valiantly in the cause of right, to see Christian kings lead their men, not as the modern ‘demonocratic’ politician does, by lies and deceit, but from the front, in a righteous war, against the forces of darkness, not for money, but for survival and glory. How it stirs the soul to see an enemy openly declaring war, instead of the modern lurking parasites in our modern governments, media and high finance who undermine us from within. How refreshing to see a man worth following!

Veni, vidi, Deus vicit

need to have two pages of notes on this article to turn in for full credit.

riggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, World War I began in August 1914 when Germany invaded Belgium and France. On the Eastern Front, Russia agreed to stop fighting late in 1917 following the Russian Revolution. The Western Front was stalemated in trench warfare for three-and-a-half years before the United States intervened in 1917 on the side of the Allies.

Several events led to U.S. intervention: the sinking of the Lusitania, a British passenger liner; unrestricted German submarine warfare; and the Zimmerman note, which revealed a German plot to provoke Mexico to war against the United States.

Consequences
1. Nearly 10 million soldiers died and about 21 million were wounded. U.S. deaths totaled 116,516.

2. Four empires collapsed: the Russian Empire in 1917, the German and the Austro-Hungarian in 1918, and the Ottoman in 1922.

3. Independent republics were formed in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Turkey.

4. Most Arab lands that had been part of the Ottoman Empire came under the control of Britain and France.

5. The Bolsheviks took power in Russia.

6. Under the peace settlement, Germany was required to pay reparations eventually set at $33 billion; accept responsibility for the war; cede territory to Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, and Poland; give up its overseas colonies; and accept an allied military force on the west bank of the Rhine River for 15 years.

Background

World War I killed more people–9 million combatants and 5 million civilians–and cost more money–$186 billion in direct costs and another $151 billion in indirect costs–than any previous war in history. Politically, it resulted in the downfall of four empires and contributed to the Bolshevik rise to power in Russia in 1917 and the triumph of fascism in Italy in 1922. The war allowed the United States to become the world’s leading creditor and industrial power. Its consequences included the mass murder of Armenians in Turkey and an influenza epidemic that killed over 25 million people worldwide.

In the French village of Chatel-Cherhery stands a memorial that describes the exploits of one of America’s World War I soldiers. “Armed with a rifle and pistol,” the monument reads, “…he silenced a German battalion of 35 machine guns, killed 25 enemy soldiers and captured 132.”

His name was Alvin Cullum York. He was born in a one-room log cabin in rural Fentress County, in the Cumberland Mountains of northern Tennessee. Even today, his home town of Pall Mall has only a single paved road. The third of 11 children, his father died when he was a boy.

When he was 27, York abandoned his hard-drinking, brawling ways and joined a fundamentalist church. A pacifist and a church elder, he registered for the military draft as a conscientious objector. During basic training, he went home to struggle with his conscience and ultimately decided that it was God’s will that he fight. On October 8, 1918, York, then a corporal, single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers and forced a German commander to order the rest of the battalion to surrender. Hollywood made his exploits into a 1941 movie entitled Sgt. York, starring Gary Cooper.

The real-life man lived a simple life. After the war, he turned down offers to promote products that would have earned him $500,000. He returned to Pall Mall and worked as a blacksmith. He used the royalties he earned from the film to found a high school in Jamestown, Tenn.

A recent list of the hundred most important news stories of the twentieth century ranked the onset of World War I eighth. This is a great error. Just about everything that happened in the remainder of the century was in one way or another a result of World War I, including the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, World War II, the Holocaust, and the development of the atomic bomb. The Great Depression, the Cold War, and the collapse of European colonialism can also be traced, at least indirectly, to the First World War.

World War I killed more people–more than 9 million soldiers, sailors, and flyers and another 5 million civilians–involved more countries–28–and cost more money–$186 billion in direct costs and another $151 billion in indirect costs–than any previous war in history. It was the first war to use airplanes, tanks, long range artillery, submarines, and poison gas. It left at least 7 million men permanently disabled.

World War I probably had more far-reaching consequences than any other proceeding war. Politically, it resulted in the downfall of four monarchies–in Russia in 1917, in Austria-Hungary and Germany in 1918, and in Turkey in 1922. It contributed to the Bolshevik rise to power in Russia in 1917 and the triumph of fascism in Italy in 1922. It ignited colonial revolts in the Middle East and in Southeast Asia.

Economically, the war severely disrupted the European economies and allowed the United States to become the world’s leading creditor and industrial power. The war also brought vast social consequences, including the mass murder of Armenians in Turkey and an influenza epidemic that killed over 25 million people worldwide.

Few events better reveal the utter unpredictability of the future. At the dawn of the 20th century, most Europeans looked forward to a future of peace and prosperity. Europe had not fought a major war for 100 years. But a belief in human progress was shattered by World War I, a war few wanted or expected. At any point during the five weeks leading up to the outbreak of fighting the conflict might have been averted. World War I was a product of miscalculation, misunderstanding, and miscommunication.

No one expected a war of the magnitude or duration of World War I. At first the armies relied on outdated methods of communication, such as carrier pigeons. The great powers mobilized more than a million horses. But by the time the conflict was over, tanks, submarines, airplane-dropped bombs, machine guns, and poison gas had transformed the nature of modern warfare. In 1918, the Germans fired shells containing both tear gas and lethal chlorine. The tear gas forced the British to remove their gas masks; the chlorine then scarred their faces and killed them.

In a single day at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, 100,000 British troops plodded across no man’s land into steady machine-gun fire from German trenches a few yards away. Some 60,000 were killed or wounded. At the end of the battle, 419,654 British men were killed, missing, or wounded.

Four years of war killed a million troops from the British Empire, 1.5 million troops from the Hapsburg Empire, 1.7 million French troops, 1.7 million Russians, and 2 million German troops. The war left a legacy of bitterness that contributed to World War II twenty-one years later.

On June 28, 1914, a car carrying Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the imperial Hapsburg throne, made a wrong turn. As the car came to a halt and tried to turn around, a nervous teenager approached from a coffee house, pulled out a revolver, and shot twice. Within an hour, the Archduke and his wife were dead.

Gavrilo Princip, the 19-year-old assassin, was a Bosnian nationalist who opposed the domination of the Balkans by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He had received his weapon from a secret society known as the “Black Hand,” which was clandestinely controlled by the government of Serbia. Princip would die of mistreatment in an Austrian prison in 1918.

The assassination provoked outrage in Austria-Hungary, which wanted to punish Serbia for the assassination and intimidate other minority groups whose independence struggles threatened the empire’s stability. The assassination of the archduke triggered a series of events that would lead five weeks later to the outbreak of World War I. When the conflict was over, eleven million people had been killed, four powerful European empires had been overthrown, and the seeds of World War II and the Cold War had been planted.

A complicated system of military alliances transformed the Balkan crisis into a full-scale European war. Recognizing that any action it took against Serbia would create an international incident, Austria asked for Germany’s diplomatic and military support. Meanwhile, Russia, fearful of Austrian and German expansion into the Balkans, strongly supported the Serbs and began to mobilize its army.

This move made Germany’s leadership fear encirclement by Russia and France. Germany sent an ultimatum to France, asking it to declare its neutrality in the event of a conflict between Russia and Germany. The French, obligated by treaty to support Russia and still bitter over their defeat by Prussia in 1871, refused. When Russia failed to demobilize its forces, the German Kaiser agreed to war.

World War I caught most people by surprise. Lulled by a century of peace (Europeans had not seen a large-scale war since the defeat of Napoleon in 1815), many observers had come to regard armed conflict as a relic of the past, rendered unthinkable by human progress. World War I shattered these dreams, demonstrating that death and destruction had not yet been banished from human affairs.

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI~AP NEWS

A Russian-made Iranian passenger plane carrying nearly 170 people crashed shortly after takeoff Wednesday, smashing into a field northwest of the capital and shattering to pieces. State television said all on board were killed.

The plane’s tail burst into flames in the air and the aircraft circled as if looking for a place to land before it crashed, an unidentified witness told the semi-official ISNA news agency.

The impact gouged a deep trench in the dirt field, which was littered with smoking wreckage and body parts, according to photos from the scene. Footage aired on state TV showed a large chunk of a wing, but much of the wreckage appeared to be in small shreds, and emergency workers and witnesses picked around the shredded metal for bodies and flight data recorders to determine the cause of the crash.

The Caspian Airlines Tupolev jet had taken off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport Wednesday and was headed to the Armenian capital Yerevan. It crashed about 16 minutes after takeoff near the village of Jannat Abad outside the city of Qazvin, around 75 miles northwest of Tehran, civil aviation spokesman Reza Jaafarzadeh told state media.

At Yerevan’s airport, Tina Karapetian, 45, said she had been waiting for her sister and the sister’s 6- and 11-year-old sons, who were due on the flight. “What will I do without them?” she said, weeping, before she collapsed to the floor.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but Iran has frequent crashes that are blamed on poor maintenance of its aging fleet. Hossein Ayaznia, an aviation police official, said emergency workers were searching for the plane’s black box.

The deputy chairman of Armenia’s civil aviation authority Arsen Pogosian told reporters in Yerevan there were 154 passengers and 15 crewmembers on board the TU-154M. Earlier, Jaafarzadeh had put the number at 153 passengers and 15 crew, and the reason for the discrepancy was not immediately known.