World War I-The War to end all Wars

World War I

The War to End all Wars

Table of Contents

Europe Before the War

Life in the Trenches

End of the War

Alliances and Politics

Conditions in the Trenches

After the War

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Interesting Facts-Trenches

Aviation in WWI

Austria-Hungary Declare War

Battle of The Somme

Christmas Truce

Allied Powers

Interesting Facts-The Somme

Europe before the War

Map of Europe before the War

It is hard to give one clear reason for World War I starting. For centuries the countries of Europe had fought with each other sometimes winning and sometimes losing.
The main countries in Europe at the time were Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Britain. Some of these countries were friendly towards each other.

But one event set in motion a chain of events that led to War being declared. This was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria.

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Alliances and Politics

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In the years leading up to the war, the nations of Europe were constantly looking for more power. In 1881 Germany made an alliance (an agreement) with Austria-Hungary and Italy. These countries all agreed to protect each other in the event they were attacked by France. Italy, however then went and made a secret alliance with France saying they would not help Germany if war broke out.

In response to Germany's alliances, France and Russia established an alliance in 1892. In 1904, Britain and France signed an agreement. The Triple Entente was formed between France, Britain, and Russia in 1907. Germany now felt it was surrounded by enemies.This was also a time when many countries in Europe also had Empires. They ruled over other countries throughout the world. Britain and France in particular had very large empires. Germany and Russia too wanted empires. This led to many smaller arguments breaking out throughout the world as these large European countries tried to expand their empires. Ireland was ruled over by Britain at the time and was part of the British Empire.

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By 1914 tensions between all of these countries was mounting and it was not going to take much to start an all out war.

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“If Austria attacks Serbia, Russia will fall upon Austria, Germany upon Russia, and France and Britain upon Germany.”

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated in Sarajevo. The Austrian government believed that the assassination was organised by the Serbian government. They also saw this as an opportunity to regain control of Serbia.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Austria-Hungary Declares War

Austria-Hungary issued a number of demands on Serbia, threatening to invade if Serbia did not agree. They gave them just 48 hours to respond. Serbia could not meet all the demands of Austria-Hungary and so on the 28 of July 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated

Austria-Hungary hoped to defeat Serbia quickly. Serbia had an ally in Russia but the Austria-Hungary government felt that Russia would not risk going to war over such a small country.
However, they figured wrong. Russia immediately began to mobilise its troops and prepared for war. In response, Germany, Austria-Hungary's close ally, declared war on Russia on August 1st. A few days later, Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium. Britain then declared war on Germany and World War I had begun. It seemed that everyone had simply been looking for an excuse to start a war.

The War had two main sides, The Allied Powers and the Central Powers.

The Allied Powers

The Allied Powers were made up of France, Britain and Russia. They were also known as the Triple Entente. At this point the United States was not involved in the war and felt that it was a European problem and best ignored.

France - Germany declared war on France on August 3, 1914. France had been preparing for war after Germany and Russia went to war. The majority of the fighting along the Western Front took place inside of France.

Britain - Britain entered the war when Germany invaded Belgium. They declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914. British troops joined French troops on the Western Front to stop the advance of Germany across Western Europe.

Russia - The Russian Empire was an early entry into the war. Germany declared war on Russia on July 31, 1914. They expected that Russia would defend Serbia against the invasion of Serbia by Germany's ally Austria-Hungary. The Russian Empire also included Poland and Finland. After the Russian Revolution, Russia left the Allied Powers and signed a peace treaty with Germany on March 3, 1918.

United States - The United States tried to remain neutral during the war. However, it entered the war on the side of the Allied Powers on April 6, 1917 when it declared war on Germany. Around 4,355,000 American troops were mobilised during the war with around 116,000 losing their lives.

Other Allied countries included Japan, Italy, Belgium, Brazil, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia making it the first war to have countries all over the world fighting.