First World War Countdown to war

The First World War, also known as the Great War and the War to End all Wars, was the most horrific war ever known to man. 60 million men were mobilized into the war in Europe from 1914-1919 (even though the fighting ceased in 1918). But what caused this war? What caused this war and consequently caused the Second World War?

The countries
Great Britain
Great Britan was a very proud country and had the biggest empire in the world. When Queen Victoria died in 1901 the county was in an utter upset and dismay. Britain's main strenth at this time cam from it's navy taht kept control over the empire.In 1904 Great Britain made an alliance with France and then with Russia in 1907. King George V, was a cousin of the German leader, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the Russian Leader, Tsar Nicholas II.

Germany
When Kaiser Wilhelm II came to the throne he wanted to make Germany great. Throughout his childhood he had been to England many times. The first thing he did when he came to power was to improve Germany's navy by using the ships the British were using. However when he successfully launched his first ship the British had already made a better ship called the Drugnaught. Germany was still creating her army and navy though and she and Britain began an Arms Race. Germany made an alliance with Austria-Hungary in 1879 and with Italy in 1882.

France
France was country that had suffered heavly from the Napoleonic Wars and had given away her main money town's Allice and Leister (please correct if u know the answer). However Paris was still one of the best city's in the world.France had an alliance with Britain in 1904 and with Russia in 1894.

Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary under Duke Franz Joseph was not well prepared for war. The Ausro-Hungarian empire took over much of Eastern Europe. However Franz Jospeh and his family realized that a plot was being planned against them and they needed to be careful. They made an alliance with Germany in 1879 and then with Italy in 1882.

Russia
Russia was trying to recover from a war that they lost to Japan. Many people were unemployed or had to work extremly hard to get food and most of the people were farmers. Russia was though improving. Their army was the biggest in the world and they were prepared to do anything that might occur. They made an alliance with France in 1894 and with Britain in 1907.

The Assassination
On 28 June, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand went to visit Sarajevo whcih had just been conquered by Austria-Hungary. It was the Archduke's and his wife's anniversary and where on their way to the Town Hall. Many people into Sarajevo didn't want to be part of the Austro-Hungarian empire wand wanted to be part of their neighboring country Serbia. Many Serbians agreed and a group of people, led by Gavrilo Princip, called the Black Hand were going to do something about it. When the Archduke and his wife were traveling to the Town Hall one of the members threw a bomb at him. The Archduke threw the bomb out and it blew the car up behind them. The Archduke was furious and still carried out his work at the Town Hall. The member who threw the bomb had some poison and then drowned himself. The Archduke left the Town Hall later that day and went to visit the injured people from the car accident. However the chauffeur went to fast and took a wrong turn. While turning around who should be there but Gavrilo Princip. He pulled out a revolver and shot the Archduke in the stomach and his wife in the throat. They both died instantly. Gavrilo drunk some poison but it failed to work so he was arrested and beaten badly. Those two bullets caused the most horrendous war ever known to man.

Countdown to War
When Franz Joseph heard about the assassination of his son he was furious and swore the have revenge on Serbia. On the 23rd July 1914 Austria-Hungary sent an ultimatum to Serbia with demands so high that it was rejected. On the 28th July 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war with Serbia. Serbia had an alliance with Russia and sort Russia for help. Russia agreed and sent her forces to stop the Austro-Hungarian invasion. Then Germany declared war on Russia in Austria-Hungary's aid and consequently France declared on Germany. All the alliances were coming in to action apart from Britain's. Britain thought that the war would end soon and didn't interfere. Meanwhile Germany was acting on it's plan that it had been making for years. Germany had realized that they were going to fight on both sides which would mean thinning out their forces. Germany knew that Russia would take some time to get it's army to mobilize it's army so Germany created a clever plan called the Scheifflen plan. Germany would invade Belgium and travel right to Paris and then France would give up meaning that they could then concentrate on fighting Russia......well.......that was the plan. Germany successfully entered Belgium and traveled mostly by railway. Germany didn't think though that Britain would act on very treaty with Belgium. Britain had agreed to defend Belgium if they were ever invaded. While Britain mobilized it's forces after declaring war on Germany, Belgium put up a brave fight against Germany. They blew up railways to stop and slow down the German advance and it worked. They fought back from bridges, roads ect. But Belgium's army wasn't big enough but it slowed down Germany allot meaning that France had time to prepare their own troops and Britain had time to prepare theirs. By the time Germany had finally got into France after defeating Belgium France was ready to fight them. But France was pushed back all the way to Paris and the French were told never to leave Paris. By that time the British had arrived in France and together they and France successfully pushed Germany back to Northern France when they created trenches and the stalemate began.

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