THE GREAT WAR BEGINS

1.1908 Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia-Herzegovina

a)Area was mostly Slavic in population

b)Serbia wanted control of the area

I. THE SPARK

2. June 28, 1914 a) heir to Austro-Hungarian empire, Archduke

Franz Ferdinand and wife Sophie visit Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina

b) Black Hand (Serbian terrorist group) make 2 attempts to assassinate Ferdinand

• 1st attempt- operative throws grenade @ Archduke’s car; driver sees bomb and accelerates; injures bystanders and guards in following car

• 2nd attempt- Archduke wishes to go to hospital to see victims; driver makes wrong turn; Gavrilo Princip goes up to the car and shoots and kills Archduke and wife

3. Resultsa) Austria-Hungary contacts William II (Germany)

for help; Germany issues the “blank check” of support

b) July 23, 1914: A-H sends Serbia an ultimatum (list of demands) with 10 demands and 48 hours to comply

c) Serbia agrees w/ all but 2 demands and wishes to negotiate

d) July 25, Czar Nicholas II (Russia) begins mobilizing

e) July 28, 1914: A-H declares war on Serbia

II. EUROPE MOBILIZES1.Kaiser William II issues warning

to Russia; contacts b/w Russia and Germany called “Willy-Nicky Telegrams”a) Russia refuses to back downb) August 1, 1914: Germany

declares war on Russia

2. Russia appeals to ally, France; offers to help them gain back Alsace and Lorraine from Germany

3. August 3, 1914: Germany declares war on France

4. Italy and GB declared neutrality

III. SCHLIEFFEN PLAN1.Germany's (Alfred von Schlieffen) plan for

avoiding a two-front war

2.Goal: quickly defeat France while Russia mobilizesa) Believed Russia would be slow to mobilize due to size and lack

of RR’s

3.According to the plan, Germany would attack France by marching thru Belgium (avoid fortified areas along French/German border)a) Problem: Belgium declared neutrality- can not attack a

neutral country

4.Germans asked, but didn’t gain permission to pass through Belgium; they decided to anyway

5.Belgians delayed Germans for as long as possible (11 days)

a)Belgians flooded plains to slow the German advance; allowing time for the BEF (British Expeditionary Forces)

6. Propaganda (one sided info. used to persuade) was spread throughout Europe calling the invasion “The Rape of Belgium”

7. Marching thru neutral Belgium prompted GB to join the war effort

8. Early September, the Germans were enclosing on Paris

9. September 5, 1914 Allies came together and attacked Germans @ the Marne River (1st Battle of the Marne)a)Becomes the first major battle on

Western Front

10.September 9, 1914: Germans retreat

11.By this point, Russians were marching into Germanya)Germans had to abandon the

Schlieffen Plan