The Causes and Effects of World War I 2
The Causes and Effects of World War IWorld War I was a military conflict from 1914 to 1918. It began as a local European war between Austria - Hungary and Serbia on July 28, 1914. It was transformed into a general European struggle by declaration of war against Russia on August 1, 1914 and eventually became a global war involving 32 nations. Twenty - eight of these nations, known as the Allies and the Associated Powers, and including Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the United States, opposed the coalition known as the Central Powers, consisting of Germany, Austria - Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria. The immediate cause of the war between Austria - Hungary and Serbia was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, at Sarajevo in Bosnia by Gavrilo Princip, a Serb nationalist. (Microsoft Encarta, 1996) On July 28 Austria declared war against Serbia, either because it felt Russia would not actually fight for Serbia, or because it was prepared to risk a general European conflict in order to put an end to the Greater Serbia movement. Russia responded by partially mobilizing against Austria. Germany warned Russia that continued mobilization would cause war with Germany, and it made Austria agree to discus
Italy, also left divided into many parts, some of which were under foreign control; and the Flemish - and French - speaking Belgians of the Austrian Netherlands, whom the congress placed under Dutch rule. Revolutions and strong nationalistic movements during the 19th century succeeded in canceling much of the retrogressive and antinationalist work of the congress. Belgium won its independence from the Netherlands in 1830, the unification of Italy was accomplished in 1861, and that of Germany in 1871. At the close of the century, however, the problem of nationalism was still unresolved in other areas of Europe, resulting in tensions both within the regions involved and between various European nations. One particularly noticeable nationalistic movement, Panslavism, figured heavily in the events preceding the war. (Microsoft Encarta, 1996) The outbreak of war in 1914 set in motion forces more gigantic than any previous war had seen. Two million Germans were on the march, the greater part of them against France, and there were another 3,000,000 trained men to back them up. France had nearly 4,000,000 trained men at call, although they relied on only 1,000,000 active troops in the first clash. Russia had more millions to draw upon than any, but their mobilization process was slow, a large part of their forces were in Asia and even their great potential strength was to a large extent canceled out by lack of munitions. (Captain Sir Basil Liddell Hart, 1984) Microsoft Encarta 96 (1996). [CD - ROM Disk]. Microsoft Corporation.In March 1916, however, a German submarine sank an unarmed French Channel steamer, the Sussex, with the loss of two Americans. President Wilson threatened to separate diplomatic relations with the German government unless it abandoned "its present methods of submarine warfare against passenger and freight-carrying vessels." In May, the German government pledged not to sink merchant vessels without warning and without saving the lives of those aboard. For nine months the pledge was kept generally to the satisfaction of the United States. Wilson's powerful diplomacy seemed to have averted war with Germany, and as the Democratic candidate in the presidential election of 1916, Wilson was elected over the Republican nominee, Charles Evans Hughes, largely because "he kept us out of war." The war, however, was near. s with Russia a possible change of the ultimatum to Serbia. Germany demanded, however, that Russia demobilize. Russia refused to do so, and on August 1, Germany declared war on Russia. (Microsoft Encarta, 1996) Hart, Captain Sir Basil Liddell. (1984). The Marshall Cavendish illustrated encyclopedia of World War I.
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Approximate Word count = 1800
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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