Why War Broke Out - 1914 Flashcards
What where the six key events that lead the break out of war?
28th June - Assassination of France Ferdinand and wife shot dead in Sarajevo.
28th July - Austria declares war on Serbia.
30th July - Russia moves troops to help Serbia.
1st August - Germany declares war on Russia(starts Schlieffen plan)
3rd August - Germany declares war on France.
4th August - German invades Belgium Britain declares war on Germany.
What was the Schlieffen Plan?
The German plan was to go through Belgium ( who had no real armed forces)
The surprise attack on France so they would be defeated in first few weeks.
Army would then move east to defeat Russia who in the mean time would be kept in check by Austria Hungary.
What went wrong with the Schlieffen plan that the Germans didn’t expect?
- Belgium (country of farmers) thought back slightly as they passed through.
- Frances who were assumed weak didn’t take weeks to beat and had to declare war on them.
- Russia meanwhile only took 10 days to get ready so Germany wasn’t ready to send army east yet.
- Britain was not expected to declare war on Germany.
What happened at the assassination at Sarajevo?
Heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary visits Bosnia for an inspection of weapons. While on the visit he is shot along with his wife by Gavrilo Princip apart of Black Hand Society of Serbia. Austria Hungary furious blames Serbia and Germany gives them support.
