August 1914 was a descent into hell. May 1945 was an escape from hell. July 2015, the month of a surreal Greek referendum that had no clear question and an answer whose meaning is disputable, will go down in history as a continuation of hell — for Greece, and for Europe.

Policy makers in some eurozone capitals will shed crocodile tears and explain the No vote as a regrettable, but voluntary act of Greek self-exclusion from Europe’s monetary union. They will unfold a prepared narrative according to which Greece’s European creditors — a more accurate term than allies or partners — bear no blame whatsoever for this debacle.

Secretly, or not so secretly, some will relish getting the head of Alexis Tsipras, Greece’s radical leftist premier, served to them on a platter. But the question to which they will have no convincing answer is what the Greek disaster implies for the cause of European unity or the stability of the Balkans.