The Road to the Great War

THE ROAD TO THE GREAT WAR

M.A.I.N.Causes of the War

MILITARISM Glorification of the

military1.Arms race and the

development of large armies and navies

2.Romantic view of War3.Harder to use diplomacy

French Calvary going to front, Paris, August 2, 1914

British Troops mobilizing

1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1914

94 130 154 268 289 398

Total Defense Expenditures for the Great Powers [Ger., A-H, It., Fr., Br., Rus.] in millions of £s.

1910-14 Increase in Defense Spending

France 10%Britain 13%Russia 39%

Germany 73%

ALLIANCE SYSTEM Agreement between two (2) or

more powers or nations to come to the defense of one another1. Balance of Power2. Triple Alliance: AH, Germany

and Italy3. Triple Entente: GB, France and

Russia

1879The Dual Alliance

Germany and Austria-Hungary made an alliance to protect

themselves from Russia

1881Austro-Serbian Alliance

Austria-Hungary made an alliance with Serbia to stop Russia gaining

control of Serbia

1882The Triple Alliance

 Germany and Austria- Hungary made an

alliance with Italy to stop Italy from taking sides

with Russia

1914Triple Entente (no separate peace)

Britain, Russia and France agreed not to sign for

peace separately.

1894Franco-Russian Alliance

 Russia formed an alliance with France to protect herself against Germany and Austria-

Hungary

1907Triple Entente

 This was made between Russia, France and Britain to counter the increasing

threat from Germany.

1907Anglo-Russian Entente

This was an agreement between Britain and

Russia

1904Entente Cordiale

This was an agreement, but not a formal alliance,

between France and Britain.

Triple Entente:

Triple Alliance:

Two Armed Camps!Allied Powers: Central Powers:

The Major Players: 1914-17

Nicholas II [Rus]

George V [Br]

Pres. Poincare [Fr]

Allied Powers:

Franz Josef [A-H]

Wilhelm II [Ger]

Victor Emmanuel II [It]

Central Powers:

Enver Pasha[Turkey]

Central Europe in 1914

IMPERIALISM Domination by one

political, economical, or cultural life of another country or region1. Competition for overseas

colonies2. Need for raw materials for

Industry and the build up of the military

European countries divided up Africa and Asia to strengthen the political and economic power of the mother country, which caused competition

NATIONALISM A strong feeling of pride

and devotion to one’s country1. Power- wanting to be the

biggest and the best2. The Balkans “powder keg of

Europe”3. Alsace and Lorraine (Had changed

between the French and Germans 4 times by the end of WWII)

German 1871

French 1871

Nationalism was both a uniting force and a divisive one. 

It resulted in Germany and Italy uniting into strong nations, and also caused the eventual disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. 

BOSNIAN CRISIS In 1908, Austria-Hungary took

over the former Turkish province of Bosnia.

This angered Serbians who felt the province should be theirs.

Serbia threatened AH with war, Russia, allied to Serbia, mobilized its forces.

Germany, allied to AH mobilized its forces and prepared to threaten Russia.

War was avoided when Russia backed down.

There was, however, war in the Balkans between 1911 -12 when the Balkan states drove Turkey out of the area.

The states fought each other over which area should belong to whom.

A-H then intervened and forced Serbia to give up some of its acquisitions.

Tension between Serbia and Austria-Hungary was high.

The Great Powers under the terror of explosion in Balkans at 1912-3

The Spark What: The assassination of the heir

to the Austrian-Hungarian throne, The Arch-duke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist terrorist group

Where: Sarajevo, Bosnia (Territory of AH)

When: June 28, 1914

The AssassinGavriloPrincip

Sarajevo court room. Front row seated from the left: Trifun Grabež, Nedjelko Čabrinović, Gavrilo Princip, Danilo Ilić, Veljko Čubrilović.

this caused Austria to crack down on the Serbs with German backing (even though Ferdinand was not greatly beloved by the Emperor, Franz Josef, or his government). 

Germany thought a war would solve its own internal problems of civil unrest and so she encouraged Austria’s militancy. 

Austria issued an ultimatum, moved in, and shelled Belgrade – the capital of Serbia.

WHO’S TO BLAME?

Falling Dominoes Unsatisfied, Austria-Hungary declared

war on Serbia on July 28, 1914.  On July 29th, Russia (an ally of Serbia)

ordered a partial mobilization only against Austria-Hungary in support of Serbia, which escalated into a general mobilization. 

The Germans threatened war on July 31st if the Russians did not demobilize. 

Upon being asked by Germany what it would do in the event of a Russo-German War, France responded that it would act in its own interests and mobilized. 

On August 1st , Germany declared war on Russia, and two days later, on France. 

The German invasion of Belgium, August 4th, to attack France, which violated Belgium's official neutrality, prompted Britain to declare war on Germany. 

The Great War had arrived.

TIMELINE TO WAR July 31: Both France and Germany were asked by Britain to

declare their support for the ongoing neutrality of Belgium. France agreed this. Germany did not respond.

August 1: Germany declares war against Russia. August 2: Germany and The Ottoman Empire sign a secret

treaty entrenching the Ottoman-German Alliance August 3: Germany declares war on France. Germany

states to Belgium that she would "treat her as an enemy" if she did not allow free passage of German troops across her lands.

August 4: Germany invades Belgium according to the modified Schlieffen Plan.

August 4 Britain declares war on Germany. August 6: Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia. August 23: Japan, honoring the Anglo-Japans', declares

war on Germany.

Europe in 1914