The First World War, also known as the Great War, began in 1914 between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. There were multiple factors that led to the war. Militarism, which is the glorification of military power and readiness for war, was a leading factor, specifically in Germany. The German Power caused Britain, France, and Russia to form the Triple Entente as protection against Germany. This also led to Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy forming the Triple Alliance. These alliances were another factor leading to the war due to them turning small disputes into large scale ones. Imperialism was the third factor due to the fact that it caused Europe to compete for colonies which caused tension. Colonies would provide a large amount of soldiers for the nations. The fourth and final factor that led to the war is nationalism, which is devotion to one’s nation. This caused more competition between Europe’s nations. Besides the factors previously mentioned, there were several events causing the Great War. The annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina would be the event that got the ball rolling. Serbia wanted to create and independent Slavic nation but Austria-Hungary annexed the area. This created animosity between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. The following event was the assassination of the archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was the next to succeed the throne of Austria. While visiting the annexed land, he and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip. Serbia was then given an ultimatum, which was a list of ten demands they were to follow. Two of the demands were purposely created to start war. Serbia declined these demands and Austria now had an excuse to declare war. Russia, being in an alliance with Serbia, sent soldiers to the border for back up. The mobilization of Russian soldiers led Germany to believe it was a declaration of war. This became the final event leading to the war.
As the Great War began, in order to avoid a two front war, Germany created the Schlieffen Plan. The plan was to defeat France on the west and rush eastward to defeat Russia. Instead this only caused Germany to declare war on both France and Germany, creating the Western and Eastern fronts. On the Western front, Germany planned to outflank French armies and decided to go through Belgium, which was a neutral nation. The invasion of Belgium angered Britain, who then joined the war against Germany. The nations of Britain, France, Russia, and now Italy became known as the Allies. The opposing forces such as Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire became the Central Powers. War on the Western front was stagnant. The immobile trench warfare made it difficult to advance on the enemy and was also the cause of war in a small area. This type of warfare was not only unproductive but also caused disease and misery for the soldiers. The Eastern front on the other hand was far more mobile. There were attacks and counter attacks going back and forth between the eastern armies. Russia was only kept in the war because of the provisional government. After the Bolsheviks won popularity Russia pulled out of the war, which allowed Germany to focus on the west and Austria-Hungary focused on Serbia. If I were to choose a front to fight in I would choose the Eastern front. It was not slow-moving like the Western front nor did it last as long. As the war continued supplies ran scarce and the nations involved needed all the resources they can muster, this type of war is known as total warfare. The governments of the nations began a rationing system, in which they limited the amount of goods people could buy. The lack of supplies in Russia caused the Allies to come up with the Gallipoli Campaign. This was a plan to send supplies to Russia but was unsuccessful. On the western front Germany advanced to seize Paris was met by American soldiers.
As the war grew on, it also spread to nations outside of Europe. Australia and New Zealand both joined the war and
Ronald Schaffer’s America in the Great War gives new insights into World War I. The book gave historical accounts about the war that other books negated to included. The thesis that Schaffer tries to prove that the Great War was the start of the American welfare state and the beginning of “big” government. America in the Great War was structured in chronological order of the war, from America’s mobilization to the actual fighting. What the book did not include is a detail account…
2 15 September 2014 Dr. Fred Freres The Great War On July 28, 1914 a seemingly small war broke out between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, but soon because of treaties written obligating Germany, Russia, Great Britain, and France to help defend said countries this conflict was blown to massive proportions. In fact, almost everything that subsequently happened occurred because of World War I: the Great Depression, World War II, the Holocaust, the Cold War, and the collapse of empires (Mintz). We…
Samantha Milligan Mr. Robinson English IV 23 April 2014 Brave New World My utopian society is name Wonder World is a perfect utopian society because everyone has a right to explore and learn different things in the world. The type of government that the Wonder World has is a democracy. A democracy is a perfect government for the Wonder World because the citizens’ rights are not taken away from the government and the government is not too strong to become a dictatorship. In the Wonder World…
The Great Sioux War of 1876 By 1876, gold had been discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The gold was found on Sioux land, and this region was considered sacred to the Lakota Sioux Indians. The he land was to be protected and respected by the United States Army, because of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 18681, but the Army could not keep miners off the Sioux ground, which led to the increase of Sioux grievances towards the Americans; some grievances that are still taken offense to today…
America and the Great War John F Bailey Hist 405 Devry University 10/15/2012 Introduction World War I (WWI) was a worldwide war concentrated in Europe that initiated on July 28, 1914 and ended roughly after four years on November 11, 1918. It is called the World War since it involved all the world's great powers which gathered in two opposing coalitions: the Allies were Britain, France and Russia, the second collation was the Central Powers that were an Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy…
1. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” and “war on poverty” helped eliminate injustice and poverty, which made a life changing positive impact on the Mexican Americans. They established job-traiing programs (MDTA), Job Corps, Head Start, Upward Bound, and Volunteers in service to America (VISTA). In the Article “Goodbye America: The Chicano in the 1960’s, the text states “ Congress allocated $1.6 billion annually to eliminate poverty-an amount that, considering the 3-40 million poor living…
The First World War was the first 'total war' - the whole nation had to be mobilised to fight. Men joined the army while women took over their jobs, but was this change lasting or a temporary effect of total war? The population at home - the basics People in Britain were affected by six main ways: Recruitment - there was a huge poster campaign to get people to join up, and the government had to introduce conscription [Conscription: Compulsory enrolment in the armed forces. ] in 1916. Conscientious…
Nina Prescott WWI Letter AP World History 01-25-15 To whom this may concern, Life in the Great War is not at all what people say it to be. Romantic? Not even. Bombs exploding every minute, decapitating limbs from bodies, bullets speed back and forth, promising certain death, all while the steady rumble of armed tanks rolling across No Man’s Land fill the air. We spend our days hiding in this trench. Every day, we survive on tea and biscuits, but imagine eating with dead bodies’ right under your…
The Great Depression and the Second World War Molly Bernstein 5/30/07 Dear Diary, I am one of the few, the chosen ones f this country. I represent my beloved state in the United States of America’s house of representative. And, although there are few of us, I do my job with pride and the utmost amount of diligence. I say I am one of the chosen few because, today, as I look back upon recent years, I cannot help but realize how fortunate I have been. Throughout this horrid depression and the…
Americans didn’t want to partake in the Great War. Most Americans supported Woodrow Wilson’s decision to make an official declaration of neutrality in August 4, 1914. Most American citizens believed that National security wouldn’t be affected by the wars outcome. Americans were mindful of Washington’s Farewell address, which stressed isolation to not get dragged into allies wars. Wilson asked his countrymen to be impartial “in thought as well as action”. Although the majority wanted to abstain from…