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The Social And Political Causes Of World War I

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World War One, also known as “The Great War,” began in 1914 and ended in 1918. It is considered one of the bloodiest times of the twentieth century. Throughout these four years, nearly eleven million people died. Many believe it was the result of social and economic factors, but it was mainly the result of political factors. The war was initiated by a political dispute. On June 28th of 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip. There was no proof at the time that Serbia was guilty but the Austro-Hungarian Empire immediately suspected the Serbians and gave them an ultimatum: “stop being Serbians or we will start war”. But the ultimatum was rejected by the Serbians, and a month after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. During the war, there were different alliances. The Triple Entente were Russia, France, Britain, and Ireland. The Central Powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. In the Western Front, the German troops assaulted Liege in the first battle of World War One leaving death everywhere. They then advanced through Belgium towards France, but the French defeated the Germans. Battles fought at Verdun and the Battle of the Somme turned out to be very tragic; French as well as German troops suffered close to a million deaths in the Battle of Verdun. At the same time on the Eastern Front, the Russians tried to invade Germany but, with the help of

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