19.1 The Road to War

June 28, 1914 Francis Ferdinand and his wife, Sofia, visited Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia. Many Bosnians were upset with Austro-Hungarian rule. Bomb attempt was made on their lives earlier in the day, archduke wanted to continue the visit.

Gavrilo Princep, a Serbian nationalist, stepped from the crowd and shot Sofia first then the Archduke next, both died. This act of terrorism set off a string of events to start the Great War, later called WWI.

Causes of WWI 1. Imperialism- countries looking to start colonies, aggressively if need be. 2. Militarism- rapid build up of a countries military. Giving military more authority over govt. and foreign policy.

3. Nationalism-Countries either acted in their own self interest or occurred over diverse ethnick populations. Ex: France and Germany had tense relations over Alsace Lorraine region, a strip of land on their border.

4. Alliances-designed to bolster each nations security. Having your friend’s back. Exs: Germany and Austria- Hungary were linked by a treaty. Russia and France had a treaty. England had a loose alliance with France.

Conflict Expands After assassination, Austria- Hungary demanded Serbia to cease support in Bosnia. Unsatisfied with Serbia’s response Austria Hungary declared war on July 28. Russia, Serbia’s protector, began to mobilize troops.

Germany then declared war on Russia. France then began to mobilize troops. To avoid fighting both France and Russia at once Germany attacked France first- Schlieffen Plan. To reach France Germany had to go through Belgium.

This attack on Belgium brought England into the war. Germany and Austria-Hungary were the Central Powers. Russia, France, Serbia, and Great Britain were the Allies.

Fighting Both sides anticipated an easy victory. By September Germany was within 30 miles of Paris. French and British forces stopped them in a stalemate at the Marne River.

Modern Warfare Youths in Europe anticipated their chance for heroism. Prior to this all that was needed for a victory required a swift offense by troops on horseback. Rules of war had changed.

Machine guns, poison gases, hand grenades, and tanks all led to massive casualties for both sides. New weapons forced troops to utilize trench warfare. Generals, not realizing war had changed, would send their troops into “no mans land” with devastating consequences.

American Response Americans had ancestry for both sides, support was split. Some Americans came to distrust Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany due to his militaristic ways. British newspapers began spreading anti-German propoganda.

President Wilson initially proclaimed American neutrality to protect American business interests abroad. By 1916 “preparedness” took effect and Wilson asked Congress for increases in the military.