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France's role in ww2
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“French Empire and World War I”
During World War I, France was a member of the “allies” side along with Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, Russia, America, and China. They fought against the “axis” powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The axis powers were also known as the “Triple Alliance.”
World War I had a multitude of causes including imperialism, nationalism, and alliances. A good example of an alliance would be the dual alliance between Russia and France, otherwise known as the Franco-Russian Alliance. Russia wanted protection against Austria-Hungary, while France needed protection from Germany. Germany assumed that these two nations would never unite, which caused them to overlook the Reinsurance Treaty of 1880 with Russia. In August of 1891, Russia and France made an official alliance. It was agreed that were Russia to ever be attacked by Austria-Hungary, France would rush to their defense and vice versa. The “Triple Entente” was fully formed when Britain became an ally of Russia during the Anglo-Russian Agreement in 1907.
Before World War I, Serbia had never been a great European nation. However, it quickly became the center of politics around the world. The Ottoman Empire ruled Serbia until the Serbian Revolution in the 1800s. Serbia had a lot of tension building up from other nations, particularly Austria-Hungary. The
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Ferdinand had come to Sarajevo, Bosnia to inspect armed forces. On June 28, 1914 he was shot by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist. He, like many Serbians, was angered by Austria-Hungary’s destruction of former Ottoman territories. Ferdinand’s assassination would lead to a domino effect of events. Austria-Hungary used this as an excuse to attack Serbia, which would lead to war with Russia. Shortly after this happened, many other nations such as Great Britain and France declared war against Austria-Hungary and
In June 1914, Archduke Ferinard of Austria-Hungary and his wife Sophie were assassinated in the small state of Serbia. Throughout June and July of 1914 tensions in Europe rose. When Austria-Hungary threatened Serbia, Russia promised to help the small country. A chain of events then involved each of the major European powers in the worsening situation. On August 1st, the French army was mobilized, and on August 3rd, the German army invaded Belgium. This attack brought in the British, who had promised to defend Belgium. World War One had begun.
The Austrian government was looking for a reason to send an ultimatum to Serbia and they finally had a chance. Serbia refused to comply and Austria declared war. Europe's “long-smoldering feuds” have finally erupted into war. At this particular time, Europe was suffering from many problems.... ...
He felt that several forces of opposing countries took part in fighting each battle and ultimately believed that global opposition caused the Great War. Similarly, in the Balkan Region, several ethnic minorities desired independence from Austria-Hungary. As shown in Document 3, the Austro-Hungarian government demanded that action be taken regarding propaganda against Austria-Hungary. This ultimatum was a result of the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, who was killed by a Serbian nationalist. Russia, a large Slavic nation, has close ties with Serbia.
The French and Indian war, also better known as the seven year war, was in 1754. It all began in the early spring of 1754 through 1763, when George Washington and some 160 Virginians and hand full of Mingo Indians started to move when they were concerned about the French military presence in their county. The battle first started when a Mingo chief, the Indian leader that was with George Washington in his campaign, led a unit of soldiers into a small French encampment in the woods. It was a very small battle but, the fight ended up with 14 French men wounded. While Washington was trying to get all the available information from their French dying commander to help their plans in the war, the Indians killed and scalped the remaining survivors including the commander.
After about a month of peace talks between Austro-Hungary and Russia (keep in mind that Serbia and Russia were allies at the time), war was declared between most of Europe, including Germany, Austro-Hungary, Belgium, France, England/the UK, and Finland, among many others. This is the Great War predicted by Bismarck.
France entered into the Napoleonic Wars as a result of the French Revolution and the European sovereigns’ opposition to the creation of the French republic out of the fear that such ideas of democracy may spread to neighboring nations and remove the monarchs from their thrones through revolutions. The actions of these nations only served to ironically lead to the spreading of French idealism across the continent during France’s peak of military prowess. By alienating and siding against France, France entered into war with the “Coalitions” of European Monarchies and under Napoleon’s rule, conquered their opposition and under their rule, learned of the French ideology of Demo...
French Foreign Policy and the Coming of War During this critical time not much attention was turned to France, as the entire spotlight was on Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement and Hitler’s aims. The Orthodox view of France was described as of a deeply divided and politically unstable country, which was obsessed with security and defense. France was definitely not ready for war, and therefore eagerly agreed to the policy of appeasement. It preferred negotiating with Germany at this stage rather than fighting it.
Although France and Britain were natural enemies, their fear of Germany united them together with Russia. These alliances set the final stage for the beginning of World War I. Each country in each alliance would help each other during warfare. For example, if Germany attacked France, Britain and Russia would help France, and Italy and Austria would help Germany, dragging Europe into a state of chaos and violence. & nbsp;& nbsp;& nbsp;& nbsp;& nbsp;Militarism was also an underlying cause of World War I. As the alliance system divided Europe into opposing groups, each nation began to increase spending on its military.
The French and Indian war was a 7 year war. The war lasted from 1756 to 1763 it formed a chapter in the imperial struggle between Britain and France called the Second Hundred Years War. The French and Indian War resulted an ongoing tensions in North America and both French and British imperial officials and colonists wanted to extend each country’s province of influence in frontier regions. In 1753 the outbreak of hostilities Great Britain controlled 13 colonies in the Appalachian Mountains. The Anglo American colonists and the Iroquois Confederacy controlled most of upstate New York and parts of northern Pennsylvania. The border between French and British goods was not defined and one territory was the upper Ohio River valley. The French had constructed many forts in that region to strengthen their claim on territory. The war didn’t go good for the British. The British Government had General Edward Braddock go to the colonies for commander in chief of British North American forces. He disaffected Indian allies and colonial leaders which failed to cooperate with him.
While the alliances were being formed Britain decided to stay a neutral country and not take sides or interfere with the war. Germany, although, got them to change their minds. The German army created a plan that was believed to be able to take down Russia and France in one battle. This plan was called the Schlieffen Plan, named after the general who created it, General Alfred von Schlieffen. The plan was to first move toward the French army since Russia's army mobilizes quite slowly then to quickly turn around and move towards the Russian army. In order to follow this plan through, the German army had to pass through Belgium. However Belgium had signed a treaty guaranteeing neutrality.
During the late 19th century many countries sought an alliance with other countries to guarantee their own safety, preserve peace and sometimes to help their economic position. this is highlighted by alliances and treaties such as the "Dual Alliance" of 1879, the "Dreikaiserbund" of 1881 and the "Reinsurance Treaty" This was also the case for both France and Russia, with them agreeing the "Franco-Russian Military Convention" on August 18th 1892 and later agreeing the "Franco-Russian Alliance" in 1893. France and Russia were animated by a common desire to preserve peace. The only reason it was possible for France and Russia to form this alliance is because Germany allowed the Reinsurance treaty to become invalid. Both countries wanted different things from the alliance but there was one common reason between them, and that was to oppose Germany - although both countries had different incentives for this. France, Russia and Germany all contributed to the alliance being formed, either through their aims or what they did.
The alliance system ideated by the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck kept peace in Europe but its main aim was, however, to forestall the possibility that, in the event of war, Germany would have to fight it on two fronts (basically France and Russia). This was achieved by diplomatically isolating France so that its dream of recapturing its lost provinces of Alsace-Lorraine couldn't be fulfilled. This was done by, firstly, the creation of the League of the Three Emperors or Dreikaiserbund. It was first projected as a meeting of the monarchs of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia in 1872 and confirmed the following year, the 22nd of October 1873. Here, the very general and formless agreement was given a more solid form by military agreements promising to help any country attacked by a fourth party. And all this even though that there was mutual rivalry between Russia and Austria-Hungary in the Balkans. This proved to be a concrete way to isolate France for as E. Eyck mentions, "the League ensured that neither Austria-Hungary nor Russia was available as an ally for France". At this point, Bismarck didn't consider Britain as a potential French ally as they had a long history of rivalry. Secondly, in 1887 the Reinsurance Treaty was signed with Russia in which it promised to support Russia's claims to the strait and to remain neutral in the event of war unless it attacked Austria-Hungary, the same with Russia, who promised to remain neutral unless it attacked France.
In 1882, the Dual Alliance became the Triple Alliance after Italy joined; the alliance became anti-French. France and Russia formed the Franco-Russian alliance in 1891, which marked the end of German direction of the affairs of Europe. Their alliance was initially formed from financial ties in 1888 which became a formal alliance in 1893. Their alliance was military and anti-German; they promised to help each other if the were attacked by Germany. Russia benefited from this alliance because it was able to industrialise as a result of French loans.
Through the years, developments in Science and Technology can be noticed. Advancement in science and technology have made life better, easier, and efficient. Take computers, as an example. In old days, computers were as big as a room, and were not comfortable to use because the computer screen can damage the eyes. Conversely today, computers are small as the size of our palm, and has better display. Unlike the computers in the past, which were slow and has limited functionalities, computers in the present time are fast and has all the functionalities an individual needs for his or her everyday life. Technology is still developing to improve the life of every living creature on Earth. However, such developments will not happen without the contributions of the people in the past specially the individuals during the Renaissance, which is the time when intellect, and artistic achievements were being recognized.
Following the assassination, Austria- Hungary was ready to declare war on Serbia, whom they believed was responsible for the death of Ferdinand. Without the support of Germany, Austria- Hungary probably would not have attacked ...