Chapter 12 Section 1
The Great War Begins
Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand murdered
 He made a trip to the Bosnian city of Sarajevo
 Austria had taken over Bosnia & Herzegovina 6 yrs earlier
 Bosnians were bitter to Austrian rule
 Bosnia was the home of many Serbs and ethnic Slavs who
were also
Angered by Austrian actions
 Serbian leaders hoped to expand Serbia by uniting the ethnic
Slavs in Bosnia
 Austria Hungry stood in the way
 Ferdinand’s visited on June 28th on St. Vitus Day a holiday
that symbolized Serbian unity
 He was murdered by a Serbian terrorist group known as the
Black Hand
 7 members of the Black Hand watched the archduke and
positioned themselves around the city to watch for him
 19 yr old Gavrilo Pricip killed the archduke and his wife with a
pistol
 The assassination started a chain of events that pulled most of
Europe in the largest war the world had ever seen
I.
Europe on the Brink of War
 1914 tension rose in Europe
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 4 Factors: militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism
A. Militarism
1. 1800-1900’s European countries had undertaken a
massive military buildup
2. Military buildup caused the desire to protect overseas
colonies from other nations
3. Armed forces & navies grew especially in Germany
4. Nervous tension grew, as a result minor disagreements
might have turned in a battle
B. Alliances
1. Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungry, and Italy
2. Triple Entente: France, Russia, and Great Britain
C. Imperialism
1. Rival empires seek to keep power
D. Nationalism
1.People feel loyal and devotion to their country or culture
2. In Europe nationalism led to the formation of new
countries, including Germany and Italy
3. Struggle for power in Balkan Peninsula – home to many
ethnic groups and wanted to break free of Ottoman Empire
II.
War Breaks Out
A. The Impact
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1. Princip was arrested for the assassination of the
archduke
2. Because he was a Serb Austrian-Hungry decided
to punish Serbia
3. Declared war on Serbia on July 28th 1914
4. Russia home of many Slavs promised to protect
the Serbs if Austria – Hungry attacked
5. As a result Germany declared war on Russia and
on Russia’s ally France
B. Fighting Begins
1. Germany faced war on 2 fronts
2. Russia to the east and France to the west
3. Schlieffen plan: quickly defeat France and head to
Russian to east
4. Germany and Austria hungry – known as central
powers
5. Great Britain, France, Russia, and Serbia- known as
Allied Powers
III.
Fighting in 1914
A.Early Battles
1. August 1914 German troops fought French and British
forces in a series known as the Battle of the Frontiers
2. Both sides suffered many losses
3. German victory
4. France struggled to fight Germany during the Battle of
the Frontiers
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5. Russia attacked Germany from the east, however the
attack failed the Russians lost but succeeded in
distracting the Germans to advance to France
C. Trench Warfare Begins
1. Battle of the Marne in early September 1914 the
allied troops succeeded in driving the Germans
back
2. After retrieving the Germans dug a series of
trenches
3. Helped the Germans to fight back the Allied Forces
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