The Role of Francis Ferdinand's Assassination in Contributing to the Start of World War I

This resentment for the treaty eventually led to the start of World War two when Hitler came to power and defied the treaty. Although if the League of Nations had stepped in earlier, Hitler could have been easily stopped. Many countries were affected by the Treaty of Versailles, but the effectiveness of the Treaty was diminished after the United States Congress voted against President Woodrow Wilson and did not sign the treaty. Had the United States signed the Treaty of Versailles, and in turn participated in the League of Nations, World War two could have been avoided. On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdenand, of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated by a Serbian group called the Blackhand.

The majority of Europe (especially France and Britain) and America were angry towards Germany for the war, and therefore created the Treaty of Versailles. The main points of the treaty blamed Germany for the war (article 231), made Germany harshly cut down their military forces, forced Germany give much of their land to different countries and finally Germany had to pay £6,600 million in reparations. Woodrow Wilson created the fourteen points to stop himself and America from getting into war again. The fourteenth point was to create a League of Nations to stop future wars. Any aggressive countries would be sanctioned by all the League's members and would be attacked as a last resort.

The naval race became intense. For centuries the powers of Europe had clashed over their competing interests around the globe. Du... ... middle of paper ... ... Russia to stop mobilize led to a general European war. James Joll attributes the outbreak of the war to disastrous decision made by politicians in the July crisis in 1914. 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.

The Treaty of Versailles was meant to keep peace by subjugating Germany, who was seen as a threat. Despite this honest attempt at peace, the Treaty of Versailles never could have succeeded. The Treaty of Versailles failed in its attempts at peace, because by subjugating Germany’s ethnic residents, economy, and military it angered the German populace and caused another World War. World War 1 was a large-scale war in which a single assassination escalated into a massacre of over 30 million lives. The war escalated so fast due to the network of alliances in Europe.

War materials were forbidden and highly restrictive rules were imposed upon the military. The most humiliating article of the treaty, known as the War Guilt Clause, blamed Germany for the war and forced the Germans to pay an overwhelming sum of $35 billion for damage caused by the war. Though the Allies wanted to weaken Germany so that it could never wage war again, many world leaders feared that an overly punitive treaty could provoke feelings of revenge in Germany and consequently plunge Europe into yet another bloody war. (Beck 425-426) While German outrage was expected, the horrors that resulted from the signing of the treaty had consequences that left a legacy on the world. Though the Treaty of Versailles aimed to create a lasting peace after World War I, in Germany it led to the lack of faith in the government, an economic crisis, and the loss of considerable amounts of land, which in effect directly led to the rise of the fascist Nazi Party.

Due to Article 10 and the limitations on armaments, which the senators objected, and the inability to compromise on the deadlock between the President’s beliefs and the Senators, led to the failure to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. These factors lead the senate to their decision, which left the world vulnerable for another war and the eventual demise of the League of Nations. The Fourteen Points were one of Wilson’s major accomplishments while he held office. Wilson introduced this theory on what he believed were successful measures in not only preventing Germany from beginning a war again, but to prevent all wars. After all World War One was the war to end all wars.

East Prussia was a great source of money for Germany and th... ... middle of paper ... ..., first in inflation and then in the Great Depression. He promised a way out of economic hardship and the reassertion of Germany’s claim to status as a world power.” (pg. 806) The treaty of Versailles was humiliating; it forced Germany to accept the full responsibility for the war. The treaty also commanded that no German troops could be stationed in their industrial heartland; it capped their military size for the country; it took away foreign holdings and forced Germany to pay reparations that were crippling. The treaty of Versailles paved the rise of Hitler and the Nazis just as the World War I did for the Communist revolution in Russia.

The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand It made it impossible for the major powers to keep out of what should have been a small third Balkan war. This was because Austria, a major super power, had been embarrassed by little Serbia and had to deliver an ultimatum. Germany delivered the blank cheque to Austria, as she had to support ethnically other Germans who lived in Austria. The confidence of the blank cheque meant that Austria had to act and deliver a harsh ultimatum on Austria. Serbia couldn't take the blame for the whole of assassination but neither could it allow Austria to inspect it, they therefore didn't comply with the full 10 demands of the ultimatum.

World War 1: A Tragedy of Miscalculation To some extent, the outbreak of the First World War was a tragedy of miscalculation. Austria declared war on Serbia, in the hope that it would only be a short and local war. Germany had miscalculated the risk of a two-front war. Germany’s war plan – the Schlieffen Plan, inevitably involved France, Russia, Belgium and Britain. 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.

The one big problem was that the USA which was most needed did not join, and this seriously weakened the League. The only force the League depended on was Britain and France who were unwilling to fight and were still recovering from the First World War. This let aggressors to get their own ways without the League stopping them. When Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931, the first test for the League and it did nothing as it did not want to send its army to the other side of the world and risk a war o... ... middle of paper ... ...f US loans which were not renewed. The economic problems in Germany made it unstable and led to the polarization of politics.