Stewart Ross - World War I

E-book published in 2012 by Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc., in association with Arcturus Publishing Limited, 26/27 Bickels Yard, 151-153 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3HA. Britannica, Encyclopdia Britannica, and the Thistle logo are registered trademarks of Encyclopdia Britannica.

Reprinted in 2009
This edition first published by Arcturus Publishing
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ross, Stewart.

World War I / by Stewart Ross.

p. cm. -- (Timelines)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-61535-610-2 (e-book)

1. World War, 1914-1918--Juvenile literature. 2. World War, 1914-1918--Chronology--Juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Title: World War one. III. Title: World War 1. IV. Series.

D522.7.R68 2007

940.3--dc22

2007007555

9 8 7 6 5 4 3

Series concept: Alex Woolf

Project manager and editor: Liz Miles

Designer: Simon Borrough

Picture researcher: Liz Miles

Consultant: James Vaughan

Cartographer: LMS

Picture credits:

Corbis: cover (Bettmann/Corbis), 4 (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis), 5 (Corbis), 6, 7 (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis), 9 (Corbis), 10, 11 (Bettmann/Corbis), 12, 13 (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis), 14 (Bettmann/Corbis), 15 (Corbis), 16 (Bettmann/Corbis), 17 (Underwood & Underwood/Corbis), 18 (Bettmann/Corbis), 19 (Corbis), 20 (Hulton-Deutsch Collection), 22 (Bettmann/Corbis), 23, 24 (Corbis), 25 (Bettmann/Corbis), 27 (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis), 30 (Corbis), 31, 32, 34 (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis), 35 (Corbis), 36 (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis), 37, 38, 39 (Bettmann/Corbis), 40 (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis), 41 (Corbis), 42 (Bettmann/Corbis), 43 (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis), 44 (Corbis), 45 (Bettmann/Corbis).

TopFoto: 21 (Topham Picturepoint), 26 (RIA Novosti), 28, 29 (Topham Picturepoint), 33 (HIP).

19 J ULY 1870

The roots of World War I go back to the nineteenth century. At their heart was fierce rivalry between the great powers of Europe. This rivalry came to a head on July 19, 1870, when the French emperor Napoleon III declared war on Prussia, the most powerful state in Germany. He believed the southern German states, such as Bavaria and Baden, would take his side. He was mistaken. The French armies were slow to mobilize and the well-organized Prussians swept into eastern France and won two decisive victories at Metz and Sedan. Napoleon III was captured and his government collapsed. France became a republic for the third time.

Although the Third Republic fought on into the following year, its efforts were in vain. By the Treaty of Frankfurt, May 10, 1871, France surrendered Alsace and Lorraine and agreed to pay the victors large reparations. Meanwhile, an even more important event had taken place. On January 18, at the palace of Versailles, in France, the triumphant and united German states accepted Prussias King William I as emperor of a German empire. The new Germany was undisputedly the major power in continental Europe.

Scare tactics

If you rub it in both at home and abroad that you intend to be first in and hit your enemy in the belly and kick him when hes down and boil your prisoners in oil (if you take any) and torture his women and children, then people will steer clear of you.

British First Sea Lord, Admiral Jackie Fisher, in an exaggerated explanation of how peace can be preserved by building up military might.

Quoted in A. Marder, ed., Fear God and Dread Nought: The Correspondence of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher of Kilverstone, 3 vols (London, 19511959).

Heavy cannons used during the siege of Paris at the end of the Franco-Prussian War.

For centuries, France had dominated the continent. Now, with the emergence of the German Empire under the guiding hand of the Prussian chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, this had changed. In terms of military power, population, and economic strength, Germany had replaced France.

To thwart French hopes of revenge, Bismarck kept the French isolated by a series of agreements with Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. However, in 1890, Bismarck fell out with Germanys new emperor, William II, and resigned. With the mastermind of German unification gone, France began building up alliances of its own. First came a military agreement with Russia (1894); then, more significant, an entente (understanding, 1904) with Britain, the major world power. When Britain and Russia reached an agreement three years later, Europe was divided into two hostile camps: the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. Economic and imperial rivalry fueled the tension. As each side built up its armaments, the chances of a major conflict rose.

C ROSS-REFERENCE
T HE T RIPLE
A LLIANCE AND THE
T RIPLE E NTENTE :
PAGES 7

The Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, who masterminded the unification of Germany into a single empire.

28 J UNE 1914

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Germanys closest ally. In June 1914, he paid a state visit to Bosnia, a state recently annexed by Austria-Hungary. While visiting the capital, Sarajevo, he and his wife were shot dead by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian nationalist. Princips gang had links with Serbia, Bosnias powerful neighbor and Russias ally.