What sparked WW1, How Did it End? :: World War I History

What sparked WW1, How Did it End? World War I was a war that took place I Eastern Europe during the years of 1914- 1918. This war involved the countries of Austria-Hungary and Serbia. The Serbians sparked these wars. In 1912, several Balkan states attacked Turkey. This sparked wars over these lands. Economic tension was also present. As international tensions grew, the great powers expanded their armies and navies. This gave the possibility of wars emerging at any time. Fear of war also gave military leaders great influence. British and German generals and admirals received the respect of the people and funding to build their forces. Serbia also wanted a South Slav empire, at this they would not stop for. A terrorist group called the Black Hand planned to kill the Archduke of Hungary Francis Ferdinand who planned to visit Sarajevo. On June 28th Gavrilo Princip assassinated Francis. Since he was under 20 years of age he was not executed. Instead he was sentenced to life in prison. He died in 1918 of tuberculosis. This severely angered the Austrians. They issued the Serbians an ultimatum. In it Austria stated to avoid war Serbia must end all anti-Austrian agitation and punish any Serbian officials involved in the murder plot. It must even let Austria join the investigation. Serbia agreed to most of the terms in the treaty, but not all. On July 28th Austria declared war on Serbia. Austria might not have declared war on Serbia if not for its longtime ally, Germany. In Berlin, Kaiser William II was horrified at the assignation of Francis Ferdinand and advised Francis Joseph to take a stand against the Serbia and assured him of German support. Instead of urging restraint, Germany gave Austria a "blank check." Serbia sought support from Russia. From St. Petersburg Nicholas II telegraphed William II. The czar asked William to urge Austria to soften its demands on the ultimatum. When this plea failed, Russia began to mobilize its troops. Russia then appealed to its ally, France. In Paris, nationalists saw this as a chance to avenge Frances defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. Italy remained neutral while Britain had to decide whether they should back their ally, France or remain neutral. Germany then decided to join the Russians and quickly defeat France in order to avoid a war on both sides of the country. This was their biggest fear.