World War I Essays (1661 words) - World War I, French Third Republic

World War I Europe avoided major wars in the 100 years before World War 1 began. In the 1800's, the force of nationalism swept across the continent that helped bring about the Great War. Nationalism was the belief that loyalty to a person's nation and its political and economic goals comes before any other public loyalty. . Nationalism led to the creation of two new powers, Italy and Germany. War had a major role in achieving nation unification in Italy and Germany. Nationalism weakened the eastern European empires of Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Ottoman Turkey. Rivalry for control of the Balkans added to the tensions that erupted into World War I. Another thing was the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand by a Serbian terrorist named Gavrilo Princip. On June 28, 1914 Archduke Francis Ferdinand was assassinated The Archduke's assassination triggered the outbreak of World War 1. A month later, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Because of Austria-Hungary's alliance with Germany, Serbia seeked help from Russia. Russia vowed to stand behind Serbia, but first Russia gained support from France. Germany declared war on Russia on Aug. 1, 1914. Two days later Germany declared war on France. The German Army swept into Belgium on its way to France. The invasion of Belgium caused Britain to declare war on Germany on Aug. 4. Germanys plan for a quick defeat of France while Russia slowly mobilized was called the Schlieffen Plan. This plan called for two parts of the German army to crush the French army in a pincers movement. A small left wing would defend Germany along its frontier with France. A much larger right wing would inv ade France through Belgium. They would then encircle and capture Paris, and them move east. On August 2 the German government informed the government of Belgium of its intention to march on France through Belgium in order, as it claimed, to forestall an attack on Germany by French troops marching through Belgium. The Belgian government refused to permit the passage of German troops and called on the signatories of the Treaty of 1839, which guaranteed the neutrality of Belgium in case of a conflict in which Britain, France, and Germany were involved, to observe their guarantee. Britain sent an ultimatum to Germany demanding that Belgian neutrality be respected. When Germany refused, Britain declared war on it the same day. Belgium's army fought bravely but held up the Germans for only a short time. By Aug 16, 1914, the right wing of Germany could begin its pincers motion. It drove back French and British forces in southern Belgium and swept info France. But instead of swinging west a round Paris, one part of the right wing pursued retreating French troops toward the Marne River. This move left the Germans exposed to attacks form the rear. Nationalism encouraged public support for military build-ups and for a country's use of force to achieve its goals. By the late 1800's, Germany had the best-trained army in the world. In 1898 Germany began developing a naval force that was big enough to challenge the British navy. Advances in technology helped aid in making military forces stronger. Machine guns and other new arms fired more accurately and more rapidly than earlier weapons. By the end of the 1800's, technology enabled countries to fight longer and bear greater losses that ever before. A system of military alliances gave European powers a sense of security before World War 1. They formed these alliances with each other for protection and guarantee that other members of the alliance would come to the country's aid if attacked. Although alliances provided protection, the system also created certain dangers. If war came, the alliance system meant that a number of nations would fight, not only the two involved in a dispute. Alliances could force a country to go to war against a nation it had no quarrel with. The terms of many alliances were kept secret. The Triple Alliance was made up of 3 countries: Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. They all agreed to go to war if attacked by Russia. . Bismarck also brought Austria-Hungary and Germany into alliance with Russia. The agreement was known as the Three Emperor's League. They all agreed to