Originally posted by P-90_177
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It is difficult to imagine the politics at the time. Particularly since we are used to wars being much more black and white these days. In your mind you must imagine that the assassination of the Arch-Duke must have caused outrage and had Austro Hungary up in arms. But the truth is that it took Austro Hungary three weeks to do anything about the death of the Royal.
In essence, the entire tinder box that started the first world war was made up of various power plays towards Empire, and the need for governments to honour treaties with their allies.
When Austro-Hungary worked towards declaring war on Serbia (which they were looking to do to expand their empire) they did not truly expect Russia to honour its defence treaty with Serbia. However in the off chance that they did, Austro-Hungary sought assurances from the German Empire that should Russia declare war on Austro-Hungary in Serbia's defence, then Germany would then declare war on Russia.
Germany meanwhile was essentially encouraging Austro-Hungary's aggression and were looking for war themselves. In fact, while Russia did indeed move to defend Serbia, it was somewhat half-hearted and they were slowly mobilizing their forces. Germany however took the stance that this was indeed a prelude to action and therefore declared war on Russia themselves.
After that, it was merely a case of one treaty following another. France came to Russia's aid and therefore declared war on Germany. Britain, despite being allied with France was trying to find a reason to stay out of the conflict by citing certain poorly worded clauses in their treaty, however they could not ignore a defence treaty they had with Belgium, which Germany inevitably invaded as a route to get to France. (The French/German borders having been heavily fortified over the years).
In the end the entire war was about a power play that went horribly horribly wrong. Both Germany and Austro-Hungary were looking to expand their empires, and were expecting a relatively quick war. They didn't even particularly expect many of the treaties held in Europe to be upheld. The defence treaty that was between Britain and Belgium for example was 75 years old, and up until that point Britain had tried to isolate itself from the rest of Europe. Germany saw Britain as dishonest and therefore assumed that they would back away from the fight.
In the end, the Assassination of Arch-Duke Ferdinand was ever such a small part. At the time various nations were looking to go to war for power anyway. All the while, a nation could not back down from a held treaty because it would make them look dishonest and dishonourable. Very few people could have predicted what the war would end up looking like.
In essence, the entire tinder box that started the first world war was made up of various power plays towards Empire, and the need for governments to honour treaties with their allies.
When Austro-Hungary worked towards declaring war on Serbia (which they were looking to do to expand their empire) they did not truly expect Russia to honour its defence treaty with Serbia. However in the off chance that they did, Austro-Hungary sought assurances from the German Empire that should Russia declare war on Austro-Hungary in Serbia's defence, then Germany would then declare war on Russia.
Germany meanwhile was essentially encouraging Austro-Hungary's aggression and were looking for war themselves. In fact, while Russia did indeed move to defend Serbia, it was somewhat half-hearted and they were slowly mobilizing their forces. Germany however took the stance that this was indeed a prelude to action and therefore declared war on Russia themselves.
After that, it was merely a case of one treaty following another. France came to Russia's aid and therefore declared war on Germany. Britain, despite being allied with France was trying to find a reason to stay out of the conflict by citing certain poorly worded clauses in their treaty, however they could not ignore a defence treaty they had with Belgium, which Germany inevitably invaded as a route to get to France. (The French/German borders having been heavily fortified over the years).
In the end the entire war was about a power play that went horribly horribly wrong. Both Germany and Austro-Hungary were looking to expand their empires, and were expecting a relatively quick war. They didn't even particularly expect many of the treaties held in Europe to be upheld. The defence treaty that was between Britain and Belgium for example was 75 years old, and up until that point Britain had tried to isolate itself from the rest of Europe. Germany saw Britain as dishonest and therefore assumed that they would back away from the fight.
In the end, the Assassination of Arch-Duke Ferdinand was ever such a small part. At the time various nations were looking to go to war for power anyway. All the while, a nation could not back down from a held treaty because it would make them look dishonest and dishonourable. Very few people could have predicted what the war would end up looking like.
Yeah... I've read a lot of that in various places, books mainly.
As for WW II it wasn't just Hitler that started that ball rolling, but he took advantage of the adverse times.
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