What part did the Agadir Crisis play in the outbreak of World War One?
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The episode proved that Germany was hell-bent on trying to dominate Europe as a whole.
Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George were among those who believed this.
1911 and 1912 when the Balkan states drove Turkey out of the area. The states then
fought each other over which area should belong to which state. Austria -Hungary
then intervened and forced Serbia to give up some of its acquisitions. Tension
between Serbia and Austria-Hungary was high.
8) The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
A secret society called Ujedinjenje Ili Smrt, ('Union or Death') or Black Hand was
founded in Belgrade, an outgrowth of an older Serb nationalist group: Narodna Odbrana.
When it was learned that the Heir-Apparent to the Austrian throne, Franz Ferdinand, was
scheduled to visit Sarajevo in June of 1914, the Black Hand decided to assassinate him.
Three young Bosnians were recruited, trained and equipped: Gavrilo Princip, Nedjelko
Cabrinovic and Trifko Grabez. The murders of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie brought
Austro-Serbian tensions to a head. As Vienna took a hard line against Serbia, the other
powers in Europe took sides. The wheels of war gained speed. The Crisis of July turned
into world war, just over thirty days after Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were shot.
System of Alliances.
By 1914, Europe had divided into two camps.
1) The Triple Alliance was Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary.
2) The Triple Entente was Britain, France and Russia.
1) The Triple Alliance
The alliance between Germany and Austria was natural. Both spoke the same language -
German - and had a similar culture. Austria was in political trouble in the south-east of
Europe - the Balkans. She needed the might of Germany to back her up if trouble got
,worse. Italy had joined these countries as she feared their power on her northern border.
Each member of the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria and Italy) promised to help the
others if they were attacked by another country. By the close of the war the Central
Powers had been extended to incorporate Bulgaria and Turkey
2) The Triple Entente
The Entente Powers comprised a military alliance - driven by a variety of inter-related
treaties - of France, Great Britain and Russia.The Entente alliance sprang from the
military concerns of Germany's neighbours to east and west. Russia and France;
accordingly in 1894 they signed an alliance based upon fears of growing German power.
Britain subsequently forged alliances with both Russia and France once it became clear
that Germany intended to construct a navy to match the Royal Navy in the late 1890s.
Thus the Entente Alliance was not a formal alliance. The term was later replaced by the
more general 'Allies' to include other nations
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including Italy and Japan.
THE COURSE OF THE WAR.
The war was fought in three continents; Europe, Africa and Asia and both on land and on
the sea. In Europe, the war was fought in two fronts
1. The Western Front was where most of the fighting between Germany and the Allies
happened. The war in western front was fought in Belgium and France as per the
Schlieffen plan. Count Alfred von Schlieffen, mastermind of the Schlieffen Plan, served
as Germany's Chief of the Imperial General Staff from 1891 to 1905. It was Schlieffen's
plan, long after he retired fro army (1906) that was used for the August 1914 attack on
France that was to trigger World War One.
The Schlieffen Plan entailed an attack on France (while Russia mobilised her army)
, followed by an attack on Russia. The plan meant that Germany could place the bulk of
her military might on one frontier and then move it to another.
The basic mechanics of Von Schlieffen’s plan were;
a) A devastating attack on France via neutral Belgium as soon as Russia had
announced her intention to mobilise, which would take six weeks.
b) A holding operation on the Russian/German border to be carried out if necessary
and if required.
c) Germany was to use 6 weeks to defeat France. a massive and successful surprise
attack against France would be enough to put off Britain becoming involved in a
continental war
d) Germany would then use her modernised rail system to move troops quickly from the
French operation to the Russian front. Russia would then be attacked and
defeated.
The Schlieffen Plan was daring but it had a number of glaring weaknesses:
a) The actions of Russia determined when Germany would have to start her attack
on France even if she was ready or not.
b) It assumed that Russia would need six weeks to mobilise. But she mobilized
faster than it was assumed.
c) It assumed that Germany would defeat France in less than six weeks.
Early on July 31, Russia began a full mobilization of its forces in preparation for war
with Austria-Hungary. On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia and German
troops began moving into Luxembourg in preparation for invading Belgium and France.
On August 2, Germany contacted the Belgian government requesting free passage
through Belgium for its troops. This was refused by King Albert and Germany declared
war on both Belgium and France on August 3.The German Army went into Belgium on
the 4 August. On the same day, Great Britain started a war on Germany, because Britain
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