WW1 - Short-term Causes

First Moroccan Crisis (1905)

Crisis as France was trying to assert control over Morocco, and Germany wanted to cause problems between France and Britain. Wilhelm went to Morocco and promised the sultan he would support their independence

Algeciras conference (1906)

Conference to decide the fate of Morocco, Germany was confident France would be defeated and the entente broken, but a new liberal government in Britain opposed Germany, and although they gained economic freedom, they had failed

Agadir crisis (1911)

France deployed troops to Morocco, and Germany protested by sailing gunships to Agadir. France was intimidated and agreed to negotiate, and was allowed to make Morocco a protectorate, but had to compensate Germany with territory in the Congo.

Bosnian Crisis (1908)

Austria moved to annex Bosnia, which they were specifically prohibited from doing under the treaty of Berlin from 1878. This move angered all great powers and Austrias neighbors (Italy, Serbia, and Montenegro) but were ultimately still not stopped from annexing the territory

First Balkan War

War between Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro on one side and the Ottoman Empire on the other. It was won by the coalition of states, which all claimed swathes of territory from the Ottomans European territory.

Balkan League

Alliance of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece, all of which had nationalist territorial claims on the European Ottoman Empire

Race to Thessaloniki

During the war, Greek and Bulgarian forces raced to be the first to conquer and occupy the city of Thessaloniki, the most important city in the region of Macedonia, which both states claimed as their own. It was won by Greek troops by mere hours.

Second Balkan War

Bulgaria was the strongest of the members of the Balkan League, and believed they had borne the brunt of the Ottoman attacks, and were unsatisfied when both Central Macedonia (including Thessaloniki) and Vardar Macedonia (modern North Macedonia) went to Greece and Serbia respectively. Hence, they declared war on their former allies. The Greeks and Serbs held, and both Romania and the Ottomans eventually joined and crushed the Bulgarians, reducing the size of the state and army significantly.

Treaty of London (1913)

Treaty settling the first Balkan war, including the creation of Albania, not a goal of any of the combatants but required to appease the great powers, who had not gotten involved.

Results of first Balkan war for balance of power

• Serbia made great gains, win for Russia

• Balanced through gains for Bulgaria, Greece, and creation of Albania. The first two were not dangers to Austria, and Albania was an Austrian dream

Importance of war plans

All countries war plans depended on quick mobilization and action, especially Germany’s, and hence even if Germany was in a war with Russia, it would have had to declare on France to follow the Schlieffen plan. In general the plans were made down to the very hour, so the generals were impatient to get to war if it was inevitable, as not to lose any advantage.

Results of Second Balkan war for balance of power

• bigger win for Russia (Serbian expansion)

• Loss for Austria (Serbian expansion, Romanian strengthening, Bulgarian decline, and Greco-Serbian ties strengthened)

Assasination of Franz Ferdinand

On the 28th of June 1914, Gavrilo Princip shot Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne, in Sarajevo.

July Crisis

Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, and demanded justice. Serbia was backed up by Russia, and suddenly the system of alliances was on the brink of being triggered

Blank cheque

A term used to refer to the support Germany promised to Austria-Hungary during the July Crisis. Germany essentially promised to support Austria-Hungary no matter what.

Willy-Nicky Telegrams

Telegrams between the cousins Wilhelm II of Germany and Nicholas I of Russia, trying to resolve the tensions and not resort to war

Austrian demands

Austria demanded that Austrian police be allowed to enter Serbia and investigate, ban the organization the Black Hand (which had been responsible), suppress anti-Austrian propaganda and more. These demands took almost a month to submit, and Serbia accepted many of them, but rejected Austrian involvement in the investigation, very possibly to cover up government involvement.

The outbreak

when Serbia did not fully comply, Austria declared war on it. The Russians entered in support of Serbia, and Germany declared war on Russia as part of the Blank Cheque. Due to the risk of France joining, and the danger of being bogged down in Russia when France entered the war, Germany declared war on France in order to utilize the Schlieffen plan. This in turn led to Germany invading Belgium, and Britain joining due to their guarantee of Belgian independence. Hence, the war had begun.