July 23rd-25th: A peace agreement or the final straw?
On the 23rd the Austrian government issued Serbia with an ultimatum. This was a contract that had several conditions. If the Serbian government didn’t agree to one Austro-Hungary would declare war. The Serbians accepted all but one of the terms on this document crucial document. This term was that Austrian police should be allowed into Serbia to stop any uprising. The Austrians expected the Serbs to reject this and so got ready for attack.
28th July 1914: War!
Exactly a month since the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot and Austria-Hungary declare war on Serbia.
29th July 1914, Russia’s Alliance
Serbia knew that if they were attacked by Austro-Hungary, Russia would help them out. Russia was very keen to help Serbia because in 1905 they had lost in a war against Japan. The Russians wanted to prove that they were still a major force in Europe and that their army was one of the strongest. Russia also wanted to have more influence in the Balkans and wanted to stop Austro-Hungary from expanding there. Russia strongly supported Serbia because they had a similar language, religion and they both hated Austria-Hungary. They were determined to defend Serbia.
August 1st-3rd 1914: Germany: Germany declared war on Russia on 1st August. This was in the Germans agreement with Austria-Hungary, if Russia helped out Serbia, Germany would protect Austria-Hungary. Germany knew they would have to fight the French at some point during the war. The German government thought the French might try to get back Alsace and Lorraine (two French provinces that Germany had captured in a war in 1870). Since then France had built up alliances with Britain and Russia (The Triple Entente 1907).They weren’t sure if Britain would fight in the war but they knew France would fight because Russia had got involved. In the end the Germans worked out a plan to attack the French. They called it the Schlieffen Plan. The Germans would attack France via Belgium, a neutral country, and defeat France within six weeks. Then they would deal with the Russians. Germany declared war on France on 3rd August.
August 4th 1914: Belgium
On the 4th Germany declared war on Belgium. Britain had agreed in the Treaty of Westminster to defend Belgium if they were ever attacked. That same day Britain maintained its promise and declared war on Germany.
August 6th 1914:
Austria declared war on Russia. Now that the Germans were defending Austria-Hungary, they thought declaring war on Russia was a safer option.
August 12th 1914:
Due to the Triple Entente alliance, Britain and France declared war on Austria.
The Long Term Causes of World War One
For a many years before 1914 trouble had been brewing in Europe. Countries were jealous of each other and had long term rivalries over previous wars. Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism, Imperialism and a Naval Arms Race all proved to be the long term causes of the war.
Militarism:
Most countries in Europe thought that having a strong army would scare other countries from attacking them. This also made other countries feel threatened by the huge armies other some countries had. This led to an arms race to see who could have the most powerful army and navy.
Naval Arms Race:
The German government passed laws in 1898 and 1900 that said that over the next 17 years the German navy would be built up to rival the Royal Navy. Britain felt threatened by this and a naval arms race began in 1906. Both countries tried to build more ships than one another. This ended in 1914.
Alliances:
World War One may not have involved as many countries as it did if there weren’t any alliances. The two sides were the Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Italy, Austria-Hungary and Germany). Britain got involved because Germany attacked Belgium who had an alliance with Britain. World War One may have only been a war between Serbia and Austria-Hungary if Russia and Germany hadn’t been their allies.
Imperialism:
The Germans were jealous of the British Empire. Soon they started to occupy colonies in Africa and the Pacific. Most of these were near British colonies. Many countries in Europe wanted to expand their countries within Europe. This increased the tension between countries that bordered each other. One example of this is, Austria-Hungary wanted to expand its empire into the Balkans. The only country that lay in their way was Serbia. The Russians were also interested in the Balkans and were very keen to support Serbia in any war that may happen.
Nationalism:
Almost every country in Europe wanted to prove that they were the best. They could do this by having a large empire, having a large army and by having lots of allies. Many Serbs did not like Austria-Hungary and were willing to do whatever it took to attack them. Gavrilo Princip, who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, was a Serb nationalist.