World+War+1



1914-1918 Aaron Fraase, Lindsay Nerby, and Justin Kaiser



**"They shall not pass!" Henri-Philippe Petain during Battle of Verdun in 1916**

There was a big outbreak at this time. It started in the summer of 1914. Militarism and nationalism played a big role in starting WWI. What really started the war was how the European leaders responded to another crisis in the same summer. At this time there were people trying to free themselves in Ottoman rule in Southern Europe. Many Europeans saw the danger in this, so the British ambassador to Vienna anticipated war in 1913. Then on June 28, 194, Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife went to Bosnian city of Sarajevo. There was a group called the Black Hand that wanted Bosnia to be free of Austria-Hungary and to be part of the Serbia Kingdom.

The conspirators then wanted to kill archduke and his wife, and they were both shot and killed by Gavrilo Princip. This really upset the Austro-Hungarian government. Even though they didn’t really know if the Serbian government was part of it, they wanted to render Serbia innocuous once and for all by a display of force. The only thing that feared the Austrians to attack were the Russians. Because of this they went to their allies from Germany. They gave Austria a blank check with their full support even if that meant going to war. Feeling more confident Germany’s help, Austrians sent an ultimatum to Serbia on July 23. On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

Russia for sure was on Serbia’s side in war. On July 28, Czar Nicholas II ordered a mobilization of the Russian army against Austria-Hungary. This was just getting the army ready for war. In 1914, mobilization became an act of war. But then Russia informed the Czar that Russia couldn’t fully mobilize the army. The only mobilized against Austria-Hungary, and not Germany as well. Then Germany considered the act of war on July 29. Germany reacted quickly and told Russia that it must halt its mobilization within 12 hours. The Russians just ignored them. Germany then declared war of Russia on August 1. With all of these conflicts, all the great powers of Europe were at war by August 4.

__Terms:__
Conscription- is a military draft, that had been established as a regular practice in most western countries before 1914. However, the U.S. and Britian had not before this time. Mobilization- this is the process of assembling troops and supplies and making them prepared for war. By 1914, this was considered an act of war.
 * Propaganda- ideas spread to influence public opinion for or against a cause it had worked in stirring up national hatreds before the war. **
 * Trench Warfare- this keeps both sides in virtually the same positions for four years in WW1 **
 * War of Attrition- WW1 had turned into one of these, was a war based on wearing down the other side down by constant attacks and heavy losses in battles **
 * Armistice- On November the 11th, 1918, the new German government signed this, which is a truce, an agreement to end the fighting. **
 * Reparations- the act of covering the costs of the war and a separattion of Rhineland as a buffer state between France and Germany. **
 * Stalemate- two sides of a war are equally matched and no one can move forward or backwards, especially in WW1 where the soldiers were stuck in the trenches **
 * Soviets- government of Russia wasfaced with a challenge to its authority known as this, the soviets were councils composed of representatives from the workers and soldiers. **
 * Mandates- acquisitions of the Western nations. Woodrow Wilson had opposed the outright annexation of colonial territories by the Allies. **

** 1919 Allies sign Treaty of Versailles **




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