Prelude To World War I Flashcards
1
Q
What happened on June 28 1914
A
- The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria [ 18 December 1863 - 28 June 1914 - 50 Years Old ] occurred on this day
- He and his wife Sophie [ Duchess of Hohenberg ] were assassinated in Sarajevo [ Capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina ]
- They were assassinated by then 19 year old Gavrilo Princip [ A member of the Separatist and Revolutionist Group “ Young Bosnia “ ]
- This was the little match that ignited the bonfire of the First World War
- However, it took a full month [ 28 July 1914 ] after the assassination for World War I / The Great War / The War To End All Wars to be declared
- Although completely accurate records are impossible, WW I caused close to 40 Million casualties [ Killed or Wounded ] including nearly 10 Million dead soldiers
2
Q
Who were the leading powers in Europe prior to World War I
A
- Prussia + Unified Germany emerged as the leading power in Europe after beating France in 1871 [ Franco - Prussian War, 1870 - 1871 ] under Otto Von Bismarck [ Prussian Chancellor ]
- By 1914, Berlin was the cultural capital of Europe where people used to go to study anything serious
- Thus, many people ( Not only the Germans ) at the time dreamed of a “ German Europe “ or a “ Multinational German Commonwealth “ for the following reasons :-
1) This “ Commonwealth “ can protect itself from England and USA
2 This “ Commonwealth “ can bring in raw materials from France and Scandinavia and would have it’s own Coal and Steel Production
3) This “ Commonwealth “ can try to bring in Colonies from North Africa and Middle East where there was Oil
- At the time, Africa and India were being run from Europe anyways
- China and The Ottoman Empire looked ready to collapse
- Germany only really needed to work with it’s Southern Neighbour The Austria- Hungary Empire who they were already allies with since 1879
3
Q
The Austria Hungary Empire
A
- There was a big problem at the time with The Austria-Hungary Empire which was that they were shaky
- There were many reasons for that but the biggest reason was mismanagement
- While the rest of Europe was going through a period of Nationalism ( Loyalty and Devotion to a Nation ), The Austria-Hungary Empire had more than 15 different National Anthems
- Franz Joseph I was the Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary from 2nd December 1848 up until his death in 1916
- He was 84 years old prior to World War I and he was very out of place in Europe and made some very questionable decisions
- One such instance was in 1908 when he made the decision to Annex ( To take possession of an area of land or a country usually by force or without permission ) Bosnia and Herzegovina which at the time was part of The Ottoman Empire
- This lead to protests from Essentially all of The Empires but especially from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s neighbour Serbia. There was a lot of Anti Austrian Sentiments spreading especially around Slavic Nations and The Balkans
- What Vienna ( Capital of Austria ) should have done was to essentially create a ‘ Pan Slavic ‘ Nation under Vienna which might have cooled things off but they essentially ended up doing nothing
- For years, Vienna had been trying to control the minority nations by essentially paying them off to the extent that they had no money left to invest into their Armies
- Austria spent less money on their Armies than England did even though The Austrian Army was ten times the size
- Ultimately, they couldn’t afford to keep trying to buy them off anymore and they decided to do nothing and hope that there would be no catastrophic events ( That Didn’t Work Out So Well )
- The Slavic Countries are as follows :-
East Slavs - Belarus, Russia and Ukraine
West Slavs - Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia
South Slavs - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia
4
Q
Alliances and Enemies Prior To World War I
A
- The Triple Alliance was formed in May 1882 between :-
1) Germany
2) Austria-Hungary
3) Italy ( However, nobody really counted on them to help in case of a War )
- Germany and France had historically been at odds with each other but even more so after The Franco-Prussian War ( Prussia Walked All Over France In This War )
- France and The United Kingdom were allies
- However, in the early 20th Century, there were French Contingency Plans afoot to invade The United Kingdom and vice versa
- When Otto Von Bismark was running Germany, he cultivated an alliance with Russia but that was long gone
- Much of the German Elite now look down on Russia who were now allies with France when German Industrial and Military Powers got going
- Thus, The Triple Entente was formed between :-
1) France
2) Russia
3) The United Kingdom
- Germany was in alliance with The Ottoman Empire
- Russia supported Serbia and The Slavs which meant that they were enemies to Germany and The Ottoman Empire
5
Q
Germany and The United Kingdom Prior to World War I
A
- The German Empire and The United Kingdom of Great Britain admired each other Industrially, Culturally and Militarily
- Germany especially admired Great Britain’s :-
1) Vast Overseas Empire
2) Navy ( The Greatest The World Had Ever Seen At The Time )
- Many Germans were convinced that Great Britain’s Navy was the key to the Success, Power and Empire of Great Britain
- As British Historian Norman Stone quoted :-
” The last thing Germany needed was a problem with Great Britain and the greatest mistake of the 20th century was made when Germany built a navy designed to attack her. “
- The Kaiser ( Emperor ) of Germany at the time ignored the fact that The German People did not want war with anyone and admired and respect The British built a Navy for one purpose only which was to challenge Britain
- Winston Churchill who at the time was Britain’s First Lord of The Admiralty suggested a mutual pause on Naval Building reasoning that for The British Empire, a powerful Navy was a Necessity while for The Germans, it was a Luxury
- Kaiser Wilhelm II ignored Winston Churchill and built up The German Navy which used up approximately 1/3 of The German Defence Budget
- This meant two things for Germany :-
1) Germany could not afford a Two Front War with France and Russia if such a thing should happen
2) There was a bunch of Giant Battleships sitting in harbours in Germany mocking Great Britain
- During World War I, there was substantial Naval Warfare between Great Britain and Germany especially Submarine Warfare
- But these Battleships did not do much during the war and was just sitting in the harbours taking up space until the crew finally mutinied
- Although The German Navy had much more armour and were more impressive, they just sat there mocking Great Britain
- Great Britain’s response was to outbuild The German Navy 2 to 1 and to make further defensive arrangements with France and Russia
6
Q
Serbia Prior To World War I
A
- Serbia only gained independence from The Ottoman Empire in 1878 and it is intensely Nationalistic ( Despite their population being less than 5 million people ) with their catchphrase :-
” Where Dwells A Serb, There Is Serbia “
- In search of allies, Serbia alienated a lot of Europe by the brutal and often violated repressions of it’s own minority people especially The Muslims in the same way The Serbs were violated by Austria-Hungary, thus they did not get much sympathy
- In addition, endless Balkan Violence was nothing new to the people of Europe ( Another Murder, Another Bombing in that far off corner in Europe where such things just seem to happen )
- An example of this was in 1903 when King Alexander and Queen Draga were murdered in their private apartment by a group of young army officers and their bodies were mutilated
- One of the men responsible was Dragutin Dimitrijevic who became a national hero when he was wounded by Royal Guards
- He was also known simply as “ Apis “ and had been a Founding Member and leader of The Black Hand ( A Secret Military Society ) who organised the hit on The King and Queen
- By the beginning of World War I, there were thousands of members of The Black Hand ( Many of them were Serbian Army Officers and Government Officials )
- The Black Hand did pretty much what you would expect from a Terrorist Organisation such as Plan Political Murders, Train and Equip Guerillas and so forth
- They got a big boost in 1912 and 1913 from the Two Balkan Wars
7
Q
The Moroccan Crises
A
- There were 2 Moroccan Crises one in 1905 and another in 1911
- In General, both Crises involved The Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany trying to drive a wedge between England and France and hopefully even forming an alliance between Germany and England
- However, they succeeded in doing the opposite and made the alliance between England and France even stronger and driving a deeper wedge between England and Germany
- Another result of this was that France took control of Morocco
- At the same time, Egypt was under control of Britain
8
Q
Italy Overtakes Libya
A
- Italy saw Ottoman Land being seemingly handed out
- Italy thought correctly that because of The Moroccan Crises, Germany, Britain and France would not get involved
- Thus, Italy went to War with The Ottoman Empire
- The war lasted less than a month and Italy took control of Libya and the dominoes start to fall
9
Q
The Balkan Wars
A
- The Balkan States seeing how easily Italy ( Considered The Weakest of The Powers ) could easily beat The Ottoman Empire decided to get together and attack The Ottoman Empire in The First Balkan War
- Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro with Russian Influence together formed The Balkan League and succeeded in driving The Ottomans out of The Balkans entirely for the first time in 500 years
- It was a big loss for The Ottomans
- However, 1 Month after The War, Bulgaria, unsatisfied with the way the conquered territories were split up turned around and attacked Serbia and Greece
- Serbia occupied Albania in The 2nd Balkan War and finally had a seaport of their own but Austria issued an ultimatum to remove all Serbian Forces from Albania within 8 days and Serbia complied
- This whole war was a complete mess but here is the results :-
1) Serbia pretty much doubled up their territory in The Balkan Wars even without Albania. However, they would pay a terrible price for this as between 1912 and 1918, 1 out of every 6 Serbs ( Men, Women and Children ) would die violently
- After the collapse of The Balkan League and Russia’s clearly Pro Serbian Position in The Second Balkan War, Russia was left with only Serbia as an ally in the entire area
- Thus, Russia wouldn’t have much chose but to unconditionally support Serbia in 1914
- Both Austria-Hungary and Germany were worried by Serbia’s growth in both size and stature and since a lot of Germans saw Serbia as Russian Satellite, Austria were ready to put its foot down on Serbian Growth and Slavic Nationalism
10
Q
Russia Prior To World War I
A
- After losing a war to Japan in 1905 in The Russo-Japanese War and being unable to prevent the Bosnian Annexation in 1908, The Tsar ( Emperor ) in Russia was willing and ready to put his foot down to prevent any further loss of face for Russia
- And that’s when we come to June 1914, all of these sides were playing off one against the other
- In the epicenter of it all, in the Balkans was an organisation that used Terrorism and Political Murder to try and achieve its goal
- And then Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria went to Sarajevo
11
Q
Who Was Archduke Franz Ferdinand
A
- He was born in 1863 and he was one of Austria’s 70 Archdukes
- He became very wealthy just before his teens when his cousin died and he was chosen to inherit a vast estate
- In 1889, the suicide of his cousin Crown Prince Rudolf changed his destiny enormously
- This left Franz Ferdinand’s Father to be the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary but he immediately renounced his position leaving Franz Ferdinand next in line to rule The Empire
- He was still in this position when he did by which time Emperor Franz Josef was 84 years old and Franz Ferdinand was 50
- Not many people actually liked Franz Ferdinand apart from his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg
- Sophie was a Bohemian Aristocrat but without actual Royal Blood and so The Imperial House decided that neither she nor her children can ever inherit The Throne
- This also meant that they weren’t much accepted by The Austrian Aristocracy in spite of his position as The Next Emperor and a lot of people went out of their way to treat The Archduke and The Duchess badly
- Franz Ferdinand also had a passion for Hunting apparently recording over 250,000 creatures killed throughout his life
- Franz Ferdinand was known to be very conservative and straightforward :-
1) He hated The Hungarians
2) He thought The Slavs were less than Humans and referred to The Serbs as Pigs
3) He was very strongly Catholic which carried with it Anti Jewish and Anti Jesuit
4) He wanted the preservation of The Austrian Empire
12
Q
Who Was Gavrilo Princip
A
- He was a member of The Young Bosnians which was one of the several violent secret societies in The Balkans and one who decided to kill Archduke Franz Ferdinand when he announced his June Visit to Bosnia in March 1914
- In May, Princip and 2 associates went to Belgrade ( Capital of Serbia ) where they were provided with 4 Pistols and 6 Bombs by The Black Hand and Princip had some shooting practice at a City Park which was common during those times
- At the end of May, Princip and company took an 8 day trip to Sarajevo ( Capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina ) planning to kill The Archduke
13
Q
The Murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
A
- It is important to note that The Archduke himself and The Authorities were aware of the danger of some sort of murder attempt since these sorts of things were pretty common in The Empire especially in The Balkans
- The following is a quote from Archduke Franz Ferdinand the day he began his journey to Sarajevo and his car overheated :-
” Our journey starts with an extremely promising omen. Here our car burns and down there they will throw bombs at us. “
- So, the evening before they were supposed to arrive in Sarajevo, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie surprised everyone by turning up early just on impulse and they had a really nice time wandering around time which was a pretty exotic place at the time
- Later that evening came one of the great foreshadowing moments of all time when a member of The Bosnian Parliament who had urged Franz Ferdinand and Sophie to cancel the whole trip for reasons of safety was presented to Sophie who said the following :-
” Things do not always turn out the way you say they will … Wherever we have been, everyone, down to the last Serb has greeted us with such great friendliness, politeness and true warmth that we are very happy with our visit, “
- The Parliament Member named Sunaric replied the following :-
” Your Highness, I pray to God than when I have the honour of meeting you again tomorrow night, you can repeat those words. “
- They had a big banquet that night and late the next morning which was coincidentally their 14th Wedding Anniversary, The Archdukal Motorcade left Sarajevo Station
- No fewer than 7 Young Bosnian Hitmen were deployed on the Town’s Bridge’s one of which The Archduke had to cross
- One of The Young Bosnians threw A Bomb at his car but it bounced back off the hood before exploding wounding 2 of The Archduke’s Men
- The Motorcade drove on to The Town Hall and listened to a bunch of the usual speeches and then Franz Ferdinand changed his plans and decided to visit the men who got hurt by the Bomb to see if they were okay so he wanted to go to the hospital
- But there was a lot of confusion over the new route and who’d been told what and who hadn’t been told what and so when The Archduke’s driver turned off The Apple Quay, The General sharing Ferdinand’s car told the driver to back up and continue on Apple Quay
- The driver stopped the car ( Which Had No Functioning Reverse Gear ) right next to where Gavrilo Princip was standing
- So Princip raised his pistol and fired twice from only a few away
- Sophie died instantly and Franz Ferdinand’s last words were :-
” Sophie, Sophie, don’t die, stay alive for our children ! “
- Franz Ferdinand died shortly after
14
Q
What Were The Immediate Results Of Franz Ferdinand’s Death
A
- Word of the assassination spread instantly throughout Europe
- In Bosnia, by the end of July, more than 5,000 Serbs had been jailed many of whom were later hanged when the war broke out
- Princip was put in prison being 27 days too young to receive the Death Penalty under Austrian Laws
- There was very little mourning even in Vienna ( Capital of Austria ) for the unloved Franz Ferdinand and his funeral service lasted only 15 minutes
- However, there was one thing which became apparent only years later
- Princip of The Serbs or The Black Hand or whoever was behind the murder really really really got the wrong guy
- Franz Ferdinand for all of his backward beliefs had strong opinions on 2 important things :-
1) In contrast to most of the empire, he absolutely did not want any war with Russia and stated repeatedly that he would do anything in his power to prevent it
2) Since he put the empire above his personal beliefs and to make the empire work once again, he was sympathetic to the idea of making The Bipartite State of Austria and Hungary into a Tripartite State of Austria, Hungary and a Union of The Slavic Nations as the third part of the empire
- So when a Serb killed Franz Ferdinand, it was a killing that was not only against Serbian Interests but since the Austrian Empire used the killing as a justification to Invade Serbia even if it meant war with Russia, Princip killed the one and only person in the empire who was determined and able to prevent that war - Franz Ferdinand
