Great War Essays - Bulgaria In World War I, Central Powers

Great War The Great War BY Kevin Kilkenny World War I was from 1914 to 1918 it started out as a local European war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia on July 28, 1914, but then became European war when the declaration of war against Russia on August 1, 1914 and eventually became a global war involving 32 nations. 28 of these nations were Allies and the Associated Powers and including Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the United States. The Central Powers consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria. It would prove to have many great effects. The immediate cause of the war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was the assassination on June 28, 1914, at Sarajevo in Bosnia part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire of Archduke Francis Ferdinand heir to the Austrian and Hungarian thrones his wife and unborn child on their way to visit a hospital. Their assassin was Gavrilo Princip a Serb nationalist. After this vile act a proposed ultimatum was given to Serbia with a two day from Austria-Hungary. The Germans with a bold act said they would back Austria-Hungary no matter the terms not taking in account Russias reaction. When war seemed imminent Germany decided to take over Belgium and propose that they would pay for any damages. The start of the conflict however was not immediate. Influence of the previous century in the political and economic policies that prevailed on the Continent after 1871 the year that marked the emergence of Germany as a great world power. The underlying causes of World War I were the spirit of intense nationalism that ran rampant in Europe throughout the 1800s and into the 20th century. The political and economic rivalry among the nations and the establishment of two hostile military alliances. They formed when Belgium won its independence from the Netherlands in 1830 the unification of Italy was accomplished in 1861 and that of Germany in 1871. At the close of the century however the problem of nationalism was still unresolved in other parts of Europe. The spirit of nationalism was also in economic conflict. The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century followed in France in the early 19th century and then in Germany after 1870s caused a increase in the m anufacturing of each country. As a result of tensions, between the nations of Europe adopted foreign policies that helped steadily increased the danger of war. Convinced that their interests were threatened the powers maintained large standing armies which was constantly restocked and enlarged by peacetime. At the same time navies were also being built up. The naval expansion was intensely competitive. Great Britain influenced by the expansion of the German navy begun in 1900 and by the events of the Russo-Japanese War developed its fleet to be twice as large as any other. The war between Russia and Japan had proved the effect of long range naval guns and the British accordingly developed the widely copied dreadnought battleship notable for its heavy armor. Developments in other areas of military technology and organization led to the dominance of general staffs with precisely formulated plans for mobilization and attack. The European nations not only armed themselves for purposes o f self-defense but in order not to find themselves standing alone if war did break out so alliances with other powers came about. The result was that in itself greatly increased the chances for war. The grouping of the great European powers into two hostile military alliances the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy and the Triple Entente of Great Britain, France, and Russia. Shifts within these alliances added to the building sense of crisis. The next step was war and the Austrian Serbian tension was the push in the domino effect. Austria marched on Serbia. Then Russia would mobilize against Austria. A proposal on July 26 by the British foreign minister called for a conference between Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy should settle the Austro-Serbian dispute was rejected by Germany. On July 28 Austria declared war against Serbia either because it felt Russia would not actually fight for Serbia or because it was prepared to risk a general European conflict in order to put an end to the Greater Serbia movement.