Exactly 100 years ago, at 11:10 a.m. on July 28, Austria-Hungary declared itself at war with Serbia. The Great War had begun.
Austria-Hungary never stopped to consider the concessions that Serbia had offered the day before. War hawks abounded in Austria-Hungary, Serbia and, especially, Germany.
Could it have been possible to confine the conflict to Austria-Hungary and Serbia?
No. A rigid system of alliances, developed over a period of 40 years, precluded that. If one country were to go to war, its ally would go, too. If one country were attacked, the other automatically would go to its defense. There was no mechanism—not even an incentive—to find peace.
Austria-Hungary pulled the trigger. Germany, eager to cripple France forever, was all too happy to come to Vienna's aid. Germany immediately activated its war plan, worked out in meticulous detail, which called for a flanking move through Belgium to destroy the French army, then an attack from East Prussia to decimate the Russian army. Germany's goal: to be the master of continental Europe.
Within the next 10 days, Germany invaded neutral Luxembourg and declared war on Serbia's patron, Russia, and then on Russia's ally, France. Germany invaded Belgium, prompting the United Kingdom, a guarantor of Belgium's neutrality, to declare war on Germany. Austria-Hungary then declared war on Russia, Montenegro declared war on Austria-Hungary and Serbia declared war on Germany.
Austria-Hungary never stopped to consider the concessions that Serbia had offered the day before. War hawks abounded in Austria-Hungary, Serbia and, especially, Germany.
Could it have been possible to confine the conflict to Austria-Hungary and Serbia?
No. A rigid system of alliances, developed over a period of 40 years, precluded that. If one country were to go to war, its ally would go, too. If one country were attacked, the other automatically would go to its defense. There was no mechanism—not even an incentive—to find peace.
Austria-Hungary pulled the trigger. Germany, eager to cripple France forever, was all too happy to come to Vienna's aid. Germany immediately activated its war plan, worked out in meticulous detail, which called for a flanking move through Belgium to destroy the French army, then an attack from East Prussia to decimate the Russian army. Germany's goal: to be the master of continental Europe.
Within the next 10 days, Germany invaded neutral Luxembourg and declared war on Serbia's patron, Russia, and then on Russia's ally, France. Germany invaded Belgium, prompting the United Kingdom, a guarantor of Belgium's neutrality, to declare war on Germany. Austria-Hungary then declared war on Russia, Montenegro declared war on Austria-Hungary and Serbia declared war on Germany.
The war would later spread to the United States, the Ottoman Empire, Italy, Portugal, Japan, China, Bulgaria, Romania, Thailand, Liberia and much of Latin America, including Brazil, Cuba and Nicaragua.
This was the first time that war came to all hemispheres of the globe.
The war went badly for Austria-Hungary. After just four months of fighting, it ended its military campaign against Serbia, focusing instead on a desperate effort to stave off territorial losses to the Russians. After 1918, Austria-Hungary ceased to exist. Serbia remains a nation to this day.
The war went badly for Austria-Hungary. After just four months of fighting, it ended its military campaign against Serbia, focusing instead on a desperate effort to stave off territorial losses to the Russians. After 1918, Austria-Hungary ceased to exist. Serbia remains a nation to this day.
Worldwide, over the four years of fighting, an estimated 10 million military personnel and 7 million civilians would die. Total casualties from death, injury, disease, starvation and other causes would reach 37 million.
Genocides would take place in Armenia, Assyria and Greece.
Not much good came out of The Great War. The war substituted a centuries-old system of monarchy for totalitarian regimes that did not survive the 20th century. The dictators did, however, kill tens of millions of people and oppress tens of millions more. The Great War brought to the surface nationalistic fervor and ethnic hatreds, many of which persist to this day. It ended the belief in the perfectibility of mankind. It disproved the assumptions that basic human values trumped nationalism, that progress was inevitable and that the economic
ties that bound nations made war impossible. And The Great War set the stage for the world's deadliest conflict, World War Two, which in turn gave mankind the ability to obliterate itself.
After 100 years, The Great War remains very relevant to our world today.
Not much good came out of The Great War. The war substituted a centuries-old system of monarchy for totalitarian regimes that did not survive the 20th century. The dictators did, however, kill tens of millions of people and oppress tens of millions more. The Great War brought to the surface nationalistic fervor and ethnic hatreds, many of which persist to this day. It ended the belief in the perfectibility of mankind. It disproved the assumptions that basic human values trumped nationalism, that progress was inevitable and that the economic
ties that bound nations made war impossible. And The Great War set the stage for the world's deadliest conflict, World War Two, which in turn gave mankind the ability to obliterate itself.
After 100 years, The Great War remains very relevant to our world today.