Gavrillo Princip's (right) actions against Archduke Franz Ferdinand (left) caused Canada and countries in Europe to ally for this war (middle).
Treaties and Alliances: Introduction and Alliances in Detail
Here is an map of allies when the war broke out in 1914. The red symbolizes the Central
Powers of which Serbia and Germany were a part. The green represents the Allied powers of which Canada and Britain were a part. The yellow represents neutral powers and did not play a part in World War One, such as Sweden.
Numerous alliances between countries were formed and various peace treaties were signed in this horrific battle known as World War One. When World War One began in 1914, it is believed that the spark of World War One was Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination. When the Archduke was visiting in Austria- Hungary and man by the name of Gavrilo Princip was visiting at the same time. He was part of a Serbian terrorist group known as “The Black Hand” and was given the mission to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand. When he encountered the Archduke, he fired two shots, one hitting him and one hitting his wife. They both died on their way to the hospital. Gavrilo Princip, being Serbian, it was the natural reaction of Austria Hungary to declare war on Serbia. World War One had officially started. Later on, Russia allied with Serbia and Germany allied with Austria Hungary. Germany ordered Russia to obey commands which Russia failed to do. Germany retaliated, creating a new army that was theirs against Russia and allied with Austria-Hungary. At the same time, Belgium was allied with Britain and it was invaded by the Germans the same year. This brought Britain in to the war, automatically bringing Canada in because they were allied and a part of the British Empire. War was also declared on France by Germany because their plan was to go straight through France. France was allied with the British Empire. Most of Europe and Canada was at war and these are the main alliances that were the groups for World War One. To conclude, major alliances were made and formed the sides of World War One.
Armistices
The Armistice of Compiène referred to in this text help put an end to the war.
A number of Armistices were signed to end World War One. The Armistices that will be discussed are the Armistice of Compiène and the Armistice of Villa Giusti. The Armistice of Compiène was designed to end the war entirely. After Germany suffered from heavy losses they insisted on an Armistice to be signed. On November 11th 1918, the allies declared a victory over the Germans and the Armistice was signed to end the warfare. We remember this moment on Remembrance Day on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The other Armistice that was signed because of World War One was the Armistice of Villa Giusti. This Armistice was mainly to stop fighting on the Italian front. It was ended when Austria-Hungary wanted peace with Italy because of their heavy loss at the battle of Vittorio Veneto and the Armistice was signed in 1918. In conclusion, these Armistices helped end the war.
Treaties
The Treaty of Versailles, shown above, brought the war to an end.
A variety of treaties were created to end the war altogether. Treaties that will be discussed are The Treaty of Versailles, Saint Germain en Laye, Neuilly sur Seine, Trianon and The Treaty of Sevres in order. The Treaty of Versailles was signed by the allied powers (British Empire, France, Russia, etc.) and the German forces on June 28th 1919. This ended the long 6 month debate at the Paris peace conference. The treaty demanded that Germany pay for all the deceased soldiers. The Germans ended up paying 132 billion deutsche marks which is basically 132 billion Euros. Germany also disarmed their firearms. When signing this treaty it was thought that peace was achieved. On the other hand, this treaty may have been responsible for the uprising of Hitler and the Nazis that started World War Two. Next, the Treaty of Saint German en Laye was signed in September 10th 1919 to achieve peace between the allied powers and the republic of Austria. This treaty gave Austria a restraint from obtaining powers without consulting the League of Nations. The treaty of Neuilly sur Seine was signed by Bulgaria with the allied powers to end World War One. This changed Bulgaria’s territory and required them to cut the army to make it smaller. As well, they were charged the equivalent of 100 million € by the allied powers. The treaty of Trianon was signed by Hungary and the allied powers on June 4th 1920 limiting Hungarian frontiers. This led to a big loss on Hungary’s part. Lastly, The Treaty of Servres was between the Ottoman Empire and France Britain and Italy on August 10th 1920. The United States of America and Russia were not a part of this signing. In conclusion, numerous treaties were signed to solve the problems of World War One. To conclude, the treaties concluded the war itself in a peaceful manner.