Major Theme: The Origins of the First World War.
The out break of war in 1914 grew out of a short term crisis in the Balkans. However one must take into account a number of long standing developments:
1.) A balance of power that was maintained in Europe for much of the nineteenth century (France/Britain) was crumbling
2.) European Powers viewed international relations (colonies) as a battle for survival and source of status
3.) The Rise of Germany as the second largest European power encouraged the growth of alliances
4.) Nationalistic groups demanding self determination/independence threatening old empires
On the morning of July 28th a young Bosnian nationalist Gavrillo Princip, backed by the 'black hand' walked through a mass of people in the crowded streets of Sarajevo. He approached the car of Archduke Ferdinand and the Duchess Sophia, pulled a hand gun and shot them both dead. The Austro-Hungarian government blamed the whole affair on Serbia who had been linked through an intercepted message. Within a matter of about a month the whole of Europe was embroiled in what was soon to be dubbed the Great War/WWI.
*Many historians blame the outbreak of war on this July Crisis: the actions of Princip and the reactions of the Serbians and Austro-Hungarians. Do you believe that the war could have been prevented given this assassination had never happened? Remember to use supporting information from your notes, the Internet, class discussions and the online lecture for unit one (if you have time to listen to the first 20 min or so. The following website should give you a more thorough understanding of the causes for a European conflict:
http://www.firstworldwar.com/origins/causes.htm
Please read the following pages in your text pg-32-37
This posting is now open and will close on October 9th, the essay is due Oct 10th. The following students are asked to participate: Mitchell H., Jennifer H., Adam K., Cameron L., Matty M., Alyssandra M., Megan M., Dale N.
Possible Essay Topics: Was the murder of Ferdinand and his wife the cause of war in 1914? Would war have broken no matter what the outcome of the Bosnian Crisis? What was the most important cause of the First World War?
16 comments:
I beleive even if the assasination never happend the triple entante and the triple alliance would still find a way to cause a war between eachother leading to the begining of WW1
I do believe that the war could have been prevented given this assassination had never happened because the assassination started the war and Austria-Hungarian believed that Serbia plodded the attack on the archduke and his wife which is called the black hand known as a terrorist organization . Austria was angry that this advent happened and there for they declared war.
I believe even if the assassination had never happened there would of still been a war, it may of never happened for a couple more years. Germany was getting really wealthy which would bring a lot of power making them want more power which means they would have to start a war with a country to gain more land. With Germany going into a war it brings Austria-Hungary and Italy into war and most likely the attack for land would be on Russia, France or Britain bringing all three of the triple entant into the war.
I agree with jenny because all the archduke wanted to do was make peace and promote change. Unlike his uncle the man that rained for a every long time, he was going to make Austria-Hungary the "united states" of Europe. The black hand thought that they lost their chance to assassinate the archduke and the duchess in the town. But with luck the drive took a wrong turn and a member of the black hand was there. Overall this could have been prevented if the archduke lived with no plan for assassination.
I believe that if Franz Ferdinand was never assassinated, there would still be a war. It seems that every believes that as well. There was tension between the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance that needed to be solved by a war. I think the only reason Austria-Hungary actually declared war on Serbia was because they knew they had Germany on their side - they knew they had back up, they felt with Germany on their side they could win.If the archduke wasn't killed, maybe the war wouldn't have started for a few more years, but there would've been something else that would've happened to start the war.In conclusion, I believe that even if Franz Ferdinand wasn't assassinated, there would be something else to spark a war between the two alliances.
I agree with everyone else. There would have been a war either way with all of tension in the area. They just needed something to spark to war, which just so happened to be the assassination of the Archduke. After this is set of a chain of events that resulted in the world's first world war.
i dont agree with jenny or cameron , i mean none of those countrys got along verry well at all so i still think that if the assasination never happend that serbia and austria would have a disagreement on something and germany would help austria and russia would help serbia still leading to the great war or WW1
i agree with Aly, Matty, and Dale. the 2 alliances were just a ticking time bomb, the assassination was what started the war but the war was bound to happen no matter what. the countries already had they're motives but they just needed a little more for the war to start and then they got the anger from Austro-Hungary to start the war.
Adam pretty much just summed it up the war was bound to happen in the next year anyway.
I'm on the same page as Adam. If Ferdinand and his wife were not assassinated I still believe World War 1 would of happened. There was lots of tension between the two alliances (Triple Entente & Triple Alliance). I believe once Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia over the land disputes it lit the flame. Austria-Hungary only declared war on Serbia because they knew they had Germany backing them up. Since Serbia is a close friend of Russia, they have another country in Russia to back them up. Once this war broke out it was clear that the other countries involved in the alliances such as Great Britain, France and Italy would jump in and back up their allied countries. Even if the terrorist group "The Black Hand" and Gavillo Princip didn't assassinate the Archduke the war still would of happened. That just my opinion and it seems like other people agree.
Adam's response is dead on what happened.
The assassination happened and when it did it started the argument that lead to the Great War
I take back what I said before because reading all of these comments made me realize that even if there wasn't an assassinate world war 1 would still happen because the triple entente and the triple alliance despised each other so it was only a matter of time that there would be a war. It's just the assassination was that little spark to ignite the war.
I disagree with Cameron and Jenny. I believe the war had been brewing for a while for multiple reasons, like tension, alliances, and nationalism. Franz Ferdinand's assassination was just the spark to ignite the war. If this assassination had never happened, in the future, there would have been something else to spark a war. I think that it still may have involved Serbia and Austria-Hungary, as there seemed to be multitude of resolvable conflict. The war may not have started the same way, but it would have happened nonetheless.
I believe if the assassination never happened WW1 would have still occurred because for years the countries waited for an issue to happen to have a reason to start war so when the assassination happened they sent the ultimatum knowing that Serbia couldn't accept the demands it stated, Austra-Hungary knew it was a big enough reason to start war. But, if the assassination never happened I think the countries would wait for another event to happen to ignite the war.
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