Austria would never made such demands if the German Kaiser wouldnt of promised unconditional support. Because of the attack Austria wanted to put on Serbia Russia wanted to attack back because they where fully behind Serbia. So the Kaisers permission to attack Serbia was the start of a small war between these four countries. Russia had a huge army and where in an alliance with France, so Germany felt so weak to fight both of them together. Germany then declared war on Russia on August 1 but then was immidiately on the way to conquer Paris through Belgium, which they managed on August 4.
At this time Britain was extremely frustrated because the German Empire had taken control of the sea, the strength that for a long time belonged to Britain. The naval force was something that they wanted back, and therefore entered the war. It did not look very promising for either France or Britain since Russia, the German Empire and Austria-Hungary (who were the largest nations at this time) cooperated. However, since the new German emperor Wilhelm II did not care about the alliance, things went wrong. Austria-Hungary declared war with Serbia on 28 July in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June in 1914.
“The outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 was due to an aggressive foreign policy which had been waged since c.1900”. How far do you agree with this opinion? Explain your answer using sources V, W and X and your own knowledge relating to the controversy. The implication that Germany’s use of an aggressive foreign policy led to the outbreak of the First World War is an extremely controversial topic, and has ultimately caused great debates amongst historians. Fischer, the provoker of this controversy, expresses this concept of German aggression by stating that since c.1900 Germany planned, and then was able to execute a war, due to their aggressive weltpolitik; based purely on expansionism.
They had known Serbia would reject the ultimatum. So on the 28th of July 1914 Austria-Hungary confidently declared war on Serbia with Germany’s full backing. Russia was allied with Serbia so began mobilising its troops to help Serbia. On the 1st of August Germany declared war on Russia. If it hadn’t been for Germany, Austria-Hungary would not have been confident enough to start a war with Serbia and Russia.
It also served from the start to lift Allied morale. Thus, the Germans had made a big mistake by provoking the Americans to enter the war. In the end, the two front war proved too difficult for Germany. The Allied push continued, with the British advancing in the north and the Americans attacking through the Argonne region of France. While the Germans were losing their forces on the
Firstly, the most pivotal factor that led to the Provisional Government being ousted from power was the fact that, against the masses wishes, they did not withdraw from World War I. It was one of the main causes for their revolution against the Tsarist regime in February, yet the Provisional Government couldn’t withdraw due to the fact that they felt obliged to continue their war effort and help the Allied forces beat the likes of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Leaders such as Kerensky even assumed the masses shared their enthusiasm for a “vigorous, new war effort” against Germany, and so they organised the June Offensive. However, this battle proved to be a major disaster, leading to many soldiers deserting their posts, voicing their discontent with the government and some mutinying by firing upon their own officers. With the Army beginning to collapse, it was obvious that, unless the Provisional Government withdrew from the First World War immediately, a second revolution would occur and remove them from power.
archduke franz Ferdinand The Most Important Cause of WWI was the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Do you Agree? World war 1 was a controversial war, which was also said to be the war to stop all wars. Germany, a powerful empire in the early years of the twentieth century, fought the First World War (1914-1918) alongside the Austrian empire and against the Allies (England, France and Russia.). The murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was just a prominent cause for the outbreak of the war; yet, there were other causes as well.
‘The outbreak of war in Europe was due to an aggressive German foreign policy which had been waged since c.1900’. How far do you agree? It has been a matter of fervent controversy that Germany went to war with aggressive or defensive intentions. Source V suggests that Germany went to war solely for defensive reasons due to the extensive array of alliances that encircled her as well as diplomatic tension. Overall, Source W challenges source V, as it indicates that Germany’s aggressive actions since the turn of the century resulted in war.
This reasoned to long-term tension before the war. The Great Powers also began their preparations for war on land long before the war broke out. Again, Germany created the Schlieffen Plan 1905. Named after German general Count Alfred von Schlieffen who created the plan, which later proved unsuccessful (arguably, they didn't actually follow the plan). The main idea of this plan was to avoid fighting a war on two fronts simultaneously, first take out France in the west and then move to the East and fight a slower mobilizing Russia to the
Serbia accepted all but one point of the ultimatum. Consequently war was announced. If given more time Serbia could have discussed the issue further in a conference. The British foreign minister, Grey suggested a conference, but this was rejected by Germany and Austria-Hungary, suggesting that they had deliberate aims for war during the Balkan Crisis, rather than the Balkan Crisis being mismanaged. There was a long-standing rivalry between Austria-Hungary and Russia due to their interests in the Balkans.