Emma Hendrix. Mrs. Pickle. Pre-Ap World History 9 . 16

The Schlieffen Plan was a German battle plan to fight a two front war devised in 1905 by Alfred von Schlieffen as the Chief of the General Staff for Germany. The plan called for the German army to apply overwhelming force in France to capture the capital of Paris within six weeks before changing focus to Russia. The plan intended to achieve a quick and decisive victory by sweeping a line of armies through neutral Belgium and into France. In actuality, Helmuth von Moltke made significant changes to Schlieffen’s original plan before and during World War I. Ultimately, the plan ended in failure when the German advance halted at the First Battle of the Marne (Limbach, 2014).

Serbia was upset of Bosnia being placed under Austrian rule because of their devotion to Slavic nationalism, and Austria was aware of their disappointment and unhappiness. Austria suggested eliminating Pan-Slavism because they were worried about the idea of Serbian terrorists in their country because of Serbia's aggression towards them. Austria was aware that Bosnia favored Slavic nationalism just like Serbia. Austria-Hungary could have avoided intervening in the social and political ideas of getting rid of Slavic nationalism and being oppressive to the Serbian people. By sending an Austrian political figure to Serbia during the turmoil was an unintelligent action for Austria to make because it was a fact that the Archduke's life would be put in danger and that he would most likely be killed. The Austrian government even expressed how the atmosphere created by the malicious agitation in Serbia sprang up a series of murderous attacks on high functionaries of the Monarchy, which ended in the execrable crime against the exalted person of the heir to the throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which had been carefully prepared in Serbia(The Austro-Hungarian Red Book). Austria knew that Serbia

This leads to the conclusion that the European powers were ready for war in 1914. It is important to realize that since the European powers made alliances with each other, small arguments concerning one power might lead to a war involving all the powers. In the case of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, this situation created a serious misunderstanding between Austria-Hungary and Serbia and as a result, the other nations in Europe involved in alliances with either 2 countries were obligated to support them. Alliances were originally created strictly for defensive purposes but by 1910, many of the alliances had changed their character like the Austro-German alliance. Germany promised to give military aid to Austria-Hungary to invade Serbia and on the other hand, Russia provided Serbia with military assistance. As alliances had become instruments of national aggression, the chances of war doubled. The probability of Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia due to the death of their heir increased because Austria-Hungary could rely on the support of Germany to help achieve its goal. In addition, this fragile interlock of alliances relied on the leaders of the European countries to act reasonably however, this was not the case in the situation of World War 1. The Kaiser of Germany felt his country was being denied the chance to unleash its full potential by Britain so the power hungry ruler was determined to

A young generation was emerging within Serbia and Bosnia whose experience of national and social struggles had taught them the effectiveness of violence as a means to achieve goals (as seen in the Balkan Wars 1912-13). It was a generation that demanded action and sacrifice instead of words and political wisdom (Cirkovic 246). Russia repeatedly assured their Slav brethren that they only had to wait (MacKenzie 58). Serbian agitation against Austria-Hungary was increased and the more the Austro-Hungarians attempted to subvert it, the more violent and fanatical it became. The fearlessness that was born from the support of Russia led those seeking Slavic unity to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, thereby triggering the cascade that began WWI.

After this, Austria-Hungary wanted to crush pan-Slavic nationalism once and for all, and issued an ultimatum to Serbia. They also received Germany’s unlimited support, the so-called Blanc Cheque. Even though the Serbs capitulated to almost all of the demands, Austria-Hungary mobilized and went to war with them. Russia saw this mobilization as a threat, something that led to their full mobilization along the entire length of Russia’s eastern border. This again led to panic in Germany, who also ordered full mobilization. They wanted to eliminate the threat of a two-front war, and therefor attacked France, hoping to crush their army before Russia made their move (known as Schliefen Plan). However, the plan failed, and only led to the involvement of Great Britain. One could argue that this is something that eventually would have happened anyway, as the tension in Europe was so big. However, it is doubtful that it would have happened to such an extent without Balkan nationalism. If Gavrilo Princip hadn’t shot the Archduke, Austria-Hungary wouldn’t have gone to war with Serbia. This would have meant that there was no reason for Russia and Germany to get involved, and the Schliefen Plan wouldn’t have been necessary.

“...the disaster began only at that disastrous moment when the successor of Austria-Hungary fell victim to murderous hands”(Doc 5). Of course, after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia through their treasonous actions, both sides kept bringing country after country into the conflict. If the issue had been kept between the two nations, today the war would probably for the most part be overlooked unless you took a very in depth history class. It probably wouldn’t have mattered. However Europe was tense, and war was bound to

The Schlieffen Plan was created by Alfred von Schlieffen, and he created it to avoid fighting both France and Russia at the same time. The problem was that France and Russia were on opposite sides of Europe. Which meant they would have to split their army in half. The Schlieffen Plan stated that Germany would defeat France while Russia would be mobilizing itś army. They assumed that Russia would take six weeks to mobilize,and that France was weak and Russia was strong. They didn´t think that GB would be fighting for France because of the treaty signed seventy - five years ago. The Schlieffen Plan had many flaws and assumptions.But instead of taking six weeks Russia took ten days, and started fighting when they weren't ready. Which made

The Serbian nationalists were the main cause of Franz Ferdinand’s assassination and aided in the start of World War I. After the Austria-Hungary Empire annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina, the country of Serbia encouraged Serbians living there to rebel “against Austria-Hungarian rule in frequent protests and civil disturbances” (Pendergast 16). The Serbians began to fight for independence against rule of Austria-Hungary which led to the assassination of the Archduke of the Austria-Hungary Empire, Franz Ferdinand. The Black Hand was the terrorist group that murdered Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. Not only was it “led by Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijevic, the head of Serbian military intelligence” but Austria’s Serbian ambassador is said to have known about the assassination beforehand (Pendergast 21). Serbian’s were sick of being ruled in an empire, so “militant groups like the Black Hand, wanted to untie the Slavic people in an independent pan-Slavic state” (Pendergast 45). They were determined to put all the Slavic people together as a separate nationality and destroyed people who got in their way, including Franz Ferdinand, the Archduke of the Austria-Hungary Empire. With Franz Ferdinand being the heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne, the Austria-Hungarian Empire began to call for a war against the Serbians but needed allies in order to have a chance of winning.

In the year 1914, two gunshots had forever changed history. In this time, the countries of Europe had begun to rival in the topic of a greater territory. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had just won over Bosnia, causing considerable disagreement with the Bosnians (Nelson, 2015). Some Bosnian nationalists believed that Bosnia should be its own country, and not under the power of Austria-Hungary. Serbia also wanted the country of Bosnia under their rule due to the great population of Serbians living in Bosnia at the time. For this reason, Austria-Hungary disliked Serbia (Clare, 2002/2014). During this same time period, many other European countries wanted more land and began forming alliances. Serbia had allied with Russia, while Austria-Hungary was formed in alliance with Germany (Nelson, 2015). Despite all the conflict over land and the tension

The Schlieffen Plan was devised to prevent fighting war on two fronts, against France and Russia, aiming to defeat France before Russia could Mobilize. Both J.M Winter (1993, pg. 60) and M. McAndrew et al.(1997, pg. 56) agreed The plan was devised by Count Alfred von Schlieffen, Chief of

In 1905 Germany developed the Schlieffen Plan which meant that they would be prepared to fight two fronts in a war, the plan established the fact that France was weak and likewise Belgium and could fall easily, giving Germany secure control over the west. Upon AustriaHungary's declaration of war on Russia committed Germany to two fronts potentially too early. With a war looming and a large military presence, nationalist views and a war-ravenous leader, Wilhelm led Germany to a world of

The assassination gave Austria-Hungary a good reason to form a plan against Serbia, but Austria-Hungary first got Germany’s promise to support them in any action they took against Serbia. Then Austria-Hungary sent Serbia a list of demands on July 23. Serbia accepted most of the demands and offered to have the rest settled by an international conference. Austria-Hungary rejected the offer and declared war on Serbia on July 28 1914("World War I History." ).

The Schlieffen Plan was devised by Count Alfred von Schlieffen, the Chief of the General Staff in the German army in 1905. There were a number of different aspects to the Schlieffen Plan, and all were aimed at defeating France as quickly as possible, preferably in under 6 weeks. The Germans believed this was possible because they had defeated France in Alsace and Lorraine in the 1871. The main aim of the Schlieffen Plan was to knock out and capture France and then attack Russia in order to avoid fighting a war on two fronts at the same time.

ABC-CLIO writes, “Other ethnic groups dreamed of forming their own homelands” (Unraveling the Causes of World War I). The German unification caused Germany became one of the strongest European countries in Europe. German’s were proud of their military power and industrial leadership. Other ethnic groups, like the French, longed to regain its place of Europe’s leading power. The French were bitter of their loss in the Franco-Prussian war and the German occupation of Alsace and Lorraine. They were eager for revenge against Germany and win back their lost provinces. The Slavs were another ethnic group that dreamed of forming their own homelands. The Balkans had a dream of unifying all of the Slavic states. In 1878, Serbia gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. At that time, Serbia decided to claim to several regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina which were inhabited primarily by Serbs. However, the Congress of Berlin granted permission to Austria-Hungary to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the other disputed Serbian areas. In 1908, Austria-Hungary officially annexed all of Bosnia and Herzegovina, adding more fuel to the fires of Serbian nationalism. So when the Archduke was assassinated in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria reacted quickly, as it was seen as the Empire's last chance to proclaim its superiority in the Balkans. Count Leopold von Berchtold, the Austrian foreign minister was determined to make use of the

One of the reasons led to World War One was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by a Serbian (Fromkin 121). Although multiple reasons have been affiliated to his assassination, most of those reasons revolve around upholding Serbia’s power. On the one hand, Austria-Hungary had planned to attack Serbia since it was at its weakest point due to the adverse effects of the Balkan War they had just undergone (Fromkin 122). On the other hand, Serbia was making an effort to regain control over Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was under the control of Austria-Hungary (Fromkin 122). Before the assassination of Franz, the Bosnia-Herzegovina crisis had heightened to a point where Austria intended to invade Serbia (Fromkin 74). It was evident that Serbia, through the assassination of Franz, was seeking to retain its independence and protect its regions from Austria-Hungary’s influence by intimidating