World War I Nick R. Priessnitz

 In 1871, the ranks of the great powers included Germany, France, Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Italy

 Germany: By 1871, German’s chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, regarded Germany a satisfied power  Germany had achieved national unification and had no further territorial ambitions (in Western Europe) – Germany’s goal at this point was to promote its economic development and maintain its position as the most powerful state on the European continent  Peace and stability in Europe was necessary, in Bismarck’s view, by isolating France

 France: Desired to regain access to Alsace and Lorraine (which it had lost to Germany) – check the next slide for a map of Alsace and Lorraine  The French were too weak to challenge Germany without an ally

 Great Britain: Wanted to maintain its isolation from the affairs of the European continent, however… –Britain’s overseas empire at this point was large and Germany had begun to show interest in expanding its overseas colonization as well – this along with Germany’s effort to build up a comparable naval fleet close to the level of the British Empire was threatening –Britain’s imperial ambitions in Africa and Asia also conflicted with those of France (check out the next slide for a map on 19 th century imperialism)

 Austria: Sought to limit growing Slavic nationalism within its own borders – Slavic nationalism threatened its survival  Russia – continued its expansionist policies in an effort to advance its power in both East Asia and in the Balkans –However, this was a period of instability for Russia. The Tsar’s grip over his country was significantly weak – He knew a military victory might strengthen his rule politically

 Italy: Sought opportunities to advance its claims to great-power status. Its efforts to build a North African empire led to disputes with France

The Sarajevo Crisis  On June 24 th, the final crisis began at Sarajevo, the capital of the Austrian province of Bosnia –A South Slav nationalist, Gavril Princip, assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife –A secret South Slav nationalist organization, Union or Death, also known as the Black Hand, had planned the assassination and had assisted Princip in carrying it out –Why was he assassinated? Serbian militants were seeking Serbian independence – the division and “picking apart” of the Balkans by the Ottomans, Russians, Germans, and the Austrians laid the foundation for these countries/empires to go to war –It was believed that Serbian officials were aware of the plot against the Archduke but did nothing to warn or prevent it

 Convinced that the Serbian government bore responsibility for the assassination, Austria determined to settle accounts with Serbia  The Austrians declared war on the Balkan country of Serbia on July 28 th 1914  Germany had indicated it readiness to support Austria fully – they almost seemed to be encouraging the Austrians to move against Serbia, whatever the risk of a general war might be

 It was impossible for the Russians to accept a setback in the Balkans – they were determined to back Serbia  July 30 Tsar Nicholas II ordered a general mobilization of his armies –Germany responded by sending Germany an ultimatum – demanding an end to Russian mobilization or war –The Russians refused and Germany declared war of Russia on August 1

 Germany asked the French government how they would respond in the event of a Russo-German war – France responded that it would act in accordance with its interests –August 3 – Germany declared war on France

 The Schlieffen Plan: this German strategy called for a massive attack on France – the German’s needed to remove France as a threat first before dealing with Russia – the plan called for a quick mobilization of Germany troops against France and then they could concentrate their efforts on Russia mobilization  Of course, Germany had decided to enter France by way of Belgium – this violated Belgian neutrality which the European powers had guaranteed by treaty in 1839  When German troops invaded Belgium on August 3, Great Britain declared war on Germany the following day

 WW1 Documentary Video: w w w Assignment: Please do the DBQ for Chapter 25 located on pages 1086 and 1087 of your text - assignment should be typed, double spaced, times new roman, 12 size font – use the video from above as well as the pictures from your text to assist you in constructing your essay