A Terrorist Attack Brings War 16-1
A Terrorist Attack Brings War June 1914—heir to Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated in Bosnia (wife also shot) Shot by Gavrilo Princip Revolutionary Member of Serbian nationalist group “Black Hand” Took place with knowledge of Serbian officials who hoped war would bring down the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Alliances Are Triggered Austro-Hungarian gov’t blamed Serbia for the attack and decided the time had come to crush Serbia in order to prevent Slavic nationalism Austria-Hungary knew attacking Serbia may trigger war w/ Russia, so they asked German allies for support Serbs called on Russia who called on France
War July 28, 1914—Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia Russia mobilized quickly and stationed troops on the German border Aug 1—Germany declared war on Russia Aug 3—Germany declared war on France
Germany’s Plan Fails Schlieffen Plan Problem: neutral Belgium Attack and defeat France quickly through Belgium before Russia can mobilize. Then fight Russia. Problem: neutral Belgium British had promised Belgium that they could remain neutral, so when Germany invaded Belgium to get to France, the British declared war on Germany
Two Sides Allies France Russia G. Brit Italy (1915) Central Powers Allies promised to cede Austro-Hungarian territory to Italy after war Central Powers Germany Austria-Hungary Ottoman Empire Bulgaria
Schlieffen Plan At first the German plan worked German troops swept through Belgium and into France, driving back Brit and French forces…THEN Russia mobilized more quickly that Germany predicted, invading Germany
Stalemate Germans had to pull some troops out of France Germans got w/in 30 miles of Paris, but were stopped at the Battle of Marne Swift German attack failed = trench warfare stalemate
Eastern Front Central Powers more successful on Eastern Front German and Austro-Hungarian forces stopped Russian attack Germans/Austro-Hungarians went on offensive, swept across hundreds of miles of territory and took hundreds of thousands of prisoners Russia = 2 million killed, wounded, captured (in just 1915)