Post on 18-Dec-2015
Balkan Peninsula
• Unstable, weak• Convenient corridor
to Mediterranean for Russia, Austria-Hungary, or Ottoman Empire
• Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria all interested, too.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Next in line for Austrian crown
• Married to Sophia, a countess and duchess
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Diplomatic trip to visit Sarajevo
• June 28, 1914• Ceremonial
“inspection of the troops”
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Fourteenth wedding anniversary
• Rode together in royal splendor
• Treated like royalty
• http://www.firstworldwar.com/video/ferdinand.htm
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Group of seven• Ages 19 to 27• Members of secret
Serbian nationalist movement
• Mlada Bosna• “Young Bosnia”
After the Archduke’s death
• Archduke assassinated June 28, 1914
• Serbia is blamed.• July 5, 1914: Germany supports
Austria-Hungary against Serbia• July 23rd – Austria-Hungary
threatens Serbia
And then??
• July 25th – Serbia attempts peaceful resolution
• July 28th – Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
• July 30th – Russia rushes to support Serbia
The War Grows…
• July 30th – Russia mobilizes to help its ally Serbia
• July 31st – Germany demands “Stop helping Serbia!”
• August 1st – Germany declares war on Russia
On the same day…
• August 1st • France moves to
support its ally Russia
• Germany signs treaty of alliance with Turkey
• Italy declares itself “neutral.”
The next day…August 2nd
• Germany invades Luxembourg
• Demands to enter Belgium, which is neutral
• Belgium says, “NO.”
It keeps on growing and growing!
• August 3 – Germany declares war on France
• August 4 – Germany invades Belgium on the way to France
• Britain enters to safeguard Belgian neutrality
It’s a World War
• August 6th – Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia
• August 12th – France and Britain declare war on Austria-Hungary
By Mid-August of 1914
• Central Powers are at war with the Allies• Thought it would be a “quick war”• Central Powers – land war advantage• RR’s – move troops and supplies• Allies – divided by English Channel• Russia – poor roads and RRs• Italy – neutral until joining Allies in 1915
The Plan
• Germany plans quick defeat of France
• Then would attack Russia• Would avoid heavily fortified
French border• Would attack Belgium• August 14th, 1914
Belgian Strength
• Not strong, but held Germans back• Until British and French troops
could move in and assist• Stopped Germans at Marne River –
first battle• Turning point• Germans could have won a “quick
war” there, but failed
War becomes a STALEMATE
• Along Marne River – Western Front
• Neither side could move
• 600 miles along Belgian and French countryside
• How did they fight there?
In the Trenches
• Both sides built trenches all along Western Front
• Separated by coils of barbed wire
• “No Man’s Land”• Fought in
trenches THREE YEARS straight
What was it like in the trenches?
• Cold and wet• Constant wet
boots – mud• Trench foot• Rats• VERY
uncomfortable• Also scary and
dangerous