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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Sunday marks 100 years since the end of World War I. There have been several tectonic shifts in society. These conflicts continue to heat up the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand – and this one to several leaders, kingdoms, and territories.
Right before the war, it was noticeable people's ways of life had drastically changed. The Industrial Revolution brought about new understandings, better medicine, inventions, light bulbs, factory jobs, and in many cases poor working conditions. People have become more aware of the fact that they have become more or less loyal to Europe and the people of Europe.
Women wanted to vote, slaves across the planet had won freedom, and many nations had won religious freedom. These societal shifts were natural for a growing civilization – a kind of adolescence – but with these developments came to fog. People wanted to use the state of flow for their own gain. Leaders wanted to control the world rather than share it. This desire for controlling resources, for power and say over others, and military might quickly led to tension.
Wikipedia: U-155 exhibited near Tower Bridge in London, after the 1918 Armistice
The British Empire was still active and had dominated the preceding centuries, spurning hatred among neighbors close and far. Serious competition has been raised among communities to garner resources and become powerful nations, if not empires.
World War I began on July 28, 1914. The war ended on November 11, 1918. Some 70 million personal military across the planet took arms, including 60 million Europeans.
Some nine million soldiers died and seven million civilians died as a direct result of war.
The Great War is also considered a major factor in the 1918 epidemic influenza, which caused between 50 and 100 million deaths worldwide.
Wikipedia: Trenches of the 11th Cheshire Regiment at Ovillers-la-Boisselle, on the Somme, July 1916
The war was made by the sea on the ground, sea, and air. It was the first big fight to use aircrafts for combat. Pilots who received a handful of hours of training. A great deal of the war was fought in trenches, as leaders fought to change territory lines.
The war in great political changes across the globe. Unresolved rivalries at the end of the conflict.
The tensions in Europe leading to millions of deaths
On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb Yugoslav nationalist assassinated the Austro-Hungarian heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. Austria-Hungary, in response, issued an ultimatum to Serbia; goal, Serbia's reply failed to soothe the wounds of Austrians – and the two moved into war. This caused a ripple effect across Europe – a network of interlocking alliances formed. By 1914, the great powers of Europe were divided into two main coalitions: the Triple Entente – consisting of France, Britain, and Russia; and the Triple Alliance – consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
Understanding the reasons why and how these countries aligned together, it helps to look at the 1800s. For much of the 19th century, the major European powers were in a state of flux. With nations, states, states, and kingdoms, there was an existential nature – countries, states, and kingdoms were unsure of their identity, much less what to do with it.
Some of the greatest challenges to Europe with the introduction of splendid isolation, the decline of the Ottoman Empire, and the post-1848 rise of Prussia under Otto von Bismarck.
Alliances were often negotiated and rivals were often made from these agreements. Alliances were also broken and allies would become enemies – betrayal happened in the blink of an eye. Some of these alliances were meant to settle long-standing colonial disputes. Wounds from the past had not fully healed.
One of the biggest tectonic shifts in zeitgeist happened with the conclusion of the 1871 Franco-Prussian War and the creation of the German Reich, this led to a massive increase in Germany's economic and industrial strength. Kaiser Wilhelm II and Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz for Imperial German Navy to compete with Britain 's Royal Navy for world naval supremacy. The leaders rationalized, based on the U.S. naval strategist Alfred Mahan, who rules the sea, also rules the world. Jealously and hunger for power set Germany on a path to burn through its resources.
Wikipedia: World War I, Dreadnought
The result of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz's zeal was the Anglo-German naval arms race. With the launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906, the Royal Navy and its counterparts. This is another German country, but its economy is not going to expand. A large amount of resources were dedicated to this goal to antagonize Britain; it never reached the same level.
Ending the naval arms race reduced tension between Germany and Britain. However, military might have been still on Germany's mind. It increased its standing by 170,000 men. Russia committed to another 500,000 men over the next three years, while France extended its compulsory military service from two to three years.
Germany increased its total military spending by 73% from 1870 to 1914, the largest proportional increase of any nation. Russia had the second largest increase in that same time frame at 39%.
In October 1908, Austria-Hungary helped fuel the Bosnian crisis of 1908-1909 by officially annexing the Ottoman territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which it had since 1878. This angered the Kingdom of Serbia and its patron, the Pan-Slavic, Orthodox Russian Empire. Russian political maneuvering in the region destabilized peace agreements that were already fracturing in the Balkans. This political faltering is historically known as the "powder keg of Europe."
In 1912 and 1913, the First Balkan War was fought between the Balkan League and the Ottoman Empire fracturing. The remaining Treaty of London further to the Ottoman Empire. This is an Albanian state, while also expanding the territorial holdings of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece.
When Bulgaria attacked Serbia and Greece on June 16, 1913, it triggered the 33-day Second Balkan War. By the end of the conflict, several places were destabilized in uncertainty, including the areas of Macedonia to Serbia and Greece, and Southern Dobruja to Romania. Keeping balanced power in Europe was quickly failing.
The spark that led to the series of war declarations
Everything is far more hostile to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. A group of six assassins from the Yugoslavist group Mlada Bosna worked together to kill him. They were armed by the Serbian Black Hand, a secret military society. The six involved in the plot gathered on the street where the Archduke's motorcade was to pass. The murderers believed killing Ferdinand would break off Austria-Hungary's South Slav provinces, which Austria-Hungary had annexed from the Ottoman Empire. Then it could be combined into Yugoslavia.
Wikipedia: This picture is usually associated with the arrest of Gavrilo Princip, although some believe it depicts Ferdinand Behr, a bystander.
Gavrilo was successful in shooting down Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. The murder did not immediately impact the lives of the people in Austria. The political impact unfolded on the thrashing of the heir to the throne put on an already confused, existential Europe.
Following the assassination, the Austro-Hungarian leaders encouraged anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo. In these riots, Bosnian Croats and Bosnians killed two Bosnian Serbs and owned numerous buildings owned by Serbia.
Violent actions against ethnic Serbs were also organized in Sarajevo, in other cities in Austro-Hungarian-controlled Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia. Austro-Hungarian authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina imprisoned and extradited some 5,500 prominent Serbs. 700 to 2,200 of those captured died in prison. A further 460 Serbs were sentenced to death. A predominantly Bosniak special militia known as the Schutzkorps was established and carried out the persecution of Serbs.
Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand's assassination led to a diplomatic maneuvering between Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France, and Britain. It was called the July Crisis.
Austria-Hungary successfully believed Serbian officials (especially the officers of Black Hand) were involved in the assassination plot. Serbian influence in Bosnia. The instability and violence grew fast.
On July 29, Russia declared partial mobilization against Austria-Hungary in support of Serbia. The next day Russia ordered general mobilization.
This upset Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm II asked his cousin, Tsar Nicholas II, to stop his actions, but Russia refused. Germany eventually declared war on Russia.
On August 2, Germany occupied Luxembourg. The following day is declared war on France. Britain demanded Germany to stop its mobilization, but ended up declaring war on Germany after an unsatisfactory reply.
Wikipedia: German soldiers in a railway goods wagon on the way to the front in 1914. Early in the war, all sides expected the conflict to be a short one.
World War I had a lasting impact on social memory. It was seen by many in Britain as signalling the end of an era of stability stretching back to the Victorian period. Across Europe is not a winner. Historian Samuel Hynes said of the war:
"A generation of innocent young men, their heads full of high abstractions like Honor, Glory, and England, went to war on the world safe for democracy. They were slaughtered in stupid battles planned by stupid generals. Those who survived were shocked, disillusioned, and embittered by their war experiences, and saw that their real enemies were not the Germans, but the homeowners had been lied to. They rejected the values of the society that they had sent to them, and in which they were separated from their cultural inheritance. "
Learn more about the World War I Museum in Kansas City
If you would like to learn more about the WWI, the World War I Museum has plenty of educational resources for people of all ages. Going through the museum can be several exhibits, artifacts, and interactive experiences. The museum has collected a large amount of materials from the war including posters, uniforms, weapons, items found on soldiers, letters, journals, photographs, and videos. It also has several maps and infographics to help people of the modern world understand how people lived, survived, and fought in the early 1900s.
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