Welcome back to History 1o1 by NBO.

This week we will be talking about World War I, often

known as the First World War or the Great War, was a
global struggle that engulfed the majority of the European
countries, as well as Russia, the United States, the Middle
East, and other areas, between 1914 and 1918. The Central
Powers—primarily Germany, Austria-Hungary, and
Turkey—were opposed against the Allies—primarily
France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and, starting in
1917, the United States—during the conflict. The Central
Powers were vanquished at the conclusion of it. In terms
of death toll, mayhem, and damage, the conflict was
essentially unparalleled.

One of the major turning points in 20th-century global

history was World War I. The Bolshevik Revolution in
Russia, the overthrow of four powerful imperial dynasties
(in Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey), and
the subsequent instability of European society all
contributed to the outbreak of World War II.

the beginning of the war

Serbian nationalists returned to the idea of "liberating" the
South Slavs of Austria-Hungary after the two Balkan Wars
(1912–13, 1913) had greatly enhanced Serbia's prestige. In
addition to leading the secret society Union or Death as
"Apis," Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijevi, chief of Serbia's
military intelligence, was devoted to pursuing this
pan-Serbian goal.

The Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand, the presumed

heir to the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph, was set to
travel to Bosnia on a military inspection trip when Apis
learned of it. Apis reasoned that the death of the Archduke
would benefit the Serbs' cause. The Austrian government
was alerted of the conspiracy by Nikola Pai, the Serbian
prime minister and an adversary of Apis, but his letter was
too discreetly phrased to be comprehended.

Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb, shot Franz Ferdinand and

his morganatic wife Sophie, duchess of Hohenberg, dead
at 11:15 AM on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, the capital of
Bosnia. Franz, Graf (count) Conrad von Hötzendorf, the
head of the Austro-Hungarian army staff, and Leopold,
Graf von Berchtold, the foreign minister, regarded the
crime as an opportunity to punish Serbia and so raise
Austria-standing Hungary's in the region. William II had
already promised Conrad (in October 1913) that Germany
would help Austria-Hungary if it decided to conduct a
preventative war against Serbia. This guarantee was
verified in the week that followed the assassination, just
before William left on his yearly vacation to the North
Cape off the coast of Norway on July 6.
Austria made the decision to give Serbia an unworkable
ultimatum before declaring war, counting on Germany to
discourage Russia from becoming involved. The
ultimatum's delivery was delayed until the evening of July
23 even though its terms were finally agreed upon on July
19 because by that time, French President Raymond
Poincaré and his Premier René Viviani, who had left for a
state visit to Russia on July 15, would be returning home
and unable to coordinate an immediate response with
their Russian allies. On July 24, the day the delivery was
announced, Russia proclaimed that Serbia could not be
crushed by Austria-Hungary.

On July 25, Serbia responded to the ultimatum, accepting

the majority of its demands while objecting to two of them,
namely the removal of unnamed Serbian officials at
Austria-request Hungary's and the participation of
Austria-Hungarian officials in legal actions against
anti-Austria-Hungarian organizations on Serbian soil.
Serbia offered to have the dispute arbitrated
internationally, but Austria-Hungary quickly broke off
diplomatic ties and ordered a partial mobilization.

William returned from his trip on July 27, and on July 28

he learnt how Serbia had responded to the ultimatum. He
immediately gave the German Foreign Office the order to
inform Austria-Hungary that there was no longer a need
for war and that it could make do with a short-term
occupation of Belgrade. But in the meanwhile, Berchtold
had received such support from the German Foreign Office
that on July 27, he had already convinced Franz Joseph to
approve war against Serbia. In reality, war was declared on
July 28. The next day, Belgrade was bombarded by
Austro-Hungarian artillery. Then, on July 30, while
Austria-Hungary was riposting normally with an order of
mobilization on its Russian border, Russia issued a partial
mobilization against Austria-Hungary.

Russia commanded a nationwide mobilization. Germany,

which had been expecting since July 28 that Austria-war
Hungary's against Serbia might be "limited" to the Balkans
despite prior warning indications from Great Britain, was
now disappointed in eastern Europe. Germany issued two
ultimatums on July 31: one demanding France to pledge
neutrality in the case of a conflict with Germany and the
other requiring Russia to suspend its mobilization within
24 hours.

Predictably, Russia and France disregarded these

demands. Germany and France both issued general
mobilization orders on August 1 in response to Germany's
declaration of war against Russia. The following day,
Germany dispatched soldiers to Luxembourg and
requested Belgium grant unfettered access for German
forces to penetrate its unoccupied territory. Germany
formally declared war on France on August 3.

Belgium was invaded by German soldiers on the night of

August 3–4. Then, on August 4, Great Britain declared war
on Germany, despite having little concern for Serbia and
no explicit commitment to fight for either France or
Russia. Instead, Belgium was the country that Great
Britain was specifically committed to defending.

On August 5, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia. On

August 6, Serbia declared war on Germany. On August 7,
Montenegro declared war on Germany. On August 12,
France and Great Britain declared war on
Austria-Hungary. On August 23, Japan declared war on
Germany. On August 25, Austria-Hungary declared war on
Japan. On August 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on
Belgium.

On February 26, 1914, Romania had reaffirmed its covert

anti-Russian alliance with the Central Powers, but now
had made the decision to stay neutral. Italy had ratified
the Triple Alliance on December 7, 1912, but could now
present official justifications for disobeying it. To start,
Italy was not required to defend its allies in an aggressive
conflict;
Second, the alliance was explicitly not against England in
the original 1882 pact.

Russia, France, and Great Britain signed the Treaty of

London on September 5, 1914, pledging not to negotiate
separate peace treaties with the Central Powers. They may
then be referred to as the Allied, Entente, or just the Allies.

The people of Europe largely welcomed the start of the war

in August 1914 with optimism and joy, and it sparked a
wave of patriotic fervor and celebration. Few people
expected that a conflict between the great European
powers could last for so long or be so devastating, and the
majority thought that their country's side would win in a
matter of months. Either out of patriotism, as a defensive
conflict necessitated by national need, or out of idealism,
as a conflict to protect right against power, the honor of
treaties, and international morality, many embraced the
war.

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