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Prewar trade wars and financial rivalries never threatened to escalate into conflict. Governments would mobilise bankers and financiers to serve their interests, rather than the reverse. The commercial and financial elite recognized peace as necessary for economic development and used its influence to resolve diplomatic crises.
The Austro-Hungarians remained fixated on Serbia but did not decide on their precise objectives other than war. [24] Nevertheless, having decided upon war with German support, Austria-Hungary was slow to act publicly, and did not deliver the ultimatum until 23 July, some three weeks after the assassinations on 28 June. Thus Austria-Hungary lost ...
Before World War II, the events of 1914–1918 were generally known as the Great War or simply the World War. [1] In August 1914, the magazine The Independent wrote "This is the Great War. It names itself". [2] In October 1914, the Canadian magazine Maclean's similarly wrote, "Some wars name themselves. This is the Great War."
The dominance of this line of thought significantly contributed to the escalation of hostilities, and is seen as one of the causes of World War I. Military theorists of the time generally held that seizing the offensive was of crucial importance, hence belligerents were encouraged to strike first in order to gain the advantage. [ 4 ]
Berlin did not go to war in 1914 in a bid for ‘world power’, as historian Fritz Fischer claimed, but rather first to secure and thereafter to enhance the borders of 1871. Secondly, the decision for war was made in July 1914 and not, as some scholars have claimed, at a nebulous ‘war council’ on 8 December 1912.
The year the United States entered World War I was marked by near disaster for the Allies on all the European fronts. A French offensive in April, with which the British cooperated, was a failure, and was followed by widespread mutinies in the French armies.
The first day of the battle consisted of light skirmishes; the main battle did not begin until 21 August. [ 6 ] According to the pre-war French strategy document, Plan XVII , German forces in the area were only expected to be light, with French light, rapid-firing artillery proving advantageous in a wooded terrain such as that found in the ...
When Russia did not comply, Germany declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914. According to its war plan, Germany prioritized its offensive against France, declaring war on August 3. Germany deployed its main armies through Belgium with the aim of encircling Paris. The imminent threat to Belgium prompted Britain to declare war on Germany on ...