Introduction
In the years leading to Word War I (WWI), the great powers of Europe divided into two alliances, namely: The Triple Entente comprising of France, Britain and Russia, which were united by fear and suspicion of Germany which was the biggest superpower in Europe at the time, and The Triple Alliance consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary; which was clinging onto a fragile empire, and Italy seeking gains of French expanse.
Causes
It is apparent that "War happens when there is an unbalance in power" (Professor Magagna). Based on this ideology, the unbalance in power was the chief causative agent of the war. The dispute leading to WWI emerged on the 28 th of June 1914 in the city of Sarajevo in Austria-Hungary. On this day, Archduke Franz Ferdinand the heir to the Austria Hungarian throne was assassinated by a 19 year old Sarajevo nationalist, Gavrilo. Austria Hungary then accused its neighboring rival, Serbia of aiding the assassin and served them with an ultimatum demanding humiliating concessions which Serbia declines. On 23 rd July 1914, Austria Hungary declared war on Serbia and on 28 th July, their forces launched attacks on Belgrade.
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Nicholas II, the then emperor of Russia, became compelled to assist Serbia owing to the friendly relations between both countries, and on 30 th July, he ordered the mobilization of the Russian army. Concurrently, Wilhelm II the German emperor had promised Austrian Hungary his support and at that point he acknowledged the impending conflict between German and France.
German mobilization is, therefore, realized on the 1 st of August 1914, and at this point it appears that German had declared war on Russia, and the Germans knew that this meant Germany would also have to go to war with Russia`s ally, France. A Schlieffen plan is developed by Germany to counter both nations, which entailed moving into France and destroying French armies in Paris leading to a quick victory, then moved east to deal with Russian forces whose army was expected to take longer to mobilize. Also the Turkish Ottoman Empire later emerged and declared war on Russia.
Germany then finally declares war on France leading the entire Europe into a conflict that encompassed 6 million men. Italy, however, chose to remain neutral since the terms of the triple alliance were not binding. Britain is France` ally and at first there is no certainty regarding whether it will join the war, however, when German forces invade Belgium whose neutrality Britain is certain of, an ultimatum is issued from London for the Germans to withdraw although it is ignored and at that point Britain declares war on Germany. Later on, Italy joined its allies by declaring war Austria Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Germany.
Timelines and Paths
World War I began on July 28 th 1914. A number of battles encapsulated during this time such as the battle of the Mons that occurred on 23 rd August 1914, the battle of the Marne 6-12 th September 1914, the battle of Ypres occurring on October 1914, the Battle of the Heligoland Bight which happened on 28 th August 1914 (first war won by British forces), the battle of Tannenberg, which occurred between 26 th and 30 th August (brilliant Germany victory leading to 90000 prisoners and destroying an entire Russian army)
The second British victory occurred at the battle of Masurian Lakes which transpired between 7 th and14 th September 1914, forcing the Russian army into retreat. Later on, Austria Hungary`s Battle of Cer with Serbia between 15 th and 24 th August 1914 suffered a massive defeat. Their attack on German territory also resulted in a huge defeat leading to the siege of przemysl on September 1914. The battle of Lodz then emerges on November 1914 between Britain and Germany although there is no clear winner.
German powerful East Asia Squadron succumbs during the battle of Coronel, on 1 st November 1914. On 8 th December 1914, the Germans ran into the British, and the battle of the Falkland Islands took shape which Britain won. Consequently, on 16 th December, the English coast raided by Germans leading to numerous deaths of innocent civilians.
In 1915, German advanced in the east and one of the events around this period is the Gorlice-Tarnow offensive which occurred on 2 nd May 1915. Also, the United States Passenger R.M.S Lusitania is sunk on the 7 th of May 1915 leading to the death of 1198 people onboard the ship. On 9 th May 1915, the second battle of Artois is launched and the French launch the main attack in Vimy Ridge while the British establish supporting attacks at Aubers Ridge. Italy swayed by the French and British promises of gaining territory joins the war by declaring way on Austria Hungary and also the Ottoman Empire, and on 23 rd June 1915 the Italian army encounter their first battle dubbed the battle of Isonzo which they ended up losing.
In 1916 industrialized warfare emerged with naval blockades of Britain transpiring with an intention of creating food shortage in Germany. The battle of Mojkovac on 6 th of January 1916 is also one of the first war events during this year, where Montenegro is forced to surrender. Russians also launched the Erzurum offensive on 9 th January leading them to capture the sea port of Trebizond. 1917 was the breaking point whereby Germany opted to resume unrestricted submarine warfare on 1 st February prompting America to join the war. The German parliament passes the peace resolution on 19 th July although it is ignored by German command. In 1918, some of the battles that occurred are the: Battle of Cantigny on 28 th May, Belleau Wood on 1 st June, the battle of the Piave River which occurred on 15 th June and the battle of Amiens on 8 th August. The latter, which led the Germans to begin surrendering. An Armistice is later on signed by the Ottoman Empire on 30 th October, with Austria-Hungary also doing the same on 3 rd November. On11 th of November 1918, a German delegation signs an Armistice with the allies though fighting continues until the eleventh hour of that same day. German General, Lettew-Vorbeck also surrenders on 14 th November.
Consequences
The First World War had a lot of fatal consequences for all who participated. First of all, it led to the loss of numerous lives with many of the people being left crippled and scarred for life. What has now come to be referred as post-traumatic stress disorder was also experienced by a great majority of soldiers. Besides, the war caused extended durations of suffering due to lack of food supplies as a result of the interception of ships by the enemies. Also due to this conflict, many nations were left scarred and changed. For example, France experienced a lot of property damage since many of the battles took place in the country. In addition to this, a lot of resources had to be spent in rebuilding the cities and towns so that they appeared as they were prior to the war.
Before WWI the Great Britain was one of the most powerful nations on earth offering services to the rest of the countries. This, nevertheless changed after the war. A lot of finances were incurred by Britain to an extent that it was left with a significant amount of debt that it had to pay to the United States of America. As a result, Great Britain lost its previous glory as the world`s funding nation and that position was taken up by America. Additionally, women in Britain also made demands regarding their right to vote (suffrage) which could no longer be denied.
The multinational divisions that occurred in Austria-Hungary greatly affected the nation leading it to collapse. The aftermath of the war was such that the map of Europe was altered with the Romanov, Hohenzollern, Habsburg, and Ottoman empires collapsing after suffering a massive defeat. Serbia, on the other hand, was left in ruins as most of the victorious nations passed through the nation as the moved to Hungary.
Germany had joined the war as the world`s greatest superpower owing to the great unity existent within the nation. The war, however, greatly devastated the once great nation, and by 1918, the future appeared to be uncertain for the country. This later on seemed to be one of the reasons that prompted World War II. Generally, one of the greatest negative effects of the war was the loss of up to 3 million soldiers from all the nations that participated.
This, notwithstanding, some nations such as Japan which played a very small role in this war greatly benefited. Britain gave Japan several small Islands previously under German control and this appears to be Japan`s emergence as a world superpower. The war, nevertheless, made it impossible for European nations to export goods to Japan leading the U.S to become the main supplier. Finally, it is apparent that the greatest consequences of WWI were economical, and nations were, therefore, left to establish liberal forms of governments which would work towards the prevention of such an occurrence in future.
