 Glorification
of the military
Arms race and the
development of large armies
and navies
2. Romantic view of War
3. Harder to use diplomacy
1.
French Calvary going to
front, Paris, August 2,
1914
British Troops
mobilizing
Total Defense Expenditures for the Great
Powers
[Ger., A-H, It., Fr., Br., Rus.] in millions of £s.
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1914
94
130
154
268
289
398
1910-14 Increase in Defense Spending
France
10%
Britain
13%
Russia
39%
Germany
73%

Agreement between two (2) or
more powers or nations to
come to the defense of one
another
Balance of Power
Triple Alliance: AH, Germany
and Italy
3. Triple Entente: GB, France and
Russia
1.
2.
1879
The Dual Alliance
1881
Austro-Serbian Alliance
1882
The Triple Alliance
Germany and AustriaGermany and AustriaAustria-Hungary made an
Hungary made an alliance to alliance with Serbia to
Hungary made an alliance
protect themselves from
with Italy to stop Italy from
stop Russia gaining
Russia
taking sides with Russia
control of Serbia
1914
Triple Entente (no separate
peace)
1894
Franco-Russian Alliance
Russia formed an alliance
with France to protect herself
against Germany and
Austria-Hungary
Britain, Russia and France
agreed not to sign for peace
separately.
1907
Triple Entente
1907
Anglo-Russian Entente
1904
Entente Cordiale
This was made between
Russia, France and Britain to
counter the increasing threat
from Germany.
This was an agreement
between Britain and
Russia
This was an agreement, but
not a formal alliance,
between France and Britain.
Triple Entente:
Triple Alliance:
Two Armed Camps!
Allied Powers:
Central Powers:
The Major Players: 1914-17
Allied Powers:
Central Powers:
Nicholas II
[Rus]
Wilhelm II [Ger]
George V [Br]
Victor Emmanuel
II [It]
Enver Pasha
[Turkey]
Pres. Poincare [Fr]
Franz Josef [A-H]
Central
Europe in
1914
 Domination
by one political,
economical, or cultural life of
another country or region
Competition for overseas
colonies
2. Need for raw materials for
Industry and the build up of the
military
1.
 European
countries divided
up Africa and Asia to
strengthen the political and
economic power of the
mother country, which
caused competition
A
strong feeling of pride and
devotion to one’s country
Power- wanting to be the
biggest and the best
2. The Balkans “powder keg of
Europe”
3. Alsace and Lorraine (Had changed
1.
between the French and Germans 4 times by
the end of WWII)
French 1871
German 1871
Nationalism was both a
uniting force and a divisive
one.
 It resulted in Germany and
Italy uniting into strong
nations, and also caused the
eventual disintegration of the
Ottoman Empire and AustriaHungary.

In 1908, Austria-Hungary took
over the former Turkish
province of Bosnia.
 This angered Serbians who felt
the province should be theirs.
 Serbia threatened AH with war,
Russia, allied to Serbia,
mobilized its forces.





Germany, allied to AH mobilized its
forces and prepared to threaten
Russia.
War was avoided when Russia
backed down.
There was, however, war in the
Balkans between 1911 -12 when the
Balkan states drove Turkey out of the
area.
The states fought each other over
which area should belong to whom.
 A-H
then intervened and
forced Serbia to give up
some of its acquisitions.
 Tension between Serbia
and Austria-Hungary was
high.
The Great
Powers under
the terror of
explosion in
Balkans at
1912-3



What: The assassination of the heir
to the Austrian-Hungarian throne,
The Arch-duke Francis Ferdinand and
his wife Sophie, by Gavrilo Princip, a
member of the Black Hand, a Serbian
nationalist terrorist group
Where: Sarajevo, Bosnia (Territory of
AH)
When: June 28, 1914
The Assassin
Gavrilo
Princip
Sarajevo court room. Front row seated from the left: Trifun Grabež,
Nedjelko Čabrinović, Gavrilo Princip, Danilo Ilić, Veljko Čubrilović.



this caused Austria to crack down
on the Serbs with German backing
(even though Ferdinand was not
greatly beloved by the Emperor,
Franz Josef, or his government).
Germany thought a war would
solve its own internal problems of
civil unrest and so she encouraged
Austria’s militancy.
Austria issued an ultimatum,
moved in, and shelled Belgrade –
the capital of Serbia.



Unsatisfied, Austria-Hungary declared
war on Serbia on July 28, 1914.
On July 29th, Russia (an ally of Serbia)
ordered a partial mobilization only
against Austria-Hungary in support of
Serbia, which escalated into a general
mobilization.
The Germans threatened war on July
31st if the Russians did not
demobilize.




Upon being asked by Germany what it
would do in the event of a Russo-German
War, France responded that it would act
in its own interests and mobilized.
On August 1st , Germany declared war on
Russia, and two days later, on France.
The German invasion of Belgium, August
4th, to attack France, which violated
Belgium's official neutrality, prompted
Britain to declare war on Germany.
The Great War had arrived.








July 31: Both France and Germany were asked by Britain
to declare their support for the ongoing neutrality of
Belgium. France agreed this. Germany did not respond.
August 1: Germany declares war against Russia.
August 2: Germany and The Ottoman Empire sign a
secret treaty entrenching the Ottoman-German Alliance
August 3: Germany declares war on France. Germany
states to Belgium that she would "treat her as an enemy"
if she did not allow free passage of German troops across
her lands.
August 4: Germany invades Belgium according to the
modified Schlieffen Plan.
August 4 Britain declares war on Germany.
August 6: Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
August 23: Japan, honoring the Anglo-Japans', declares
war on Germany.
Europe in 1914