Intro

WORLD WAR I BEGINS

Tensions had been brewing throughout Europe–especially in the troubled Balkan region
of southeast Europe–for years before World War I actually broke out. A number of
alliances involving European powers, the Ottoman Empire, Russia and other parties
had existed for years, but political instability in the Balkans (particularly Bosnia, Serbia
and Herzegovina) threatened to destroy these agreements.

The spark that ignited World War I was struck in Sarajevo, Bosnia, where Archduke
Franz Ferdinand—heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire—was shot to death along with
his wife Sophie by the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. Princip and
other nationalists were struggling to end Austro-Hungarian rule over Bosnia and
Herzegovina.

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand set off a rapidly escalating chain of events:
Austria-Hungary, like many in countries around the world, blamed the Serbian
government for the attack and hoped to use the incident as justification for settling the
question of Serbian nationalism once and for all.

But because Russia supported Serbia, Austria-Hungary waited to declare war until its
leaders received assurance from German leader Kaiser Wilhelm II that Germany would
support their cause. Austro-Hungarian leaders feared that a Russian intervention would
involve Russia’s ally, France, and possibly Great Britain as well.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-history

Intro information continue

The war lasted 1566 days and during this time...
More than 8,000,000 non professional soldiers were mobilized for the war.
Around 1,400,000 of the soldiers were killed. This is an average of 893 deaths per day.
More than 4,300,000 men were wounded, which means an average of 2745 per day,
this includes :
● 1,100,000 disabled
● 300,000 mutilated
● 42,000 blinded
● 15,000 broken faces
1914 was the bloodiest year for the French Army with an average of 2,200 deaths per
day.
For more and deeper information and facts about ww1 and France, second speaker is
going to explain as well as specific information for other countries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24i4ncHuf6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_4152831805&feature=iv&src_vid=24i4ncHuf6
A&v=JEGVcSpfM9k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmHxq28440c

World War I - a War between the allies (Russia, France, Britain, US, Japan, Serbia, etc..) and
the central power (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria).

Triple entente
As we know that France had a formal agreement of friendship with Russia. More than
one-fourth of France’s foreign investments were in Russia. When Germany declared war on
Russia, France came to their aid both because of the alliance they had and because ​France
was protecting its own economic interests. It needed Russia to survive.
https://prezi.com/2f7hphwyendw/why-did-france-join-wwi/

On 4 August 1914, in his first speech after the declaration of war, Raymond Poincaré, president
of the French Republic, did not outline any aims other than the ​Union sacrée​(sacred union) and
the defence of the country’s borders. Once the hopes for a short war had been dispelled, it was
necessary for France to define more precise war aims. The main goal pursued by the
government remained establishing a security system to avoid new threats to its borders. To
reach these goals, France’s war aims wavered between territorial expansion to protect its
borders and the inclusion of Germany in an international framework (of alliances or collective
security).
https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/war_aims_and_war_aims_discussions_france

Austria-Hungary VS Serbia
● Serbians kill Franz Ferdinand
● Austria-Hungary wants to attack Serbia
● Russia is a protector of Serbia and so will get involved
● Germany allied with Austria-Hungary and help them fight Russia

The British and ​French wanted somehow to crush Germany’s military capability, both as
revenge and as insurance against a second conflict​. They also came to want to carve up the
Ottoman Empire between them, and to allow the component parts of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire to set up independent states.
 In 1882 Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed the Triple Alliance. The three
countries agreed to support each other if attacked by either France or Russia. ​France felt
threatened by this alliance. Britain was also concerned by the growth in the German Navy and
in 1904 the two countries signed the Entente Cordiale (friendly understanding).​ The objective of
the alliance was to encourage cooperation against the perceived threat of Germany.
Triple Alliances

Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed the Triple Alliance. In 1882, they signed a
document that promised they would give each other military support in case of a war. The
Alliance agreement stated it was 'essentially defensive and conservative' with the aim of
stopping anyone who 'might threaten' the three nations.

Three years later, Russia, who feared the growth in the German Army, joined Britain and
France to form the Triple Entente. In contrast to the Triple Alliance, the terms of the Entente did
not require each country to go to war on behalf of the others, but stated that they had a "moral
obligation" to support each other. The Russian government was also concerned about the
possibility of Austria-Hungary increasing the size of its empire. It therefore made promises to
help Serbia if it was attacked by members of the Triple Alliance.

Reasons: cut off / spare information

May 9, 1911 The Black Hand society was formed. The men who formed the Black Hand
were some of the most important men in Serbia, including Serbian ministers. By 1914, there
were several hundred members, perhaps as many as 2500. Many members were Serbian army
officers. The professed goal of the group was the creation of a Greater Serbia, by use of
violence, if necessary. They promoted anti-Austrian propaganda and supported assassins and
saboteurs to operate in Bosnia and other Austro-Hungarian provinces.

World War I first started when Austria Hungary bond with Bosnia, and Bosnia
people was called Slav as same as Serbia citizen, but the conflict would not happen if
Serbia also wanted to bond with Bosnia. Bonding between Austria Hungary made
Serbia very angry.

Archduke Francis Ferdinand went to visit Sarajevo which was the capital city of
Bosnia, he was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip who was Bosnia citizen, but Austria
blamed Serbia to be a suspect, and gave the ultimatum for Serbia to follow within 24
hour which was impossible for Serbia to do all of them. Therefore, Austria declared the
war with them.

Russia who was a representative of Slavs came to help Serbia with France
support. Germany who was a partner with Austria Hungary, announced the war with
Russia and France to help Austria. In order to fight with France, Germany traveled pass
through Belgium which at that time was protected by The Great Britain. ​Britain also
announced a war with Germany, and they claimed that because Germany violated the
independent of Belgium.

France joined this war because they want the land of Alsace- Lorraine. In the end of the
WWI, ​France got this land as the president of America in that time Woodrow Wilson
published the “Fourteen Points” which was a strategy for ending the war. One of the rule

Other countries reason to start a war:

● Arms Race (ALL)
- Competitiveness of the arms race which had begun in Europe at the start of the 20th
century brought stress and tension to Europe which also brought Europe closer to war.
Austria-Hungary
- Kaiser Wilhelm, the German leader thought that the action of war "must not be delayed".
Although Austria had the choice of starting the war early or not, they decided to go along with
Germany's idea and began the war against Serbia. Also, Germany issued Austria a blank
check for military support. It may seem like Germany is at fault considering this piece of
evidence but Austria could have refused the offer of the blank check and also the idea of not
delaying the war.
- Austria wanted to start war against Serbia with the help of Germany. Other countries told
Austria not to start a war but they put their interests above keeping peace. This lead to other
countries being dragged into the war. So not only did Austria start the conflict, they made the
war an even bigger issue by getting other countries involved.
http://whoistoblameforwwi.weebly.com/austria-hungary-did-it.html
Russia
- “Russia was the first major power to mobilize.” This symbolized that they were declaring
war and using militaristic approaches which pushed other countries such as Germany to
do the same.
- “Faced with Russian mobilization and the threat of a two-front war, Germany had little
choice but to initiate attack upon France in self-defense.” This shows that Russia
threatened Germany and Germany had to declare war in order to protect themselves.
This piece of evidence characterizes Russia as a very violent and threatening country.
- “Germany needed to fend off Russia, the military revenge by France and trading
domination by Britain.” Russia was part of the Triple Entente along with Britain and
France. The Triple Entente continued to get stronger while the Triple Alliance (including
Germany) continued to get weaker. This made Germany feel very threatened which led
them to utilize violent approaches to the situation.
Germany
● Power
- Germany had power to halt the descent to disaster at any time in July 1914 by
withdrawing its "blank cheque" which offered support to Austria for its invasion of Serbia.
 Germany helped the invasions of Serbia, a balkan war, while knowing that this
occurrence could escalate into something more.

- Propaganda Poster shows a German soldier, holding a grenade in one hand and a rifle
in the other; in background a barbed wire fence and flames. This shows how much
Germany was willing to fight for their country and how violent they really were going to
get.
http://whoistoblameforwwi.weebly.com/verdict-2-germany-is-mostly-to-blame-but-the-other-majo
r-powers-contributed-to-the-start-of-the-war.html
Serbia
- On June 28, 1914 the heir of the Austrian – Hungarian empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand,
was killed by a group of Serbian Terrorists. There were 2 assassination attempts and the
second one was successful. ​ธhis caused Austria-Hungary to rebel ( cross the line of war
that has been stressed over the past 14 years in Europe )
- Killed a primary figure in an influential country, started the domino effect
http://whoistoblameforwwi.weebly.com/serbia-did-it.html
Great Britain
- Britain spent millions of dollars on it defences signalling a treat to other nations, which could
have influenced Germany and the other central powers to start building their defences.
Britain being an island, started building their naval force. This started an arms race to see
which country was stronger. Britain was making treaties to stop Germany from expanding
their naval units.
- Britain was competing for military and naval power. Britain decided to help Belgium
defend itself, which was not really necessary to do at the moment. Arms manufacturers
became some of the largest companies in Europe. European countries tried to expand
their empires. The British Empire controlled more than 25% of the world's territory and
people. Britain used its great navy with the Russian army to get even stronger and get
more land, so Britain put itself over everyone. Britain's greediness for power and land
has made it blind to try to prevent the great war by clarifying the side it was going to
take, whether France or Germany.
http://whoistoblameforwwi.weebly.com/britain-is-responsible-for-starting-wwi.html

Conclusion :

Serbia had lots of allies like the triple entente which made Serbia become powerful. This
contributed to the starting of the war. Serbia and it’s allies actively participated in the war.

"Over time, countries throughout Europe made mutual defense agreements that would pull
them into battle. Thus, if one country was attacked, allied countries were bound to defend
them. Before World War 1, the following alliances existed:
● Russia and Serbia
● Germany and Austria-Hungary
● France and Russia
● Britain and France and Belgium
● Japan and Britain
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia got involved to defend Serbia. Germany
seeing Russia mobilizing, declared war on Russia. France was then drawn in against
Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany attacked France through Belgium pulling Britain
into war. Then Japan entered the war. Later, Italy and the United States would enter on the
side of the allies."

Readings:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Grande_Illusion​ (film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Hari_(1985_film)​ (Mata Hari) (film)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/world-history/who-was-to-blame-for-the-first-world-wa
r-9045039.html​ (film)

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26048324
http://www.johndclare.net/causesWWI_Answer1.htm

https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/timeline-of-world-war-one/​ (Timeline)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_World_War_I

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles​ (สนธิสัญญาแวร์ซาย)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Entente​ (Aliances)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France%E2%80%93United_Kingdom_relations​ (relation)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France%E2%80%93Germany_relations​ (relation)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/hq/causes1_01.shtml
http://www.theweek.co.uk/59782/how-did-the-first-world-war-start
https://prezi.com/c5-ttn2lh4l-/who-was-responsible-for-the-start-of-world-war-1/

http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww1/cou/w1c-ser.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hand_(Serbia)

http://net.lib.byu.edu/~rdh7/wwi/comment/blk-hand.html