What event lead to the start of WWI? Who were the parties responsible and what role did alliances play in WWI

Question

Please, i need help in history

Answer 1

Do your homework, WWI and WWII are actually interesting eras and topics......

Finding what started WWI is very easy, someone got assasinated and triggered ultimatums all over Europe. If your grab a map of the alliances in both wars, you will notice something quite interesting, they almost look the same...

Answer 2

I asked my prof this very question while we were discussing it in class and even she couldn't give a straight answer. The reason for this is that the answer is very complex, when you try to get to the root cause.

The actual event which triggered the war was the assassination of Arch Duke Frans Ferdinand of Austria on June 28, 1914. However, this was just the equivalent of a spark which should have been harmless but unfortunately went off in the middle of a bunch of powderkegs. Some of the powderkegs were:

- A complex set of alliances which caused an atmosphere of distrust amongst the European countries

- Historical animousity between France and Germany over the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine

- Anglo-German naval race: Germany was threatening Britain's dominance at sea through its construction of Dreadnaughts and Superdreadnaughts. In 1913, Great Britain proposed a settlement where they would have 60% naval superiority over Germany, who agreed, but hostility and distrust increased as a result.

- Germany's assumption that due to the alliance system, if it went to war it would have to fight BOTH France and Russia. Therefore when Russia mobilized to counter Germany's ally Austria-Hungary's ultimatum against Serbia (Russia's ally), instead of attacking Russia, Germany attacked France. This was because of the Schlieffen plan, which was Germany's only war plan and called for a rapid "crushing" of France and then turning to Russia who due to its size and the ponderous nature of its army would take some time to be able to fully mobilize (and they could crush France in that amount of time, theoretically)

- Also the attitude of the public contributed. Social Darwinism led to racist, elitist ideas between nations. In general, the public also thought the war would be over before Christmas and would be good for the country - a "short and glorious war"...

These are just a few of the contributing factors. Hope that helps.

Answer 3

WWI started because a Bosnian Serb student assainated Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and the heir to the Habsburg throne, on June 28, 1914.

As far as alliances go, that had everything to do with why the war escalated to what it did. Serbia was allied with Russia who was allied at the time with France and the United Kingdom. France was also Allied with Italy. Germany, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire (what once covered most of the countries in the Middle East) were allied with Austria-Hungary.

Austria-Hungary declared war on Albaina so Russia came to their aid and declared war on Austria-Hungary and asked France for some back up. Because Germany had been at war off and on with France and wanted the Alsace and Lorraine territories back so they declared war on France. The United Kindom was allied with France and decided to help France out and declared war on Germany.

The Ottoman Empire comes into play because the United Kingdom had oil interests in what is present day Iraq and since they were at war with an ally of the Ottoman Empire they were no longer welcomed. Of coures the British forces being stronger then the weakend Ottomans steam rolled over them and broke up the empire into most of the countries we recognize in the Middle East today.

Answer 4

"History books record that World War I started when the nations went to war to avenge the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the Habsburg throne, on June 28, 1914."
-threeworldwars.com

"Between 1914 - 1918, over 100 countries from Africa, America, Asia, Australasia and Europe were part of the conflict."
-About.com: European History
"The Allied Powers, led by France, Russia, the United Kingdom and later, Italy and the United States, defeated the Central Powers, led by Austria-Hungary, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire."
-Wikipedia

Alliances, in my opinion, gave each side definitive partners to aide each other in resources, manpower, weapons, etc. This was an advantage to each state having its own army fighting against many other armies, which could possibly lead to hostilities against other states fighting for the same cause. Alliances also gave leaders the ability to show support for one side without actually becoming part of the rule of that one country. This way they could pick a country to support without actually being part of that country. In short--it allowed military leaders to precisely decide who is friend and who is foe.

Answer 5

It was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia on June 28,1914. The party responsible was a group of Serbian anarchists called by the name of Black Hand performed by Gavrilo Princip.

The role that alliances played in WWI was complex.
Serbia was allied with Russia through a like cultural heritage.France was allied with England who was allied with Russia through Queen Victoria and her niece the Czarina Alexandria, wife of Czar Nicholas II of Russia. On the other side Austria -Hungary (Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife and the Hapsburg Empire) were allied with Germany through a like cultural heritage and language under Kaiser Wilhelm II who was despised by France because of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 and the French loss of Alsace-Lorraine. the Ottoman Turks entered with the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary because of the British infiltration in their empire especially Palestine and parts of the Mediterranean world. Italy who at first sided with the Central powers would reneged on their promise and join the Allies in 1915, feeling threatened by Austria-Hungarian invasion in Northern Italy through the Alps. Japan was a minor ally of the Allies because they desired the PacificGerman colonies as possible Japanese colonies at the end of the war under the guise of protection for their homeland. The United States claimed neutrality but was really siding with the allies the whole time because of the love we have for our mother country, Great Britain and our distrust of Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare . The Zimmerman note whether forged or not put the Us over the edge and they entered the war on the side of the Allies on April 6, 1917.

Answer 6

I'm not going to help you do your homework. You have to do that yourself.

I'll bet you can find the answer in your history text book. It's probably the one in the back of your locker - the one you haven't opened yet this semester.

Answer 7

My GOD... don't they teach ANYTHING in History now?

Look up the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand and you will get all the information you need.

Answer 8

Some guy, (a head of some state), was assasinated which I think officially triggered the war, and the alliances kicked corporal Hitler's German armies butt.

Answer 9

cant you just key in wikipedia? C'mon