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Re ww1 what started it.

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Can anyone on here please explain the main reasons why ww1

started ,have done some reading but still unclear and not sure

Edited by jacklev1

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I believe the Glaswegian band known as Franz Ferdinand were responsible for WWI

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I don't know either except I cannot be blamed for it

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I blame the police!

 

Well I do know that the assassination of Arch duke Ferdinand of Austria was the act that pushed Europe in to the war following a complex history of political machinations and land grab.

However, it was much more complex than that.

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A spat between our supposed betters.

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You're on Sheffield forum, so surely the answer has to be obvious...

 

 

 

 

It must have been Thatcher...

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You're on Sheffield forum, so surely the answer has to be obvious...

 

 

 

 

It must have been Thatcher...

 

Nay lad, nay. Kaiser blair.

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I believe the Glaswegian band known as Franz Ferdinand were responsible for WWI

:hihi:

 

i seen what you done there

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In a nutshell, Archduke nephew was assassinated. Balkan states went to war as a result. Various treaties obligated other countries to defend one another and hey presto...World War.

 

---------- Post added 12-11-2017 at 12:57 ----------

 

Or Wikipedia’s version:

 

 

The trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a diplomatic crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia,[11][12] and entangled international alliances formed over the previous decades were invoked. Within weeks the major powers were at war, and the conflict soon spread around the world

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Politicians , like all wars

 

Certain companies like war, politicians just tow the line and pocket a few quid.;)

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In a nutshell, Archduke nephew was assassinated. Balkan states went to war as a result. Various treaties obligated other countries to defend one another and hey presto...World War.

 

---------- Post added 12-11-2017 at 12:57 ----------

 

Or Wikipedia’s version:

 

 

The trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a diplomatic crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia,[11][12] and entangled international alliances formed over the previous decades were invoked. Within weeks the major powers were at war, and the conflict soon spread around the world.

 

This is the official reason - there are many unofficial reasons as well but most easily put - WW1 was inevitable from a geopolitical point of view. Germany and Italy had become new powers on the European stage, France and Britain had been declining, Russia was about to head into the biggest revolution the world had ever seen, Austrohungaria was at its last legs and so were the Ottomans. To protect themselves from potential German aggression (which had aligned with Austrohungaria and the Ottomans + believed to have Italy on their side as well) the French, British and Russians joined up to create the Triple Entente.

 

Once these powers realised that war was inevitable an enormous build-up of military power was triggered (including the development of lots of new toys, like airplanes and submarines) and frankly, the kings, emperors, republics etc. involved all believed they would have an easy win. Reality was that there was no such thing as an easy win.

 

Russia crumbled in no-time due to the revolution, Britain and France managed to stop the Germans in Belgium through ferocious defence and inept tactics and strategies on either side, the Italians saw a chance to nibble away at a weak Austrohungaria only to get bogged down in trenchwarfare near Trieste. The British tried to project overseas on the Ottomans through the complete disaster that was Gallipoli etc. etc. etc.

 

In the mean-time the Japanese started to exert themselves in the Far East more and more and learned a lot from their Triple Entente allies (which was fragile as the Japanese hated the Russians) and once the Americans joined Britain and France the war was truly global (Although it never reached US shores).

 

The mixture of events and participants led to World War 2 eventually. The war zapped not only economic power from the axis (Austrohungaria, Ottomans and Germany) it also led to a completely devastating loss of life - leading to a very weak geopolitical position for the UK and France which had enormous trouble managing their vast empires with a shortage of recruits for army and navy. Hitler and Mussolini had the same problem but saw aggressive expansion as the only solution.

 

The interbellum saw huge societal changes in Europe, leading to the rise of socialist power (either in Nazi form, or in communist form) which in turn led to political instability throughout. It also led to huge development in military capability - all in all an extremely interesting period in history.

 

Having said that, there is no way that tens of millions lives should have been lost in that manner.

 

Lest we forget.

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