The Origin of the First World War - Essay Example

THE ORIGIN OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

World War 1 was a global conflict that lasted 4 years, and included the most powerful nations in the world. The war started on July of 1914, and ended four years later. At the end of the war, 70 million militants were involved, where a large percentage of them were Europeans. Millions of militants and civilians died during the war. The deaths were partly contributed to by technological and industrial advancements in some of the nations that were involved. The first World War is unarguably one of the deadliest conflicts in human civilizations. Unresolved conflicts among contributing nations resulted in another deadly conflict two decades later, the Second World War.

The reasons that caused the eruption of the conflict that later became the First World War have been recorded by numerous historians. The war started after a young man from Serbia assassinated a man who was the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. The man was Franz Ferdinand, and he was killed together with his wife as they moved through the streets of Sarajevo. The Serbian killer, Gavrilo Princip, is believed to have had ties with an undercover military group, the Black Hand. The assassination took place on 28th June 1914.

The deaths of Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia, were partly contributed to by the failure of the security team that protected the highly-regarded couple. There were rumors before the assassination of an Austrian plan to remove the Archduke and invade his country. On the material day, the Archduke had travelled to Sarajevo to inspect the imperial militaries that were based in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The assassination provoked conflict between the two nations, Serbia and Austria-Hungary. However, the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary was put off until they were assured that Germany would assist them in the war in case of Russia joined forces with Serbia. Russia had two powerful allies; France and Britain. Major European players divided themselves into two major groups as they formed alliances around the two warring parties. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the attack and declared war on Serbia the same day that the Archduke was assassinated.

The report from Germany that they would support Austria-Hungary came on July 5, a week after the assassination. The declaration of war was confirmed on July 23 when Austria-Hungary sent an ultimatum to Serbia. Serbia agreed to some of the demands, and on July 28, the war was officially on. After the declaration of war, the peace that existed between Serbia, Austria-Hungary, and each of their allies collapsed. In a week, Serbia, France, Great Britain, and Russia were involved in conflict with Austria-Hungary and Germany.

In the first few days following the declaration, Russia was partially mobilized. Germany gave Russia a warning that complete mobilization on Austria-Hungary would be seen as an invitation to go to war with Germany. Meanwhile, Germany had started mobilizing its war troops. Russia declined the demands by the German government, which triggered Germany to declare war on Russia. The declaration was made on August 1, 1914. On the same day, other powerful governments in Europe such as France and Great Britain became involved in the war. Two days later, France and Germany were at war, and Great Britain had declared war on Germany after Germany invaded Belgium.

Another author argues that the first world war was triggered by issues that were deeper than the assassination of the Archduke. The author suggests that both sides that were involved in the war are to blame. The war was aggravated when Germany and France joined in the war that originally started as a conflict between Austria-Germany and Serbia. According to the writer, there was a hidden involvement of Germany. Germany required space for its empires that were rapidly growing. Also, the country was surrounded by neighbors on all directions.

The Balkan wars could have contributed to the uprising that was seen a year after the wars started. The Balkan wars started in 1912. The Balkan wars were two military wars that resulted in the Ottoman Empire losing almost all of its territory in Europe. In 1914, Serbia was a young nation that later joined with its Balkan allies. Upon the second Balkan war, the Ottoman empire had almost completely dissolved. Serbia then rapidly expanded its boundaries. The motivation was their recent release from the Austria-Hungarian empire.

The author represents Serbia as a small state that was acting as if it had the capacity to be involved in wars with bigger nations. The writer goes ahead to compare the small young nation to the powerful Austria-Hungary. In the early 1900’s, Austria-Hungary was a liberal nation. Its capital city was a long-standing cultural center. The comparison between Serbia and Austria-Hungary that is made by the writer is non-befitting.

The author also explains the assassination of the Archduke in detail. According to the book, the choice of the Archduke was a carefully planned move. The most important thing about Franz Ferdinand is that he was next in line as leader of the Austria-Hungary throne. The second reason is that he was an able politician with extensive liberal views. An example of one of his liberal ideas is his well-known position on ethnic minority groups such as the Slavs. Therefore, if Archduke Frank Ferdinand had ascended to the Austrian-Hungarian throne, he would end up cutting off the pan-Slavic group.

On the day that the Archduke was assassinated, numerous assassins were deployed to Sarajevo. The author reports of about five assassins. Therefore, the Archduke’s killing was not a spontaneous event. It was a highly planned assassination that was carefully thought of. To support this argument, the writer reports that there was a failed assassination in the morning. The assassination is similar to that of Alexander II almost four decades earlier. He also notes the stand-off that resulted between the two nations after the assassination.

Serbia was reluctant to respond to the demands that were created by Austria-Hungary. Clark, in his book, questions whether the demands by Austria-Hungary were reasonable. Clark and King agree on one thing; that the war was heightened by the involvement of Russia, which was due to the tight relations between Serbia and Russia. In addition, both writers agree that a fight between Russia and Serbia against Austria would be considered unfair, considering the military power that Russia possessed. The situation might have led to the involvement of Germany.

Clark continues to describe the events that followed after Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia. In late July, the French president visited St Petersburg in Russia. At that time, there were aggressive fights between Russia and France, days before Austria launched its ultimatum. Also, Clark reports that it is the French who encouraged Russians to join in the war.

Most authors agree that the great war started after the assassination of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary. The assassination was of importance because it set numerous events in motion. Serbia and Austria-Hungary had not been allies before the assassination. Serbia was a young nation, having been released from under a powerful empire. The main reason that made Russia and Germany get involved in the conflict between the two nations was highly political. Numerous authors agree that the Austrian Empire was too powerful to fight the relatively small Serbia. The authors point to the presence of political interests that pushed other powerful European players to join in the war that was originally between Austria and Serbia. Due to the involvement of powerful countries including Germany, Russia, France, and Britain. The conflict that ensured is among the deadliest wars in history that later came to be known as the great war.