The Great WarWorld War 1World War 1 began on July of 1914 and ended November of 1918. The war was fought between the Allied powers and Central powers. The Allied powers were Britain, France and Russia. Meanwhile, the Central powers Austria-Hungary, Germany, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. Before this global fight, it all began with the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand
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BEFORE THE WAR...
During the late 1800s political ideologies of militarism, nationalism, imperialism and alliances began to rise.
Militarism
Many European countries were dominated, within the governments,
with military leaders and their ideals. As a result, this influenced domestic policies and increased spending on military and naval spending. Militarism gave way to the arms race, which began to give way to new technology for the military. It also sparked that war was considered the best way to resolve conflicts, rather than negotiation. Military power was considered a measure of imperial and national strength. Nationalism, imperialism and militarism were intertwined with each other during this period. |
Nationalism
Nationalism is an extreme form of patriotism. Before the war, Europeans believed strongly in the economic, military and cultural domination of their country. The people's confidence in their country was fueled by propaganda, such as press reports and speeches. It gave the impression that their military and government were the most powerful, fair and without blame for conflicts.
With that, nationalist ideas portrayed rival countries as evil, deceitful and uncivilized nations. Also, that their nation was continuously under threat of imperialism from rival nations. If war to happen, victory would always prevail. |
Imperialism
This was a system, in which, powerful nation controls and exploits colonies. The country would establish control through war and military conquest. A conquered territory would be considered claimed as a colony. Colonies are governed by the imperial nation (the country that conquered that territory) and through a puppet government. To maintain power, order, prevention of uprising and defend against rival nations- military presence are stationed within the colony. The main purpose for a colony is for economy. Imperial power would benefit through resources, cheap labor and trading ports. Great Britain and France had many colonies throughout Asia and Africa, this motivated Germany and Italy to try and build a colonial empire. This global competition for land started many conflicts and confrontations in many places.
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Alliances
Nations of Europe began to create alliances with each other in hope that it would promote peace. Each country would be protected by each other in case of war. However, the dangers of the alliances started when a conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia began, which eventually led to World War 1. During the summer of 1914, two alliances were going against each other, the Triple Alliance, which was composed of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, and the Triple Entente, which was composed of Britain, France, and Russia.
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Leading Into The Great War...
Serbian nationalists had turned to the idea of liberating the South Slavs of Austria-Hungary. It was believed that the liberation would only come through the death of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph. During Ferdinand's visit to Bosnia on tour of a military inspection, on June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand and his wife was shot dead by a Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip. Princip was apart of the Black Hand, which was a group that was dedicated to creating a greater Serbia that included Bosnia.
Until July 23... Austria-Hungary began negotiation with their Ally, Germany, to have insurance that their alliance would remain. The "Blank Check" was a confirmation from Germany that they would assist Austria-Hungary if Russia were to mobilize. _______ July 23, 1914: An ultimatum was issued to Serbia by Austria. It was intended that the ultimatum were to be harsh to result in Serbia rejecting it and enabling a war. During this time Russia had declared itself to be on preparatory to war _______ July 25, 1914: Serbia rejected the ultimatum July 28, 1914: War was declared on Serbia, even though initially there were no fighting. Two days later, Russia exited the preparatory to war and mobilized. Germany warned Russia to demobilize. August 1, 1914: France mobilized to support Russia, Germany mobilized and declared war on Russia. August 3, 1914: Germany was declared on France. Germany invaded Belgium through the Schlieffan Plan. August 4, 1914, Great Britain issued an ultimatum to Germany, and Germany did not listen and Great Britain declared war on Germany. Soon to come the United States, Japan, Ottoman Empire and Italy would join the war. The majority of the fighting came from Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Serbia, France, and Great Britain. |