II. Immediate Cause A . June 28, 1914, Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWarchduke.htm
Jan 19, 2016
II. Immediate Cause
A . June 28, 1914, Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWarchduke.htm
B. Germany gives Austria-Hungary a "blank check" to move against Serbia.
http://www.worldwar1.com/photos/gkais.jpg
Kaiser Wilhem II of GermanyKaiser Wilhem II with his uncle, King Edward VII of Great Britain
Kaiser Wilhelm II with his cousin, Czar Nicholas II of Russia
C. The ultimatum - July 23, 1914, ordered Serbia to end all anti-Austrian activities and let Austria handle the investigation of Ferdinand's murder, deliberately making the ultimatum too harsh to accept
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/images/scrpbk/scrpbk_observer_josef.jpg
Austrian-Hungary Emperor Franz Joseph
D. The start of war
1. July 28, 1914 Austria declared war on Serbia
2. Sets of a chain reaction - WWI began August 4, 1914
III. The Course of the War (1914-1916)
A. The Allies and the Central Powers
1.Allies - France, Britain, and Russia
2.Central Powers- Austria-Hungary and Germany a. Italy remained neutral at first and then joined the allies in 1915
b. Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers
B. The Western Front
1.The German Attack
a. The Schlieffen Plan - The plan called for Germans to invade France through Belgium and after (what planners believed would be a quick) victory send the troops on trains to the
Eastern front to fight the Russians
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/mowbray/gw-graphics/west1914.jpg
2.Trench warfare - instead of a quick victory battle became a war of attrition -- German advance halted at Ypres
3.New weapons;
4.Stalemate
http://library.thinkquest.org/C001396/media/emain.htm
C. The Eastern Front
1.early victories
2.Russian military effort
degenerated until it
collapsed.
3.Russian revolution
forced into surrender
March 1918 –
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
D. American neutrality-favoring Allies
1. propaganda
2. U-Boats interference
with shipping - sinking of
the Lusitania
3. economic motives
a. American banks lent
the Allies over $3 billion
b.Trade with Allies worth
$2.4 billion a year
British propaganda poster illustrating the sinking of the 'Lusitania' by the Germans in 1915. National Library of Scotland, War Posters (1920) R.29.a