The Pressing Conflict- The commencment of the war

• The spark that ignited the war happened in the balkans, it started in June 28 , 1914 , when Archduke Francis Ferdinand , The heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary was assassinated while visiting Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia
• • Gavrilo Princip is a Bosnian revolutionary that shot and killed the Archduke and his wife.
• • Kaiser Wilhelm II promised Austria full support in any action they would take.
  • Using this as an opportunity, Austria sent an Ultimatum to Serbia but then Serbia rejected one of it’s demands so in response Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia by using the two assasinations as an excuse to attack Serbia.
• • Russia in the other hand mobilized their military to support Serbia so in retaliation Germany declared war against Russia.
  • Since Russia’s ally is France, Germany then declared war against France.
  • In one side We have the Allies (France, Serbia, Russia) in the other hand we have the Central powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary).
• An ultimatum is a list of demands with threats.
• • Most Europeans greeted the declaration of war Joyfully.
  • Thousands of young men rushed to enlist in the war,eager to win a glorious victory for their country.
• • But not everyone cheered for the outbreak of war.
  • Sir Edward Grey (The British foreign secretary) uttered prophetic words.
  • He said the lamps are going out all over Europe and we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.
• • Several years before the war , a German general named Schlieffen devised a plan which Germany will attack France first through the lands of neutral Belgium then attacking France from the north.
  • The German generals thought they can encircle and defeat France in under 6 weeks then later on fight Russia on the east.
• • The Schlieffen plan would make the Germans win by attacking France first then attack Russia.
  • Instead of a head on engagement, Germany would attack from the north by crossing neutral Belgium.
• • Germans then demanded that the Belgians allow the German army cross through their country but the Belgians refused.
  • In August 4 the German Army crossed into Belgium , breaking a seventy five year old treaty.
  • The British in the other hand got angry for what Germany has done to Belgium joined the allies and declared war on Germany.
• The Germans pushed into France and within a month were outside of Paris but at that time the Allied reinforcements came to stop the Germans from advancing then by the end of the year both sides had constructed a long series of trenches that stretched from Switzerland to the English canal
• In the east the Germans didnt expect Russia to mobilize their forces more quickly that they anticipated as a result the Russian army won several victories against Austria-Hungary and the Germany in the Battles of Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes. However the German armies under the leadership of General Paul Von Hindenburg defeated the Russians. They captured more than 200,000 prisoners and began to push the Russians back towards Russia.
• • The Germans further weakened Russia by closing the Baltic sea using Germany’s warships and in addition Russian’s northern ports were frozen for many months of the year.
  • The British decided to force open a sea route to Russia through the black sea by taking control of the Dardanelles
• • Turkey or former Ottoman Empire had entered the war in 1914 and was part of the Central powers.
  • The Ottoman Empire controlled the straits between the Black sea and the Aegean sea.
  • Britain in the other hand tried to gain control of the strategic waterway by launching a naval attack and then landing troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
  • The British had poor planning and had to fight the strong Ottomans caused the invasion to fail and had to withdraw their men.
• Bulgaria is a country that joined the Central powers and helped conquer Serbia by the end of 1915