Russia's Entry Into the First World War

Niall Ferguson states that Germany is not to blame because there is evidence that the social democrat party influenced the German Kaiser so much that he abandoned his expansionist aims. Ferguson sees UK as the country that contributed to the war the most as Sir Edward Grey completely misinterpreted ambitions and decided to go into the war to stop German expansionism. To answer the question of who is responsible, there is no definitive answer to who is responsible for the outbreak but it is clear that both Germany and Austria-Hungary have the biggest part to play but other countries have to be taken into consideration especially Serbia because it was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.

This was called 'The Triple Alliance.' The second alliance was 'The Triple Entente.' This included Great Britain, France and Russia. An alliance was formed in 1894 between France and Russia and in 1904 Great Britain decided to come out of 'Splendid Isolation' and join the 'Entente Cordiale. These two alliances could help prevent war but could also create a total war, if one country had argument the other two may have to join in, but now Germany was in the middle of what it had been trying to avoid for years, isolated by two potential enemies.

This affected the war because lets say Germany attacks France, then Britain will say: “Hey wait a minute, this is my allie so you have to fight against me too.” Then Austria-Hungary comes and says: “Well Germany is my allie so you have to fight against me first.” Then Russia and Italy come along and say: “They are our allies so we will prot... ... middle of paper ... ...y encouraged media against Austria-Hungary. Also, Austria-Hungary had two demands for Serbia: 1. They wanted them to stop condemn this “dangerous propaganda” and 2. They wanted to send Austria-Hungary people to Serbia because they wanted power and to have control Serbia accepted but this was not enough for Austria-Hungary. Just after that, on the 26th of July, Russia promises help for Serbia and began to get ready for War.

"Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion" (Woodrow Wilson). The First World War was one of the most destructive and deadliest wars of all time. Several countries participated in the war including France, Germany, Great Britain, and Russia. When these major European nations went to war in 1914, the majority of Americans wanted nothing to do with the raging war. On April 2, 1917, Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war to make the world “safe for democracy.” However, there is still heated and debated argument going on: Could America’s involvement in Word War One been avoided by President Wilson?

In “The war to end all wars”, Germany also did not take into calculation the ‘Domino Effect’ of the alliances between France, Russia and Britain. Because Germany had made such a bitter enemy of France, it decided to protect itself by making alliances with other countries in Europe. Germany formed an alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy known as the Triple Alliance. To the keep the ‘Balance of Power’ in Europe, France allied itself with Great Britain and Russia; known as the Triple Entente. Both allies swore to help their allies if their countries were attacked.

With this small spark of hatred by a group known as the Black Hand, they did not realize the consequence of the fire they were going to set across Europe. Germany wanted to wipe Serbia off the map; with Austria Hungry they declared war on Serbia in which the reaction to this Russia mobilized its army. This event was going to lead Germany to declare war on Russia for defending Serbia, which leads to the start of World War 1. Russia’s Tsar Nicolas II was a younger unprepared ruler to go up against the might of Germany. He had the military number to match the Germany army but, with lack supplies and the great leadership throughout the army, showed too much for the Russians.

Serbia accepted all but one point of the ultimatum. Consequently war was announced. If given more time Serbia could have discussed the issue further in a conference. The British foreign minister, Grey suggested a conference, but this was rejected by Germany and Austria-Hungary, suggesting that they had deliberate aims for war during the Balkan Crisis, rather than the Balkan Crisis being mismanaged. There was a long-standing rivalry between Austria-Hungary and Russia due to their interests in the Balkans.

But there were other reasons behind the assassination, which forced Europe into war so suddenly. Britain wanted to ensure Germany didn't dominate Europe with Weltpolitk and also because of Anglo German naval rivalry. Russia wa... ... middle of paper ... ...llies and leave them isolated. This view treats Balkan matters largely as influences on policy elsewhere The tough positions taken by both Austria and Serbia brought the situation too close to the brink to step back, and in a few days matters were out of control. Again, the specific arguments raised by each side matter less than their mutual willingness to take risks.

His main evidence was the 'blank cheque' - when Germany supported Austria after they sent an ultimatum to Serbia which drew Germany into the First World War. This agreement almost guaranteed a War with Russia, which Fisher believed was hoped for. If War did not come about then Germany would at least have hoped to weaken the Entente and win a moral

Analysis of the Part Played by the Land Fronts Other than the Western Front in the Allies' Victory in World War There were two main alliances in World War One. These were the Triple Alliance consisting of Italy, Austria Hungry and Germany and the Triple Entente, which consisted of Britain, France and Russia. This gave Germany a huge problem as three powerful enemies surrounded them. In order to try and avoid this Germany made some assumptions and put forward a plan, the Schlieffen plan. These assumptions were that Britain would stay neutral, Belgium would not attack, Russia would take 6 six weeks to get their army ready and France would be easily defeated.