WWI Help!!!!?

Question

Can someone help me describe the first three months of WWI?

Answer 1

the soap opera leading to war...

June 28th, Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife are assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, for the next month diplomatic maneuvering takes place, Austria-Hungary places demands on Serbia which are deemed unacceptable to Serbia
July 28th, one month after the assassination, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Serbia is allied with Russia as the pan-slav movement is instrumental in creating this alliance. Russia in turn fears Germany (allied with Austria-Hungary) will enter the war to aid Austria-Hungary. Russia and France are allied, and Germany refuses to accept that little Belgium can remain neutral should France and Russia go to war against Austria-Hungary (and Germany). Belgium is the most feasable way Germany saw to defend itself against France should war break out. Within days Russia, Germany, Belgium and France have joined Austria-Hungary and Serbia in mobilizing their forces against each other.
August 1st, Germany declared war on Russia.
August 2nd, German troops cross the territory of Luxembourg.
August 3rd, Germany declares war on France, invades Belgium.
August 4th, Britain declares war on Germany, Germany declares war on Belgium.
August 5th, Montenegro declares war on Austria-Hungary.
August 6th, Serbia declares war on Germany, Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
August 8th, Montenegro declares war on Germany.
August 12th, France and Britain declare war on Austria-Hungary.

and the first three months of the war...

the first weeks of the war were mobilization of millions of soldiers to the front lines. Everyone was hopefull that the soldiers would be home for Christmas, some 5 months away. But mobilization of troops and quick replacement of reserves by rail network ensured that offensives would take place.
Austria-Hungary made three crushing advances against Serbia by December 1914, each time they were pushed back.
Russia's quick mobilization meant that rather than turning first to Belgium and France, Germany had to split its forces, as did Austria-Hungary, to meet to rapidly advancing Russians on the Eastern Front (chiefly present day Poland).
France tried to regain its lost provinces of Alsace and Lorraine in August and lost a quarter of a million soldiers in the advance.
The German army was overstretched fighting on two fronts, its supply lines too long, and by the time it had crossed Belgium and advanced on the Marne in France, the advance had slowed (Germany met heavy resistance in Eastern Poland, two advances were turned back by Russia) and France + Britain could counter the German offensive by mid September. Both France/Britain and Germany attempted a series of flanking maneuvres to drive the enemy to the sea, both sides failed. By November, the front lines had hardened, trench warfare on the Western front became a mainstay, and the advance in the West by November 1914, three months into the war after the Battle of Ypres, was as far as Germany would get and as much as Britain and France could hold, for the duration of the war.
Russia made two major advances by mid September against Austria-Hungary and against Germany. The Russians defeated the Austro-Hungarians in Galicia (Southern present-day Poland), but were defeated by the Germans in East Prussia (Northwest present-day Poland).

In summary, Austria failed to defeat Serbia and had to fight Serbia and Russia, it could not help Germany in this capacity. Germany quickly overtook Belgium and the north of France until the Russian army forced Germany to send more troops to the east to face Russia, rather than sweep through France. France failed to overtake Alsace & Lorraine in it's singular advance, but Britain and France could recoup and push the Germans back a bit thanks to Russian pressure. Russia defeated Austria-Hungary time and again, but was in turn pressed by Germany and could not defeat Germany. This failure of all the powers to defeat any other power met that by the end of that three month period all the armies were at a standstill, especially in the West where trench warfare developed. In the East there was maneuvrebility but no side could clearly defeat the other.

Hope it helped.

Answer 2

Consult the following sites.. (in no order, open them all up in their own tab/window if you like)

1) How WWI started:
http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/civil_n2/histscript6_n2/wwcause.html

2) http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/

3) http://www.firstworldwar.com/ See "How it began" (direct link -- http://www.firstworldwar.com/origins/index.htm


--- Feel free to search Google for "The Great War" or "WWI" or "Beginning of WWI" or "Beginning The Great War" or whatever you may think of.
--- DO NOT use Wikipedia (as a source for a writing assignment), their sources are not always correct & the people who contribute content have no certification in the topic. However, if this is just out of personal interest, I suggest you take a look at Wikipedia, as they generally give you a very condensed, "SparkNotes-like" version of a topic, although some go into grave detail.

ALWAYS, always, always check the sources and make sure that the person is someone with a background in the subject, not just a "nobody" who decided to write an article about it. *** This is essential if you are doing research for a paper!! (some teachers will not accept internet sources other than e-books or a .edu site! Double check with your teacher to be sure!) *** This is to ensure that you are getting the right facts.

Also see the list of links contained at this site (* check sources carefully though! *):
http://members.aol.com/TeacherNet/WWI.html

that should be enough.

Answer 3

Marne, Belleau timber, Falkland Islands, Ypres, Verdun, Otranto Straits, Gaza, Aisne, Ramadi, Vittorio Veneto, Jerusalem, Jutland, Asiago, Trentino, Beersheba, the Isonzo, Liege, Lorraine, the Ardennes, Tannenberg, Kut, Tikrit, Mons, Suez Canal, Scarborough, Champagne, Basra, Antwerp, Falluja, the Somme, Tsingtao, Givenchy... Now run and get your map.

Answer 4

"Some of the first clashes of the war involved British, French and German colonial forces in Africa. On 7 August French and British troops invaded the German protectorate of Togoland. On 10 August German forces in South-West Africa attacked South Africa. Sporadic and fierce fighting continued for the remainder of the war."

"African campaigns" in "World War I" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WW_I#Opening_hostilities

"African theatre of World War I" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_theatre_of_World_War_I

Answer 5

Try reading "All's quiet on the Western Front"... I think that should give you all the material you can use