Causes of World War 1 :: essays research papers

Causes of World War 1 The Causes of World War I The murder of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife on the 28th of June caused the lead up to World War I. The Archduke heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was assassinated in his car during a drive in Sarajevo. The assassination was the work of a terrorist group known as the Black Hand. This caused Austria-Hungary to call on Germany as an ally and discuss how far Germany would support them. The result of this meeting was the `Blank Cheque' which gave Austria Germany's full support. Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia asking for `complete surrender' on 23rd July and Serbia agreed 99%. Austria declared war on Serbia on the 28th of July, which created a war that would split Europe in two. War plans and war strategies a crucial to win a war so they must be planned to perfection with no flaws. In World War I Germany believed they had a perfect war plan were as if Russia mobilizes then Germany would have forty days to destroy and invade France (Russia's Ally) this flawless plan was known as the Schlieffen. The Schlieffen plan was created by Count Alfred von Schlieffen and was created to protect Germany from fighting a war on two fronts. After Schlieffen died his successor was a man named Helmuth von Moltke and he modified the plan slightly by not invading so much neutral territory. During the war the plan was an absolute failure and Germany had to fight a war on two fronts and lost. The plan was a failure because it had to many flaws e.g. Britain was not brought into the equation, France was stronger than expected. In this war plan trains with strict timetables were used to create an army of 4,000,000 to march into Paris. Once Germany mobilizes the trains would not stop or change route for anybody. When the Kaiser asked Moltke to stop the trains going to France, Moltke's reply was: "That we can't do! The whole army would be thrown into confusion. We would lose any chance of victory." Moltke This proves that the Kaiser was not in control after mobilization has started. It also proves that the trains could not be stopped by anyone after they have started without complete chaos occurring and defeat enviable. The alliances in Europe created a tension, which would snap, and a major war would occur that would split Europe in two.