The chain of events leading to war: Network of Alliances
Serbia’s allies	——>	Russia
		France
		Great Britain
Austria-Hungary allies	——> Germany
		[Italy]
Balkan Peninsula a Powder Keg - Ready to explode
The Balkans
•	100 years of trying to be free from the Ottoman Empire
•	As the Ottoman’s weakened, many states break away
Serbia	Albania	Macedonia		Greece
Romania	Montenegro
•	These new states extremely nationalistic, especially the Serbian Slavs
Austria-Hungary
•	The nationalistic movements threatened; A-H they had many Slavic citizens
•	A-H desired to extend its influence on the Balkan Peninsula
•	In 1908, A-H annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina
•	This almost leads to war with Russia, but Russia not yet strong enough/prepared enough for war
Russia
•	The Slavs and Russians are culturaly and linguistically connected
•	Russia has a desire/need to gain access to the Mediterranean Sea
Europe
•	European leaders felt war inevitable
•	All but Great Britain kept large standing armies
•	Each feared that the longer war was delayed, the stronger that the others would become
•	Citizen’s nationalism glorifies war and patriotism
•	They had forgotten about the horrors of war

War begins:
July 28, 1914	• A-H declares war on Serbia
• Russia sides with Serbia and begins to mobilize its army
August 1	• Germany declares war on Russia
August 3	• Germany declares war on France
August 4	• Germany marches through Belgium on march to France
• Great Britain declares war on Germany
by September 2	• German army almost to Paris
• Russian mobilization strengthening
• Germany sends 1,000’s of troops East
Battle of the Marne
September 6	France & Great Britain able to stop Germany at the Marne River
September 12	Germany forced to retreat 40 miles
The WESTERN FRONT established here.
1914 - 1917: For the next three years little changes on this front [seesaw]
Eastern Front established: 
August 17	• Russia had moved troops into Germany
• Battle of Tannenberg stops Russian advance & forces them back to Russia
Southern Front:
October	• The Ottoman’s enter the war on the side of the Central Powers
• They control the Black Sea access 
Colonies become involved
• Japan declares against Germany and attacks their China possessions
• Britain and France begin to take Germany’s African colonies
• India & Australia sends troops to support Allies
March 1917	Russian revolution overthrows the Czar
This slows the Russians desire to continue the fight