TODAY sees the start of an inquiry in Southampton that has been a century in the making (see page 10).

As this paper reports, Southampton University will host what is being seen as the most comprehensive conference debate on what actually caused the outbreak of the First World War.

Experts from all over Europe will gather in the city to discuss the events that led up to the start of that terrible conflict.

The timing is no accident, of course.

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the shooting of the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajavo – the incident that has for a long time been seen as the spark that ignited the conflagration that killed millions.

That we still do not fully understand what caused the conflict and if it could have been avoided is startling, and should be of interest to us today. Our world is far from being free of conflict and there are some who fear we could sleepwalk into another war if we do not understand the mistakes of the past.

Whether the Southampton conference will come to any firm conclusions is debatable. That there is still a need to understand what happened all those years ago should be obvious.