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Articles: Politics | World War I - A Refresher
- Ms. Vennela Vennela
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If you are rusty with World War I after so many years since schooling… With July 28th approaching when Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia which sparked the World War I… its time for a refresher of how it happened and who started it. Its unlike the Second World War which was more straightforward in who started it and who is at fault.
As the text books and articles say that the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand, the heir of Austro-Hungarian throne on 28th June 1914 in Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist secret society, is not the sole cause of conflict how ever it acted as a spark that ignited the war.
The events that happened in July and August of 1914 are a classic example of chain reaction… I’ll try to explain the events in best possible way…
Austria considered the murder of the heir to the throne an open Serbian attack on the existence of the Dual Monarchy because if Francis Joseph (the reigning monarch) died Austria would be left without an heir. Austria consciously exploited the occasion to destroy Serbia as a state to put an end to the Serbian threat to the existence of the Dual Monarchy for ever. A war with Serbia might lead to a war with Russia. Thus Austria wanted to be assured of German support. Germany readily agreed, even encouraged Austria-Hungary's warlike stance.
Having received the wholehearted support from Germany, Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia on July 23, 1914. The ultimatum was to be answered within 48 hours. It included the following demands:
(i) Serbia was to suppress all anti-Austrian (and Pan-Slav) publications, societies and propaganda.
(ii) Serbia was to dismiss all anti-Austrian officials objected by Austria.
(iii) Austrian police and officials were to enter Serbia and to take part in the Serbian police force in order to carry out the suppression of anti-Austrian activities and investigations concerning the Sarajevo murders.
These demands infringed Serbian sovereignty. Austria expected that Serbia would reject, thus giving her the excuse to declare war. Serbia accepted the first two demands but rejected the third. After declaring the Serbian reply unsatisfactory, the Austrian government declared war on July 28. The bombardment of Belgrade began on July 29.
Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilization of its vast army in her defense, a slow process that would take around six weeks to complete.
Germany feared that she would face attacks from both Russia and France. Germany demanded Russia to stop her mobilization at once. Russia refused. Germany at once declared war on Russia on August 1.
France, bound by treaty to Russia, found itself at war against Germany and, by extension, on Austria-Hungary following a German declaration on 3 August. Germany was swift in invading neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the shortest possible route.
Britain, allied to France by a more loosely worded treaty which placed a 'moral obligation' upon her to defend France, declared war against Germany on 4 August. Her reason for entering the conflict lay in another direction: she was obligated to defend neutral Belgium by the terms of a 75-year old treaty.
With Germany's invasion of Belgium on 4 August, and the Belgian King's appeal to Britain for assistance, Britain committed herself to Belgium's defence later that day. Like France, she was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary.
With Britain's entry into the war, her colonies and dominions abroad variously offered military and financial assistance, and included Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.
United States President Woodrow Wilson declared a U.S. policy of absolute neutrality, an official stance that would last until 1917 when Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare - which seriously threatened America's commercial shipping (which was in any event almost entirely directed towards the Allies led by Britain and France) - forced the U.S. to finally enter the war on 6 April 1917.
Japan, honoring a military agreement with Britain, declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914. Two days later Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war on Japan.
Italy, although allied to both Germany and Austria-Hungary, was able to avoid entering the fray by citing a clause enabling it to evade its obligations to both.
In short, Italy was committed to defend Germany and Austria-Hungary only in the event of a 'defensive' war; arguing that their actions were 'offensive' she declared instead a policy of neutrality. The following year, in May 1915, she finally joined the conflict by siding with the Allies against her two former allies.
Finally In the First World War, the Allies, which made up of 27 states including France, Britain, Russia, Italy , the United States, Rumania, Greece, Serbia and Japan, fought against the Central Powers including Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria. Later, after the entry of the United States into the war in 1917, the tide began to turn against the Central Powers. The Allies finally defeated the Central Powers in November 1918.
The First World War lasted for four years and three months. It began on August 4, 1914 and ended on November 11, 1918. It involved sixty sovereign states, overthrew four Empires (German Empire, Hapsburg Empire, Turkish Empire, Russian Empire), gave birth to seven new nations, took ten million combatant lives (another 30 million were wounded), and cost about £ 35,000 million.
After the defeat, Germany was made to sign the Treaty of Versailles where she lost 13% of its land and 7 millions of her population. The colonies in Africa and pacific were transferred to the League of Nations which allowed the victorious powers such as Britain, France, Belgium, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan to rule over them as Mandates. Germany was almost totally disarmed. She was allowed an army of 100,000 men to be recruited by voluntary enlistment and six small battleships of less than 10,000 tons. Submarines and aero planes were strictly forbidden. The Rhineland would be occupied by the Allied forces for 15 years, during which it would remain permanently demilitarized. And also she had to pay £6,600 million in reparations.
Austria and Hungary were severely punished for starting the war. Austria lost ¾ of land and ¾ of its population. Hungary lost ¾ of its land and 2/3 of population and both were disarmed to the lowest limits.
Germany clearly paid a heavy price for her defeat. The war-guilt clause and the accompanying clause concerning reparations were clearly made in a spirit of revenge. The German resentment of the Treaty helped the rise of Hitler in the 1930's.
After the First World War, there was little political stability in Europe. In Eastern Europe, the new states, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Finland were always threatened by the rapid increase in national strength of communist Russia. In central Europe, the Germans always longed for a revision of the Treaty of Versailles. The War left crushing economic burdens on all the European countries. It has been estimated that the European victors owed an aggregate of $10 billion to the U.S. To add to the economic burdens of the European governments, trade and industry did not revive after the war. There was mass unemployment in Italy, Germany, Britain and France shortly after the war.
But there was one hopeful sign for the peace in the future—the League of Nations was born in 1920. The League had a noble ideal. It advocated open diplomacy, economic co-operation and peaceful solution of international disputes.
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