The Germans started having second thoughts about the war and urged their ally to negotiate with Russia. Russia realized that an agreement would hurt their position in the Balkans. This basically created a stand still and the countries involved could no longer back out, The Germans started their plan to gain European dominance on July 31st. The Germans sent ultimatums to St. Petersburg and Paris telling them that the Russians need to stop mobilizing their troops and demanded a pledge of neutrality from France. They did not receive a satisfactory reply and they declared war on Russia and France.
French leaders were particularly concerned about Germany’s efforts to undo the treaty of Versailles. The Ruhr occupation in January 1923, convinced French leaders that in future, they should not attempt to enforce The Treaty of Versailles single-handedly. The occupation of the Ruhr saw the takeover of the Germany industrial heart, with the intention of forcing Germany to meet its financial obligations. German authorities adopted a policy of passive resistance, with the result that industrial production in the
The Treaty came about after the “Three Emperors’ League” (Germany, Austria and Russia), collapsed because of disagreements between Austria-Hungary and Russia for spheres of influence in the Balkans. Each party would remain neutral if the other became involved in a war with a third great power; however this would not apply if Germany attacked France or if Russia attacked Austria. Although bad relations
What actually happened: The Schlieffen Plan was a big gamble by the Germans, and it could have well resulted in defeat for France and Russia, however the plan backfired on the Germans. The first problem that the Germans encountered was that the Belgian Army had put up a resistance, which they had not expected which in turn slowed their advances. The next big problem the Germans had not anticipated was that Britain declared war on Germany because of the pledge to protect Belgium, which they had called a ‘scrap of paper.’ Their gamble had not paid off and soon, when the Russian Army was quicker to respond the Germans had to switch troops to the eastern front however the Russians had still invaded Germany 10 days later. Explain why a Stalemate
Lastly, Bismarck tricked Napoleon III at the meeting in Biarritz in 1865. He made vague promises, and in return, Napoleon III promised not to help Austria in any future wars with Prussia. However, Bismarck didn't keep his word and the Franco-Prussian relation deteriorated. In 1870, France and Prussia quarreled over the Spanish throne candidature, and this triggered the significant war in the history of Germany unification - the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. The victory brought the unification to an end in 1871.
were really defensive in nature, where Germany tried to gain an edge before the western Allies grew too strong. Thus the question, why did the western Allies fight? Their centuries old goal had been to limit German power. Despite having vast overseas empires and large European territories, both England and France considered any German
Russia also feared the growing German threat and sought to ally itself with Great Britain, France, and even Germany itself for protection. The British, for their part, tried hard to remain out of the conflict, but found that having the world's most powerful navy made that impossible. Rebellious provinces within the Austro-Hungarian Empire made central Europe extremely unstable, and the leaders of the Ottoman Empire in the Near East sought to expand their power. Historians have generally noted that the European powers had managed to avoid war for so long, that when it did
The incident permanently damaged the already tense relations between the nations. Faced with increasing problems within its already diverse population, Austria-Hungary viewed Serbia as a threat. This was largely due to Serbia's desire to unite the Slavic people, including those living in the southern parts of the empire. This pan-Slavic sentiment was backed Russia who had signed a military agreement to aid Serbia if the nation was attacked by the Austrians. Though stunningly, the death of Franz Ferdinand was not viewed by most Europeans as an event that would lead to general war.
Decline and Fall of the Romanovs Why did Russia enter World War 1? Russia entered World War One for many reasons. One was to come to the defence of its ally Serbia after it was attacked by Austria-Hungary because of an assasination believed to have been commited by Serbia. Another reason was when Germany declared War on the 1st of August 1914 for mobilizing its troops the day beforehand. The final reason was Russia’s involment in the Triple Entente, an loose agreement between Russia, France and the United Kingdom .
Both Germany and Russia mobilized their armies in haste, because each one feared defeat by powerful enemies if they delayed. Germany and Russia also rashly committed themselves to support Balkan clients - Austria-Hungary and Serbia, respectively - because Berlin and St. Petersburg feared that failure to do so would cost them the trust of important allies and leave them isolated. This view treats Balkan matters largely as influences on policy