Leaders in 1914

L to R. Kaiser Wilhelm II, Germany, Enver Pasha Ottoman Empire (Turkey), Emperor Franz Joseph, Austro Hungarian Empire (Austria/Hungary).

Kaiser Wilhelm L to R. Kaiser Wilhelm II,

“I look upon the People and the Nation as handed on to me as an responsibility conferred upon me by God, and I believe, as it is written in the Bible, that it is my duty to increase this heritage for which one day I shall be called upon to give an account. Whoever tries to interfere with my task I shall crush.”  German Kaiser Wilhelm II, 1913

Over 51 million people lived in the 675,000 square kilometres of the empire. The two largest ethnic groups were Germans (10 million) and Hungarians (9 million). There were also Poles, Croats, Bosnians, Serbians, Italians, Czechs, Ruthenes, Slovenes, Slovaks and Romanians. Overall, fifteen different languages were spoken in the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Enver Pasha under Sultan Mehmet V

Enver Pasha, eventually emerged as the new leader of the country after 1908. In 1914 the Ottoman Empire contained an estimated 25 million people. Although there were 14 million Turks, there was also large Arab, Assyrians, Armenian, Kurdish, Greek and Circassion minorities within the Empire. As a result, there existed nationalist, separatist movements in several areas of the territory under the control of the Turks.

George V of Britain

Cousin to Nicholas II and Kaiser Wilhelm George V Cousin to Nicholas II and Kaiser Wilhelm Rule by Prime Minister Asquith and parliament Huge empire

President Poincare of France

Raymond Poincaré, a determined nationalist and advocate of military preparedness who quickly secured passage of an expansion of the standing army.

Tsar Nicholas II

Nicholas felt it was his duty to rule Russia as well as reign Nicholas felt it was his duty to rule Russia as well as reign. This meant that he would have to make all the decisions for the country with brief input in the form of reports from the ministers that served him. He would not meet with them all at once, but only on an individual basis.

This hampered effectiveness greatly This hampered effectiveness greatly. He had an impeccable memory and a great mind for detail. His office was meticulous and did not like anyone touching his papers. Thus Nicholas did not have a secretary to assist him with the enormous load of paperwork that came across his desk daily.

King Peter I of Serbia

Serbia's first constitutional monarch - elected by parliament - in the aftermath of the 1903 military coup. He returned from exile to take his place as King. 

Peter had served with the French during the unsuccessful Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 and, in 1875, joined the Bosnian insurrection against the Ottomans. The first years of King Peter's reign saw reforms to the constitution, the army and the school system, as well as improvements to the system of agriculture.