-
Creation of the Dual Alliance
This was the alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary. An alliance is an agreement or promise to defend and help another country. It was made by Otto von Bismarck, the chancellor of Prussia. He wanted to use war to unify Germany. This is important because he wanted to make sure that France was isolated. That is, it had no allies. Bismarck was scared that France wanted revenge on Germany for the Franco-Prussian War. If Germany became unified, then France would "pose no danger" to them. -
Creation of the Triple Alliance
This was when Italy joined the Dual Alliance (Germany and Austria-Hungary) to create the Triple Alliance. This was important because Bismarck's goal was to try and isolate France by taking away any of its possible allies. This was already done with the Dual Alliance. The Triple Alliance just made Germany's protection stronger, ensuring that France would lose if it decided to engage in battle with Germany. -
Rise of Kaiser Wilhelm II and resignation of Bismarck, lapse of treaty with Russia
Kaiser Wilhelm II became the ruler of Germany and forced Bismarck to resign. He was a Nationalist, which is having pride in your country. He was so busy with this that he let his treaty with Russia lapse, so Russia and France became allies. This was important because if Kaiser had not been so greedy with power, he might have kept his alliance with Russia, meaning that France would remain without any allies. Now, if he went to war with either one of them, he would have to fight a two-front war. -
Alliance of Russia and France
The Alliance of Russia and France was when Russia and France became allies. It happened because Germany lapsed its treaty with Russia. As a result, Russia formed a defensive military alliance with France. This is important because now France had an ally and wasn't isolated as Germany had hoped. This meant that France could get revenge on Germany if they wanted to, and Germany would have to defend both eastern and western borders, as France and Russia were located on either side of Germany. -
Conflicts between Germany and France over Morocco
In 1905 and again in 1911, Germany and France nearly fought over who would control Morocco, in Northern Africa. Most of Europe supported France, so Germany backed down. This is important because it shows how much fighting there was going on between countries, as they all wanted to imperialize other countries to gain power. Imperialism is empire bulilding, meaning there is competition for colonies. -
Creation of the Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the alliance between Great Britain, France, and Russia. It didn't say that Great Britain had to fight with France and Russia, but it did guarantee that Great Britain would fight against them. This was important because Germany was trying to match their navy with Great Britain's. This panicked them, which pushed them to make their alliance. They had become a powerful alliance. If the alliances fought each other, it could involve all of Europe's nations, resulting in a war. -
Austria annexing Bosnia and Herzegovina
This was when Austria took over Bosnia and Herzegovina. These countries mostly consisted of Slavic people. Serbian rulers were upset, as they were trying to show nationalism, which is having pride in your country and willing to defend it. This is important because it only added to the tension that was already in Europe. There were the two power alliances.Then came Serbia and Austria. Serbia promised to get Bosnia and Herzegovina back, while Austria vowed to stop any effort made against them. -
Militarism
Militarism is building up armed forces and getting ready for war. This was happening all along. With the alliances and now Austria and Serbia, it was only a matter of time until all of Europe started fighting amongst each other. This was important because all of Europe knew that there would be a war. It would not be a matter of if, but when. It was good that everyone was prepared, but this just emphasized the fact that this would get ugly. Many countries could lose their power and resources. -
Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
This was the spark that set off the whole war. Both Archduker Ferdinand, the ruler of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sophie, were shot by a man named Gavrilo Princip, who was a Serbian. While Europe would have probably still gone to war with each other, the assassinaiton sped up the process. Austria-Hungary and Serbia were enemies. Of course, they went to war. Because of all the allies, soon all of Europe was fighting amongst themselves. -
Austria declares war on Serbia
This was after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. Austria demanded things from Serbia because the muderer was a Serbian. Serbia didn't meet all of their demands, and Austria didn't want to negotiate. So, they declared war on Serbia. This was important because if Austria would have been willing to negotiate their demands, then maybe Austria and Serbia could have avoided going to war. This might have stopped the war because all the other countries could see that enemies could make peace. -
Period: to
Timespan of WWI
-
Germany declares war on Russia and then France two days later
When Russia mobilized along the German border to help Serbia, Germany took this as a decleration of war, so Germany decided to fight back. Since France was an ally of Russia, Germany declared on war on them too. This was important because a simple fight between two countries started to turn into a big war. They brought their allies in, and those allies brought their allies in until it became a huge mess. -
Great Britain declares war on Germany
After Germany declared war on Russia and France, Great Britain declared war on Germany. Russia and France were allies of Great Britain, so of course they had to help each other out. This was important because that soildified the fact that there was a war. Every alliance was fighting with another alliance. Europe was locked in battle at this point. There was no turning back.
