World War One Research Paper

The nation responsible for the onset of World War I is Austria-Hungary because of the territorial and political stances with Serbia that provoked the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. After Ferdinand's death, Austria-Hungary initiated a call for support to the Germans about the problems in the Balkans, resulting in Germany confirming their assistance by issuing a “Blank Check.” Austria later gave Serbia a list of ultimatums that consisted of extreme demands in hopes of Serbia rejecting it. Since Serbia is a country where Slavic nationalism was idealized, it refused the idea of Austria gaining the right to control the investigation of Franz Ferdinand's assassination and have authority over the state of Serbia and this did in

To begin with, the pre-war alliance in Europe intensified the long-lasting tensions between countries. In 1879, Germany and Austria-Hungary made an alliance against Russia. In 1881, Austria Hungary allied with Serbia against Russia. The Triple Alliance reveals the alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. On the other hand, Russia, France, and Britain agreed to become the Triple Entente. (Doc 1) The alliance clearly divided the countries in Europe into two groups, each of which hated the others very much. (Doc 4) The

One of the first alliances was a secret political alliance named the Dual Alliance in 1879 between Germany and Austria-Hungary, to defend themselves from Russia. This alliance was later updated to the Triple alliance when Italy sought out an alliance after losing their North African ambitions to France. In the alliance, the countries agreed that Italy would assist Germany if France attacked them and would also stay neutral if Russia attacked Austria-Hungary. The alliance was periodically updated, but ended in 1915. Austria-Hungary also made a secret political alliance with Serbia two years later, this alliance is called the Austria-Serbian Alliance. It made Austria-Hungary virtually the sole market for agricultural products from Serbia and thereby dominant. As the Central Powers gain alliances, so did the allies. In 1894 Russian wanted an alliance against Austria-Hungary and France wanted an alliance against Germany. Thus, creating the France-Russian alliance between Russia and France. Three years later Russia also joined forces with Britain in the Anglo-Russian Entente, to end the controversial dispute between the countries. France also joined the Entente in the same year, because of their worsening relationship with Germany. This alliance is called the Triple Entente. Altogether, these six alliances played a major role in starting World War 1, by interconnecting the countries together.

World War I was built up by many things; however the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo June 1914 was what started the war. Austria-Hungary's reaction to the death of their heir was in the works for about three weeks. The Austro-Hungarians took this as an opportunity to exercise its authority upon the Serbians, wanting to crush any nationalist movement there. This was also an effort in cementing Austria-Hungary's influence in the Balkans. It did so by declaring an ultimatum to Serbia which, the extent of the demands was that the assassins be brought to justice. Sir Edward Grey, the British Secretary, commented that he had "never before seen one State address to another independent State a document of so formidable a character." Austria-Hungary expected that Serbia would reject the terms of the ultimatum, thereby giving them a reason for launching a war against Serbia.

Archduke Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated on June 28, 1914. This assassination sparked WW1. After Ferdinand’s assassination, Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia and declared war on them. The Russians allied with the Serbians and then the Russians brought France and Britain into the mix. The Germans then sided with Austria- Hungary. The week after his assassination, Russia, Serbia, Belgium, France, and Great Britain were up against Germany and Austria-Hungary.

In 1914 Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Serbian Black Hand, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, instigating an immediate cause of World War I. As the third largest European power by area, the Empire was a powerful presence leading up to World War I, with a population of over fifty million people and an army of 400,000 soldiers. The conflicts among European powers and the disorder in the Balkans in the 19th and 20th centuries led to a situation in which Franz Ferdinand’s assassination proved to be the tipping point in the fragile relationship between Austria-Hungary and the South Slav nationalities that threatened the Empire both internally and externally. His death caused a costly war in terms of both lives and the economy in the South Slav region and further undermined the stability of Serbia. Princip assassinated the heir to the throne in an attempt to spark a revolution that would result in Slavic independence from Austria-Hungary. However, before his death, Franz Ferdinand supported economic development for Slavs within the Austro-Hungarian Empire and favored more equal measures toward the South Slav nationalities. Thus, Franz Ferdinand had served as a roadblock to the extreme militant wing within Austria-Hungary. With the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Serbian extremists damaged the opportunity for more moderate Slavic peoples within Austria-Hungary to achieve greater autonomy under Austro-Hungarian rule since Ferdinand

After the assassination, an ally to Austria, Kaiser Wilhelm and Francis Joseph, nephew to archduke Francis Ferdinand, call for retribution and reprisal against Serbia. Francis Joseph’s military chief of staff expressed concerns for Austria and other European allies in a statement saying “Austria-Hungary must draw the sword against Serbia…It is not a question of a knightly duel with ‘poor little’ Serbia, as she likes to call herself, not of punishment for the assassination. It is much more the highly practical importance of the prestige of a Great Power…The Monarchy has been seized by the throat, and has to choose between allowing itself to be strangled and making a last effort to prevent its destruction.” Alliances then served their function. Relying back on the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria, and Italy), Germany and Kaiser Wilhelm begin to back Austria and her interest against Serbia. Serbia’s ally, Russia, is backed by the Triple Entente (Russia, France, and Great Britain). What could have been a small localized war where Serbian and Austrian forces battled for their cause turned into a global event on August 01, 1914 when Germany declared war on Russia. This served as a catalyst for further war to be declared forming the Central

In June of 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary is assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. He is assassinated because of the immense dislike of Franz because of his very conservative and even prejudice views toward Serbs and Slavs. This was a time of nationalism and decolonization, so this led to the Serbians wanting their own nation apart from Austria Hungary. While there is tension between the many ethnic backgrounds in Austria Hungary, one thing that most can agree on is their hate for the Archduke and his family. Because of the building hate and need for change in the country, some believed Franz needed to go.

On July 28, 1914, the Great War was declared between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Prior to this date, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, causing extreme tension between the two countries.

One month after the Archduke’s assassination – on July 28 1914 – Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia with the backing of Germany. Germany then declared war on Russia on August 1, and on France on August 3. On August 4 1914, the German troops marched on France and the route they took went through Belgium. Since Britain had agreed to maintain the neutrality of Belgium, they immediately declared war on Germany.

This resulted in countries with little involvement being dragged into war. Formed in 1822, the Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. The Triple Entente formed in 1907 consisted of Britain, France, and Russia. After Austria declared war on Serbia on July 28th, Serbia called on her old friend Russia, with whom they had diplomatic relations with, for help.

On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Princip was motivated by his hatred of the Archduke and his political views. However, he did not know that his actions would spark a conflict that would quickly become one of the bloodiest wars in human history. However, Franz Ferdinand was not perfect, as he had opposed Serbia’s wishes of independence from Austria as well as called Serbs and Hungarians “pigs”, “thieves” as well as many other degrading names. Despite the fact that he dehumanized Serbs and Hungarians, Franz Ferdinand’s assassination was not justified because he had a family, tensions were already high in Europe, and his death led to World War One.

On Sunday 28th June, 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, part of a Serbian Terrorist Group, called the Black Hand at Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovnia.

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

The Triple Alliance, which was also known as the Triplice was a secret political and military alliance between the Germany Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed on 20 May, 1882 and renewed periodically until World War I. Germany and Austria-Hungary had been closely allied since 1879 while Italy desired support against France shortly after it lost its North African ambitions to the French. Each nation promised mutual support in the event of an attack by any other great power.