World War 1: Outbreak Flashcards
What are the broad reasons for WW1?
Industrialism and militarism.
Imperialism.
Nationalism.
The Alliance System.
The sheer rush of events in 1914.
Discuss militarism.
There was a naval race between Britain and Germany.
Discuss nationalism.
The South Slavs want independence from Austria-Hungary. Russian wants to help with Pan-Slavism.
Germany wants a ‘place in the sun’.
France wants Alsace-Lorraine back from Germany.
Discuss imperialism.
Tensions in the colonies
The Boer War (Germans appeared to support Boers)
General rivalries.
Bismarck’s famous quote about the Balkans (1898)
“If there is another war in Europe it will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.”
Outline the sequence of events from the assassination to the declarations of war.
REGIONAL CONFLICT
June 28: Assassination in Sarajevo
July 5: ‘Blank cheque’
July 23 am: Russia orders ‘period prepatory to war’
July 23 pm: Serbia orders mobilization of its army
July 23 pm: Serbia rejects ultimatum
——
July 28: Austria declares war on Serbia
July 29-30: Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas telegraph exchange
SCHLIEFFEN PLAN
August 1: Germany declares war on Russia
GLOBAL WAR
August 5: Great Britain declares war on Germany
Discuss the different ways the countries were all to blame.
Germans: ‘strike now’ mentality, believed that the Schlieffen plan would work.
Russia: early mobilization of troops.
France: also had rapid attack plan.
Britain: squash German ambitions for world power.
Other factors:
Public enthusiasm or war (Home by Christmas!)
Diplomatic panic.
Lack of understanding of what kind of war it would be.
The relentless logic of the entangling alliances and military plans
