Essay On World War 1

Relations between the French and Germans were additionally beset, while France and Russia likewise had their disparities. The leaders of Austria-Hungary considered Serbia in charge of Archduke Francis Ferdinand 's demise in a terrorist assault in 1914. Leaders of Austria-Hungary wanted to rally the people of their vanishing empire going to war against the minuscule Serbia, trusting a

The opposing armies were in a deadlock and trenches had become a dominate feature of the war (Page 63, 2nd paragraph). Some trenches were from 5 feet deep to 30 feet deep; they caused a stalemate that was almost impossible to break. If you break into their lines there is another one waiting for you. The trenches were hundreds of miles long, constantly fighting. Also they were filled with rats and frogs. Trenches were always in repair, they were reinforced with sandbags, with sheets of corrugated

On June Twenty Eighth Archduke was traveling with his wife, when the driver got lost and went down the wrong road. Gavrilo Princip was a Serbian assassin who shot and killed Archduke and his wife. The assassination was used to start a rebellion that would create a much larger Serbian nation. Austrian ambassador was very unsettled by that, so he decides to get a friendship with Germany. They become allies on July fifth. Austrian wanted an apology from Serbia. But did not receive one. Austria-Hungary then declared war on Serbia. Therefore caused a giant war to break out (DBQ Project Essay Background).

Adding to this point, when it came to weapons, the trenches were not a good protection. Gases could easily run into the trenches harming most soldiers. There was hardly anything to do about it because if they got out of their trenches they would obviously be shot down. Secondly, the soldiers themselves weren't all that happy most of the time.

The ignition, or rather start of these events occurred on June 28th, 1914, when the Archduke of Austria – Hungary, Frances Ferdinand and his wife, were assassinated by a young Serbian militant, Gavrilo Princep. Austria – Hungary was ensured of support from the

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on June 28, 1914 (Brook-Shepherd 250), gave the Austro-Hungarians the justification needed to attack the Pan-Slavic threat. All that was known at the time was that the assassins were Slavs (Kohn 255) and that they had committed the crime in the hotbed of Pan-Slavic attention in Bosnia. It was later revealed that the murderer was associated with the afore-mentioned “Black Hand” group that advocated unification of all Slavs at whatever the cost (MacKenzie 61) The immediate significance of the murder was that it gave Austria-Hungary a pretext for suppressing the Pan-Slavic

One of the reasons the fighting was so horrible is that the British trenches were not as developed as the Germans. The British trench was more constructed to maintain readiness, rather than being prepared for different elements. Also, many toes were amputated because of being exposed to cold water. This is more commonly known as “trench foot”.

World War I was known for its very slow-paced battle and the stage of stalemate. After advancing from Germany on France, battle turned into trench warfare. Trench Warfare is a defensive strategy in a field where the army stays in rows of trenches that were placed along the Western Front during the war. The use of trenches during the Great War was a very significant tactic during battle, by making soldiers hidden but exposed just enough to be able to attack the enemy. On a daily basis, life in the trenches was very scary and filled with horror. Death was upon the soldiers even if there was nobody attacking them. There was a continuous shell fire that would randomly take the lives of many. Some men died on their first day in the trenches, and very few were lucky to make it out unharmed. Shell fire was not the only issue in the trenches. There were plenty of diseases and infections spreading around like a wildfire. Many soldiers got infections and diseases that could not be treated such as Trench Foot or Trench Fever. Although trench warfare acts as a great defensive and offensive measure, it became very dangerous because of the many different causes of death including shell fire, diseases, and infections.

A serbian terrorist group called the “Black Hand” killed Francis Ferdinand. After the assassination, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum or a final set of demands (457). In the ultimatum Austria-Hungary accused Serbia for not having a strict enough government and restricting the press. Also for allowing crimes to happen against the monarchy. The ultimatum demanded Serbia to stop all propaganda against their government and allow the Austria-Hungarian government representatives to suppress the subversive movement (Document 3).

Trenches were long, narrow ditches dug into the ground where soldiers lived day and night. There were many lines of German trenches on one side and many lines of the trenches on the allied side. In the middle there was no-man’s land, so called because it didn’t belong to either army. Soldiers crossed no- man’s land when they wanted to attack. Soldiers in the trenches did not get much sleep, but when they did it was in the afternoon during daylight and at night for only 1 hour at a time. They were woken up at different times, either to complete one of the daily chores or the go to fight. The system of trenches was employed because a German commander, General Erich von Falkenhayn, decided that his troops must at all costs hold onto those parts of France and Belgium that Germany still occupied. Falkenhayn ordered his men to dig trenches that would provide them with protection from the advancing French and British troops. The Allies soon realised that they could not break through this line and they also began to dig trenches.

To explain the main features of trench warfare we must look at all the points the trench design, the modern technology etc. Trenches were designed in a specific way. They were built in a zigzag fashion to accommodate for bombs destroying them. If a bomb did hit them then only a corner of the

Trench Warfare created a harsh and dangerous living environment for men. The trenches were under continuous threat from shells or other dangerous weapons and there were also many health risks which developed into larger problems for doctors. Apart from the unavoidable cold during the winters, trenches were often completely waterlogged and muddy infested with lice and rats.

Since Archduke Franz and Sophie were assassinated, tension between Austria - Hungary and Serbia has risen up. With this, Europe was furious with Serbia and wanted to get back at them. This had started many problems, both countries wanted to be the best and wanted to win at everything. With this, that’s how nationalism took a major part in many wars, where people had so much pride in their country and would do anything for it.

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

Trench warfare provided great cover and concealment on the battlefield, by providing various passageways of movement for troops. Trenches were designed to be protected behind rows of mines, channelization of barbed wire obstacles, with the sole purpose of slowing advancement and taking a toll on human lives.[footnoteRef:15] With war, humanity sees and experiences things that have never seen before. As in “Voices from the Battle of the Somme”, man is shell-shocked. Man describes multiple feelings, for example, the extreme effect of stress and visual images that an individual have never felt or seen before.[footnoteRef:16] Some stresses of war are the feelings of being dazed and confused, “I don’t know how I got back. I simply don’t know how I got back.”[footnoteRef:17] With the effect of being dazed and confused, there was a total lack of control on the battlefield, “It was every man for himself. We ran like hell.”[footnoteRef:18] The stress of war showed true feeling of how man was able to control emotions. Expressed emotions can affect how one reacts as we see in, “inclined to cry … I was somewhat ashamed of it.”[footnoteRef:19] Additionally, the use of technology during WW1 played a significant role, by changing the entire face of battle. The machine gun and the tank were new technologies that influenced WW1 the most. One machine gun could wipe out the entire line, “German machine-guns went through