The Great War Begins: World War I

World War I, sometimes known as the Great War or "the war to end all wars," was a global conflict that began in Europe and ended in 1918. It is often abbreviated as WWI or WW1. It resulted in the mobilisation of more than 70 million military men, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the world's largest wars, with an estimated 8.5 million combatants and 13 million civilians killed as a direct result of the conflict. 

Now a question arises: when did the first world war begin? The great war began on 28 July 1914 and lasted till 11 November 1918. The article discusses in detail the circumstances under which the great war began, it also discusses when did the first world war begin and why world war 1 started? Along with the description of how and when the article briefly discusses the impact of the world war on the participating countries and global politics.

More About the Great War

Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb Yugoslav nationalist and member of the Serbian Black Hand military organisation, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, sparking the July Crisis.

On July 23, Austria-Hungary issued a notice to Serbia. The Austrians were not satisfied with Serbia's response, and the two countries went to war. The crisis grew from a bilateral issue in the Balkans to one encompassing most of Europe as a result of a web of interlocking alliances.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria sparked a war that lasted until 1918 across Europe. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire (the Central Powers) fought the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, and the United States during the conflict (the Allied Powers).

World War I marked a watershed moment in the world's political, cultural, economic, and social climates. Several revolutions and uprisings erupted as a result of the war and its immediate aftermath. In a series of treaties agreed upon at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, the Big Four (Britain, France, the United States, and Italy) imposed their terms on the vanquished states, the most famous of which was the Treaty of Versailles with Germany.

Why did World War 1 start? (assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand)

Since we have seen when the first world war began (in 1914) let us into the reasons that led to the great war. When it comes to discussing why world war 1 started and how did world war 1 start affected global politics, historians have traditionally chosen two approaches. 

The first is precise, pointing to a single event—Archduke Franz Ferdinand's killing at Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. The second examines the conflict's deeper, underlying causes by closely examining global trends that have been accumulating for many years.

Tensions had been building for years across Europe, particularly in the problematic Balkan region of southeast Europe, when World War I broke out.

For years, a number of alliances involving European powers, the Ottoman Empire, Russia, and other parties had existed, but political unrest in the Balkans (especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina) threatened to derail them.

On June 28, 1914, at Sarajevo, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was shot to death along with his wife, Sophie, by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. Princip and other nationalists were fighting to free Bosnia and Herzegovina from Austro-Hungarian domination.

The killing of Franz Ferdinand sparked off a fast-rising series of events: Austria-Hungary, like many other countries throughout the world, blamed the Serbian government for the assassination and sought to use the occurrence as a reason for finally resolving the issue of Serbian nationalism.

Because powerful Russia backed Serbia, Austria-Hungary held off on declaring war until German leader Kaiser Wilhelm II assured them that Germany would back them up. Leaders in Austria-Hungary feared that a Russian incursion would involve Russia's ally, France, as well as the United Kingdom.

On July 5, Kaiser Wilhelm covertly committed his support, effectively providing Austria-Hungary with a "blank check" assurance of Germany's assistance in the event of a conflict. The Austria-Hungarian Dual Monarchy then issued an ultimatum to Serbia, which was so harsh that it was practically impossible to accept.

The Serbian government, convinced that Austria-Hungary was preparing for war, ordered the Serbian army to mobilise and appealed to Russia for help. The fragile truce between Europe's leading powers swiftly crumbled when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28.

Within a week, Russia, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, and Serbia had formed an alliance against Austria-Hungary and Germany, and World War I (the great war) had officially begun.

Above mentioned sequence of events is one school of thought that is accepted by historians on when did the first world war begin and why world war 1 started, but on deeper analysis, the root cause of the war is found to be the various issue rather than a single event of assassination. It is no doubt that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand incited the sequence of events that led to one of the most tragic events of modern history. 

Deeper Trends on How Did World War 1 Start

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparked a war between two major powers: Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the Habsburgs. But why and how did this conflict escalate into a global war? Some historians suggest that the answer to this question rests in deeper tendencies.

Let's take a look at the alliance system first. These were "communities" of nations, who promised to help one another. The main European countries hoped to avoid the devastation of huge wars on the European continent after the devastation of the Napoleonic Wars in the early nineteenth century. As a result, a system of alliances was created to maintain a power balance throughout Europe.

It put two powerful allies against one another. The Triple Entente, led by Russia and France, was formed some years before the conflict, with Great Britain joining a few years later. The other was the Triple Alliance, which consisted of Austro-Hungary, Germany, and Italy, as well as the Ottoman Empire later on, and was dubbed the Central Powers.

These competing alliances almost ensured that if Russia and Austro-Hungary went to war, they would be able to drag in their friends, resulting in a conflict far greater than the two adversaries who started it.

Nationalism, which had been quickly expanding in many parts of the world, fueled the conflict. Serbian nationalism, of course, played a significant role in the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. However, nationalism encouraged the assumption that national pride and glory were sufficient reasons to go to war with each of the major countries.

National sovereignty was a crucial concept in this century, and it, like nationalism, spread the fight even more. For example, Britain only entered the war after German troops invaded neutral Belgium on their way into France. The British claimed that they had no choice but to safeguard Belgian sovereignty. Similarly, Russia entered the war on the pretext of defending Serbian sovereignty.

Imperialism was another key tendency that contributed to the war's expansion and acceleration. When the belligerent countries went to war, many of them had imperial goals in mind. Part of their motivation was to obtain a strategic advantage.

Russia hoped to wrest control of the Dardanelles Straits from the Ottoman Empire, giving its naval unprecedented access to the Mediterranean Sea. Parts of the Ottoman Empire were sought by Britain and France.

Japan fought alongside the Entente (Britain, France, and Russia) in the Pacific Ocean in the hopes of capturing certain German possessions. Imperialism had a financial motivation as well.

Finally, as a result of the new technologies brought on by industrialization, war preparations, once started, made actual combat unavoidable. Everyone assumed that with the new weapons and mobility, the first country to mobilise would gain the upper hand (get their troops together and move to their borders).

Railroads could now quickly move enormous numbers of troops, weapons, and equipment to the frontier, but only on meticulously planned schedules. They couldn't be stopped once they started without giving the opponent an edge.

As a result, when Austro-Hungary began mobilising against Serbia, Russia and France had to move quickly to implement their preparations. As a result, Germany needed to act rapidly as well. All of this meant that if one power moved troops or military equipment, the others would follow suit.

Legacy of the Great War

Since we have learnt about why world war 1 started, we can look into how world war 1 started to influence the world. 

Millions of women entered the workforce to replace males who went to war and those who never returned during World War I, causing immense societal upheaval. The first global war also aided in the spread of one of the world's deadliest pandemics, the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak, which killed an estimated 20 to 50 million people worldwide.

"The first modern war," as World War I is known, was fought between 1914 and 1918. During World War I, several of the technologies that are today associated with military conflict—machine guns, tanks, aerial combat, and radio communications—were introduced in large numbers.

The catastrophic effects of chemical weapons such as mustard gas and phosgene on soldiers and civilians during World War I prompted public and military opposition to their further use. The Geneva Conventions, which were signed in 1925 and are still in effect today, establish restrictions on the employment of chemical and biological weapons in combat.

Conclusion

In conclusion of the article, we can say that we have learnt about the great war and the great war began. We have also learnt about the reasons that led to the world war.