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N0KFQ > TODAY 01.08.15 15:33l 90 Lines 4464 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 63052_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Aug 1
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Sent: 150801/1430Z 63052@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.63
1914
First World War erupts
Four days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Germany
and Russia declare war against each other, France orders a
general mobilization, and the first German army units cross into
Luxembourg in preparation for the German invasion of France.
During the next three days, Russia, France, Belgium, and Great
Britain all lined up against Austria-Hungary and Germany, and the
German army invaded Belgium. The "Great War" that ensued was one
of unprecedented destruction and loss of life, resulting in the
deaths of some 20 million soldiers and civilians.
On June 28, 1914, in an event that is widely regarded as sparking
the outbreak of World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to
the Austro-Hungarian empire, was shot to death with his wife by
Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Ferdinand had
been inspecting his uncle's imperial armed forces in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, despite the threat of Serbian nationalists who
wanted these Austro-Hungarian possessions to join newly
independent Serbia. Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbian government
for the attack and hoped to use the incident as justification for
settling the problem of Slavic nationalism once and for all.
However, as Russia supported Serbia, an Austria-Hungary
declaration of war was delayed until its leaders received
assurances from German leader Kaiser Wilhelm II that Germany
would support their cause in the event of a Russian intervention.
On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the
tenuous peace between Europe's great powers collapsed. On July
29, Austro-Hungarian forces began to shell the Serbian capital of
Belgrade, and Russia, Serbia's ally, ordered a troop mobilization
against Austria-Hungary. France, allied with Russia, began to
mobilize on August 1. France and Germany declared war against
each other on August 3. After crossing through neutral
Luxembourg, the German army invaded Belgium on the night of
August 3-4, prompting Great Britain, Belgium's ally, to declare
war against Germany.
For the most part, the people of Europe greeted the outbreak of
war with jubilation. Most patriotically assumed that their
country would be victorious within months. Of the initial
belligerents, Germany was most prepared for the outbreak of
hostilities, and its military leaders had formatted a
sophisticated military strategy known as the "Schlieffen Plan,"
which envisioned the conquest of France through a great arcing
offensive through Belgium and into northern France. Russia, slow
to mobilize, was to be kept occupied by Austro-Hungarian forces
while Germany attacked France.
The Schlieffen Plan was nearly successful, but in early September
the French rallied and halted the German advance at the bloody
Battle of the Marne near Paris. By the end of 1914, well over a
million soldiers of various nationalities had been killed on the
battlefields of Europe, and neither for the Allies nor the
Central Powers was a final victory in sight. On the western
front-the battle line that stretched across northern France and
Belgium-the combatants settled down in the trenches for a
terrible war of attrition.
In 1915, the Allies attempted to break the stalemate with an
amphibious invasion of Turkey, which had joined the Central
Powers in October 1914, but after heavy bloodshed the Allies were
forced to retreat in early 1916. The year 1916 saw great
offensives by Germany and Britain along the western front, but
neither side accomplished a decisive victory. In the east,
Germany was more successful, and the disorganized Russian army
suffered terrible losses, spurring the outbreak of the Russian
Revolution in 1917. By the end of 1917, the Bolsheviks had seized
power in Russia and immediately set about negotiating peace with
Germany. In 1918, the infusion of American troops and resources
into the western front finally tipped the scale in the Allies'
favor. Bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with an imminent
invasion, Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies
in November 1918.
World War I was known as the "war to end all wars" because of the
great slaughter and destruction it caused. Unfortunately, the
peace treaty that officially ended the conflict-the Treaty of
Versailles of 1919-forced punitive terms on Germany that
destabilized Europe and laid the groundwork for World War II.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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