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Introduction The First World War, also known as The Great War, The War to End All Wars, and World War I (abbreviated WWI) was a global military conflict that took place between 1914 and 1918. It was a total war, which left ten million dead and shaped the modern world. Europe in 1914 was a dangerous place. The five Great Powers were divided into two strong and powerful alliances. They were about to fight each other in the most awful war the world has ever known.
To understand how this happened, we must go back to 1879. In 1879 Germany quarrelled with Russia. Germany was worried that Russia would attack, and so agreed with Austria that the tow countries would help each other if either were attacked. Three years later, Italy joined them, and the Triple Alliance was formed. The alliance upset France and Russia. In 1892, they agreed to help each other if either was attacked.
Great Britain was worried about the situation in Europe and began to look for an ally. In 1904 Britain signed, an agreement with France called the Entente Cordiale. Three years later Britain made similar agreement with Russia. The alliance between Britain, France and Russia was known as the Triple Entente. By 1907 Europe was divided into two sets of alliances, the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. The countries in both alliances were well armed and powerful.
It only needed one flashpoint for the war to break out. This flashpoint happened in the Balkans. Much of the fighting in World War I took place along the Western Front, running from the North Sea to the border of Switzerland. On the Eastern Front, the vast eastern plains and limited rail network prevented a trench warfare stalemate from developing, although the scale of the conflict was just as large. Hostilities also occurred on and under the sea and for the first time from the air. More than 9 million soldiers died on the various battlefields, and nearly that many more in the participating countries' home fronts because of food shortages and genocide committed under the cover of various civil wars and internal conflicts.
In-fact, more people died after the war than during the war. The war caused the disintegration of four empires: the Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman, and Russian. Germany lost its overseas empire, and new states such as Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia were created. The causes of World War 1 The causes of WWI can be divided into two sets. Long term causes and Short term causes. Short term causes: The flashpoint or the trigger of WWI, was the Murder in Sarajevo. 28 June 1914 was a warm and sunny day.
It was the national Day of the Serbian people; it was also the wedding anniversary of Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Duchess Sophie were paying an official visit to the town of Sarajevo, in the province of Bosnia. Lurking amongst the crowds who came to cheer were students intent on murder. Suddenly one of them threw a bomb at the royal car.
The bomb exploded in the road, injuring several people. Franz Ferdinand was furious. When he reached the town hall he shouted angrily at the mayor and decided to cancel the visit immediately. He wanted to visit the injured, and then go home. On the drive back to the station the chauffer took the wrong turning and stopped the car to reverse. One of the rebel students, Gavrilo Princip, was walking past.
He aimed his pistol and fired at the royal couple. By 11. 30 pm, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were dead. Six weeks Europe erupted into war. This was a short-term cause because it happened and that was it. it hadnt been something that had been going one for ages.
It was not expected, and was unknown unlike most of the long-term causes. There were some mistakes in this visit, why did the royal couple had an open top car? It was so easy for the murderer just to jump in and stab the royal couple or shoot them as it happened. They should have had a person to tell them the way around the ton.
Taking the wrong turn is just a big mistake. Long term causes: There were many long term causes. The Balkans: Turkey had once ruled the Balkans. Turkey became very weak in the nineteenth century. Slav people living in the Balkans gradually drove out their hated Turkish rulers. New Slav nations Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria - were set up.
Austria-Hungary was afraid that Slavs living in Bosnia and other Balkan States within the Austria-Hungarian Empire would break away and join Serbia. This would mean the collapse of the Empire. To prevent this, Austria-Hungary wanted to control the Balkans. Russia desperately needed to use ports on the Mediterranean Sea. This would make trade easier. Russia also needed to be able to sail its war ships out of the Black Sea in times of trouble.
Russia needed to control the Balkans. Germany needed oil for their industries. The Kaiser wanted to build a railway between Berlin and Baghdad where there were rich oil fields. This railway would have to pass through the Balkans.
Germany needed the Balkans to be friendly. Gavrilo Princip was a member of the Black Hand a gang dedicated to uniting all Slav people in the Balkans. Austria believed the Serbian government supported the Black Hand. The time had come to teach Serbia a lesson. MAIN causes M: Militarism A: Alliance I: Imperialism N: Nationalism Militarism: Militarism means that the army and military forces are given a high profile by the government.
The growing European divide had led to an arms race between the main countries. The armies of both France and Germany had more than doubled between 1870 and 1914 and there was fierce competition between Britain and Germany for mastery of the seas. The British had introduced the 'Dreadnought', an effective battleship, in 1906. The Germans soon followed suit introducing their own battleships. The German, Von Schlieffen also drew up a plan of action that involved attacking France through Belgium if Russia made an attack on Germany. The map below shows how the plan was to work.
Alliance: An alliance is an agreement made between two or more countries to give each other help if it is needed. When an alliance is signed, those countries become known as Allies. A number of alliances had been signed by countries between the years 1879 and 1914. These were important because they meant that some countries had no option but to declare war if one of their allies declared war first. Imperialism: Imperialism is when a country takes over new lands or countries and makes them subject to their rule. By 1900, the British Empire extended over five continents and France had control of large areas of Africa.
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