World War I
World War I was called the "Great War" due to the fact that it drew in twenty eight nations on six continents. The assassination of an Austrian archduke and his wife proved to be the start of the war. Serb terrorists completed this task in the Bosnian town of Sarajevo. Austria was eager to expand into the Balkans and with German backing, Austria accused the Serbian government of the assissination and gave them an ultimatum demanding a virtual protectorate over Serbia. Serbia accepted all but one that dealt with international arbitration. In July of 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia mobolized against Austria and on August 1, Germany declared war against Russia. Two days later, Germany again declared war this time against France. When Germany started marching towards France through Belgium, Britian decided it must honor its committment to defend Belgium and on August 4 declared war against Germany. Austria-Hungary then declared war on Russia.
At the end of the war, the League of Nations was established to settle international disputes peaceably. Some of those aspects brewed conflict for the world twenty years down the road. Because of its actions, Germany had harsh penalties levied against them which created economic and political instability. This problem would help one man gain inmeasurable power. His name...Adolf Hitler.
This information was taken from the Academic International Encyclopedia 1991.
