II. Immediate Cause

A . June 28, 1914, Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWarchduke.htm

B. Germany gives Austria-Hungary a "blank check" to move against Serbia.

http://www.worldwar1.com/photos/gkais.jpg

Kaiser Wilhem II of GermanyKaiser Wilhem II with his uncle, King Edward VII of Great Britain

Kaiser Wilhelm II with his cousin, Czar Nicholas II of Russia

C. The ultimatum - July 23, 1914, ordered Serbia to end all anti-Austrian activities and let Austria handle the investigation of Ferdinand's murder, deliberately making the ultimatum too harsh to accept

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/images/scrpbk/scrpbk_observer_josef.jpg

Austrian-Hungary Emperor Franz Joseph

D. The start of war

1. July 28, 1914 Austria declared war on Serbia

2. Sets of a chain reaction - WWI began August 4, 1914

III. The Course of the War (1914-1916)

A. The Allies and the Central Powers

1.Allies - France, Britain, and Russia

2.Central Powers- Austria-Hungary and Germany a. Italy remained neutral at first and then joined the allies in 1915

b. Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers

B. The Western Front

1.The German Attack

a. The Schlieffen Plan - The plan called for Germans to invade France through Belgium and after (what planners believed would be a quick) victory send the troops on trains to the

Eastern front to fight the Russians

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/mowbray/gw-graphics/west1914.jpg

2.Trench warfare - instead of a quick victory battle became a war of attrition -- German advance halted at Ypres

3.New weapons;

4.Stalemate

http://library.thinkquest.org/C001396/media/emain.htm

C. The Eastern Front

1.early victories

2.Russian military effort

degenerated until it

collapsed.

3.Russian revolution

forced into surrender

March 1918 –

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

D. American neutrality-favoring Allies

1. propaganda

2. U-Boats interference

with shipping - sinking of

the Lusitania

3. economic motives

a. American banks lent

the Allies over $3 billion

b.Trade with Allies worth

$2.4 billion a year

British propaganda poster illustrating the sinking of the 'Lusitania' by the Germans in 1915. National Library of Scotland, War Posters (1920) R.29.a