The Great War

The Great War , or as it is known now, World War One was a global conflict fought between the Allied Powers ; Great Britain, France, Russia, and the United States along will other smaller nations and the Central Powers ; Germany, Austria – Hungary, Turkey/Ottoman Empire and other small nations from 1914 to 1918. World War One began from a series of tumultuous events, that in turn affected the balance of alliances that had been made between countries at that time in the world.
The ignition, or rather start of these events occurred on June 28th, 1914, when the Archduke of Austria – Hungary, Frances Ferdinand and his wife, were assassinated by a young Serbian militant, Gavrilo Princep. Austria – Hungary was ensured of support from the German government if the declared war against Yugoslavia, who had a defensive treaty with Russia. On July 25th, Austria – Hungary extended a ten point ultimatum to the Serbian government, along with a forty – eight hour deadline to enforce the ultimatum. July 28th marked the official declaration of war between Austria and Yugoslavia. The conflict was begun with the intentions of seizing a portion of Serbian territory and utilizing that as a leverage tool to gain their demands. The Russian military began its mobilization efforts to protect Yugoslavia. Trying to still maintain peace the Russians said they would not attack if peace talks would begin. The Germans then issued a twelve hour deadline for the demobilization of the Russian build up, and the Germans declared war on the Russians on August 1st, 1914.
Although Germany had perhaps not been planning for this conflict to materialize in the exact manner that it had, they did have a “contingency” plan. That plan was known as the Schlieffen Plan. The Schlieffen Plan consisted of war plans for the invasions of all the European nations. The German Military leader Moltke determined that the war had to be fought and won on the western front in order to defeat the Russians (Germany in World War One, Holburn) . Germany then declared war on France on August 3rd , 1914, and invaded Belgium the following day. Belgium tried to resist the oncoming Germans, but fell in three days.
The English became involved due in part to the Treaty of London of 1839, in which Great Britain guaranteed to help defend Belgium’s independence. Great Britain then issued an ultimatum to the Germans to withdraw f...

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...ntry in a more thorough state of defense but also to exert all its power and employ all its resources to bring the Government of the German Empire to terms and end the war…”, ( First World War, Wilson). On April 6, 1917 Congress passed President Wilson’s declaration of war with Germany. American manpower contribution rose from 200,000 to over 2 million by the war’s end, in part due to Selective Service Act, passed in May 1917. this act called for all males to register for draft induction to the military, between the ages of 18 and 30. Of the 24.2 million registered, only 2.8 million were drafted, ( America, Past and Present, 7th ed., Divine). With American intervention, Allied forces doubled in size and were able to start making ground against the German/Central Powers in Europe. Throughout the fall and early winter of 1918, Allied forces catapulted on even the Germans eastern front (the Balkans and Rumania), when the German military leader Ludendorff stated, “ The condition of the army demands an immediate armistice”, (Germany During World War One, Holburn). On November 11, 1918 ( thereafter, known as Armistice Day), Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles, ending World War One.