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Outbreak of WW1 (Germany (Germany is a Western European country that only…
Outbreak of WW1
Germany
Germany is a Western European country that only formed in 1870 which made it significantly newer than the other's involved in the outbreak of war. Due to this, Germany was very wary of invaders who would want to take over their country and so in the 1870s, they made an alliance with Austria.
Austria was Germany's only ally so they had to do their best to maintain the alliance because without it Germany would be left wide open for bigger countries to seize them.
Germany's paranoia was not helped by its extremely intelligent generals in the 1900s who believed that Germany should attack preemptively, so at the first sign of trouble Germany would launch attacks making them a danger to Europe.
Responding to Austria's declaration of war Russia began preparing its army for war which scared Germany who demanded that they cease their efforts and when Russia refused to comply Germany declared war on the 1st of August in 1914.
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Russia
Russia which is located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia was a massive country with many advantages but one glaring flaw, which was naval ports. During the winter, Russia's main port completely froze over halting the import of any supplies which lead them to build a southern port in the 1800s.
Supplies traveling to Russia's southern port would have to pass Serbian territory so it was key that Russia maintained a good relationship with the Balkans which lead to great Russian interest in the area.
If any other great power like Austria were to take over the Balkans they could easily stop any supplies from going to the southern port which would lead to massive problems for the Russians. In an attempt to keep the port safe Russia allied with Serbia, agreeing to defend each other in a time of war.
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Balkans
On the 28th of June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo which is a city in Bosnia which was a part of the Austrian empire. Serbian terrorists from the Black Hand Gang were behind the attack because they believed that Bosnia should be under the control of Serbia and not Austria
Serbs were desperate to achieve independence and become a great power. They wanted to achieve this by capturing lots of land including the Austria-Hungary-owned Bosnia. This caused a lot of chaos and assassinations were very common because of this. For example, in 1903 the King and Queen of Serbia were brutally murdered.
The Balkans had been ruled by the Ottomans for a very long time but they were beginning to lose control over the region so big powers like Austria took advantage of this situation and captured the smaller, less powerful countries like Bosnia.
The Balkans are near the South of Europe and are made up of modern day countries like Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia
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Britain
Britain had been mostly uninvolved in Europe's politics but in 1907 they decided to enter an entente with France and Russia and the three countries were now allies who would aid each other in a time of war.
Britain also had an alliance with Belgium that was created in 1815 when Britain had promised to defend Belgium if they were ever attacked.
The declaration of war on Belgium was why Britain decided to join the war and declared war on Germany on August 4th 1914.
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Austria-Hungary
After the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated Austria immediately launched an investigation and the culprits of the crime were discovered and it wad clear that rogue members of the Serbian military had been helping the Black Hand Gang. In retaliation, Austria declared war on Serbia on the 28th of July 1914.
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France
Due to their alliance with Russia, France has to get ready for war to assist them. Germany reacts by declaring war on France on the 3rd of August in 1914 and launches an invasion of Belgium to get into France.
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