Karen Tran
Block 4
February 4, 2017
Why Germany Should Be Blamed For World War I
World War I, or the Great War, was the first war to happen internationally. It was a deadly war lasting from August 1, 1914 to November 11, 1918. It was a war fought by the Allies; France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and later the United States, and Central Powers; Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. The Great War started when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary,and his wife, Sophie were killed by a member of the Black Hand, Gavrilo Princip, who was Serbian. Austria-Hungary then declared war on Serbia, and the alliance system started to go in effect . Russia, Serbia’s ally, starts to mobilize to the Russian-Austrian border, and the German border (because Germany was Austria’s ally).
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The Schlieffen Plan was a strategy that involved going through Belgium to France, and winning a quick battle, and then looping back, going through France’s fortresses, and heading towards Russia. To do this was to violate Belgium’s neutrality, and so, “On August 2, Germany gave Belgium an ultimatum: free passage for the German army, or be invaded. Belgium refused, and on August 4, Germany invaded. (AuthenticHistory.com)” By doing this they have given themselves another enemy, Britain. “Another factor not properly considered in the plan was that Britain would join the war on the violation of Belgian neutrality. (Richard, J. First World War, 1914-1918)” the Schlieffen plan did not work because once Britain joined the battle was no longer going to be quick. Britain was an ally of Russia but their treaty did not demand that Britain help Russia in times of war. This event is significant because it brought in two more nations to be brought into war. The Schlieffen Plan, up until the point where it failed, invaded Belgium which caused Britain to step