Process Essay

Chris Mayne

Professor Kerr

EN101-5

October 24, 2010

Process of how World War I started

            The world has had two wars that can be called world wars because of how they affected almost every corner of the world. The First World War was known as the “Great War” for it was the first of its kind.

            Most people know that the war was started by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. But little is it known who killed the Archduke. The assassination was designed by the Black Hand organization, a Serbian militant group.  On June 28, 1914 as the Archduke was making his way to the city hall of Sarajevo, Serbia for a reception a conspirator threw a bomb at the car and had missed but injured several service men (eye witness). After the reception the Archduke was persuaded to leave the city the quickest and fastest way possible, but this took him back on the same path that the previous attempts occurred (eye witness).  The car was able to move fast enough to avoid any more attempts on the Archdukes life except for when it came to a point in the road where its became a V (eye witness). And at this part of the road is where Gavrilo Princip, the leader of the movement, took his stand. He fired 2 shots from his pistol, the first hitting Sophia the Archdukes bride and the second hitting the Archduke (eye witness).

            This assassination led to a series of events that most likely could not be foreseen by any one at that time of day. On July 28, 1914 Austria declares war on Serbia and this is the first spark to start the fire of WWI (The Great War).  With this action Russia becomes involved in this conflict because Serbia is its traditional ally and will continue to fight by their side against Austria. And now that Russia has declared war on Austria, Germany has become involved due to the Triple Alliance Treaty (The Great War).  BBC America a renowned source of useful news and information in Europe states that the triple alliance is “a document that promised they [Germany, Austria, and Italy] would give each other military support in case of a war”.  The reason for this alliance was so that the countries can be protected from any future attacks. Russia came to the defense of Serbia because it was its ally and Russia was trying to edge in on the Austrian land of the Balkans.

            The next step that led to the break out of WWI was that after Germany had become a part of the war so did France and England. This is because France, England and Russia signed the Triple Entente which like the Triple Alliance Treaty was used for protection against attacks. With the involvement of these countries almost all of Europe was affected. Italy eventually took the side of Britain, France, and Russia in 1915.  So in an instant the entire European continent is at war.  This war was also lead into existence by previous wars that left unfinished business from previous wars. Germany is still sore over its loss from its defeat in the Franco- Prussian War because the Treaty was embarrassing for the Germans (“The Great War Timeline”).

            This war was started because of two shots fired by a single militant. But that was not the key factor of this war. George Washington, the general of the American Revolution and the first president of the United States of America put it best when he said “beware of entangling alliances” in his farewell speech. He knew that if you become too involved in other countries business and foreign affairs it can only lead to bad outcomes. WWI is a prime example of how entangling alliances can lead to problems.  Only two shots fired and a whole continent is at war, causing thousands of deaths and setting forth acts that will lead to the Second World War.

Works Cited

"Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, 1914." EyeWitness to History - History through the Eyes of Those Who Lived It. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/duke.htm>.

"The Great War . Maps & Battles . Europe in 1914 | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/maps/>.

"The Great War . Timeline . Pre-1914 | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/timeline/>.