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The excuse
The First World War broke out precisely in the Balkans. On June 28, 1914, the heir of Austria-Hungary, Francis Ferdinand, was assassinated in Sarajevo (the Bosnian capital) by a Serbian-Bosnian terrorist, Gavrilo Princip. Immediately Austria blamed Serbia, sent an ultimatum, and finally declared the war. In support of Serbia, Russia ordered a general mobilization against Austria and Germany, and consequently Germany declared war on Russia (1 August) and France (3 August), and invaded Belgium in -
1. The ambitions of the new emperor, William II
The ambitions of the EmperorChancellor Otto von Bismarck had kept German supremacy on Europe safe, thanks to his diplomatic ability to isolate France to maintain a peaceful relationship with Great Britain, and to avoid a conflict with Russia. The ambitions of the new emperor, William II, led to the end of this international political balance. -
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The First World War and the peace settlement
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2. hostile alliances
A system of hostile alliances was consolidated. On the one hand, the Central Powers: Germany tightened its traditional links with Austria-Hungary, and Italy (as a reaction against the French occupation of Tunisia, one of its colonial objectives) joined them in the Triple Alliance. On the other hand, the Allies were France, Russia (looking for support against Austria and Germany) and Great Britain: they formed the Triple Entente. The reasons for this alignment can be summarized as follows: -Nati -
The Eastern Front: Russia invaded Eastern Prussia
Russia invaded Eastern Prussia, but was soon defeated by the German army, which helped Austria to reject tsarist troops; actually Germany penetrated deeply into Russian territory, while Serbia and Romania were occupied. The Ottoman Empire entered the war on August on the side of Germany. -
The war: The Western front.
Germany was following the Schlieffen Plan, according to which the German army needed a quick defeat of France in order to move afterwards against Russia (the problems of deployment and transportation of the tsarist troops were well known). As a matter of fact the Schlieffen Plan failed, and the German invasion was stopped 32 km from Paris at the battle of the Marne (September). A double line of trenches was dug from the English Channel to Switzerland, -
Russian defeat: the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive
The Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive during World War I started as a minor German offensive to help the Austro-Hungarians in the south but ended with the total collapse of the Russian army. This helped the opposition to the tsarist government, and eventually finished in the October revolution. The first decision of the Bolshevik government was to get Russia out of the war. The treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918 recognized the independence of Finland and renounced to Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. -
Italy enters the war
ItalyItaly entered the war against the Central Powers in 1915 (as it was eager to obtain Libya from the Ottomans and because of the Allies promise of Austrian territories), but its army did not represent a significant advantage to the Allies. -
Failing to break the front: Verdun and Somme
Both the German and Allied armies tried to break the deadlock of the trenches through massive attacks concentrated in specific points. One of them was the battle of Verdun, a German assault, another one the battle of the Somme, an Anglo-French initiative. Both failed in 1916 with thousands casualties. -
The United States Enter the war
Britain's secret Royal Navy service discoveres that Germany had proposed Mexico to join the war against the USA. In return, the Germans would help Mexico recover the territories of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona that Mexico lost during the Mexican-American War 70 years earlier. -
Mutinies in the French Army
The French troops had had a lot of dessertions. On 27 May, those desertions turned to mutiny. Up to 30,000 soldiers left the front line and reserve trenches and went to the rear. Even in regiments where there was direct confrontation. The men did not harm their officers; they just refused to return to the trenches. Military authorities sentenced to death 554 men and many others were sentenced to penal servitude. -
Austria's talks of peace
In 1917, Emperor Charles I of Austria secretly attempted separate peace negotiations with Clemenceau, with his wife's brother Sixtus in Belgium as an intermediary, without the knowledge of Germany. It was a failure and this was the beginning of the end of the monarchy. -
The end of the war and the peace settlement
The American entry into the war on the Allies side was decisive for the final defeat of the Central Powers. The USA came into war because their strong links with Great Britain.
American industrial power and fresh troops were able to break all war fronts against the Central Powers. Bulgaria, the Ottomans, and Austria capitulated, and finally Germany accepted an armistice on 11 November 1918.
