Conflict and tension: the First World War, 1894–1918 · GCSE History

The alliance system and rivalries

The Triple Alliance (1882) joined Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. France and Russia allied in 1894. Britain signed the Entente Cordiale with France (1904) and an agreement with Russia (1907), forming the Triple Entente.
Rivalries: the Anglo-German naval race (Britain launched HMS Dreadnought in 1906, and Germany built up its navy), competition for colonies, and French anger at losing Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in 1871.
Crises: the Moroccan Crises (1905 and 1911) pushed Britain and France closer. In the Bosnian Crisis (1908–09), Austria-Hungary took over Bosnia, angering Serbia and Russia. The Balkan Wars (1912–13) made Serbia stronger.

On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to Austria-Hungary's throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb linked to the Black Hand group.
Germany gave Austria-Hungary its full support (the 'blank cheque'). Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July. Russia mobilised to defend Serbia, and Germany declared war on Russia (1 August) and France (3 August).
The Schlieffen Plan was Germany's plan to defeat France quickly by marching through Belgium, then turn to fight Russia. When Germany invaded neutral Belgium, Britain declared war on 4 August 1914: it had promised to protect Belgium in the Treaty of London (1839).

The Schlieffen Plan failed. Belgian resistance and the British Expeditionary Force at Mons slowed the Germans, Russia mobilised faster than expected, and the Battle of the Marne (September 1914) stopped the German advance. After the 'race to the sea', trenches stretched from the Channel to Switzerland, and the war became a stalemate.
Barbed wire, machine guns and artillery made attacks very costly. New weapons included poison gas (first used by Germany at Ypres in 1915), tanks (first used by Britain at the Somme in 1916) and aircraft.
Verdun (1916) was a German attack meant to 'bleed France white'. The Somme (July–November 1916) was launched partly to take pressure off Verdun; the British suffered about 57,000 casualties on the first day alone. Passchendaele (1917) was fought in deep mud.

Gallipoli (1915–16): an Allied attempt to knock Turkey out of the war and open a sea route to Russia failed, with heavy losses, including many Australian and New Zealand (ANZAC) troops.
At sea, the Battle of Jutland (1916) was indecisive, but the German fleet stayed in port for the rest of the war. German U-boats sank merchant ships, until convoys (from 1917) cut the losses. Unrestricted submarine warfare helped bring the USA into the war in April 1917.

Russia left the war after its revolution (the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 1918), letting Germany move troops west for the Spring Offensive (March 1918). It gained ground but exhausted the German army.
The Allies, strengthened by American troops, counter-attacked in the Hundred Days Offensive (from August 1918). With food shortages and revolution at home, Germany's allies surrendering and the Kaiser abdicating, Germany signed the armistice on 11 November 1918.

Triple Alliance: The alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.
Triple Entente: The understanding between Britain, France and Russia.
Blank cheque: Germany's promise of full support to Austria-Hungary in July 1914.
Schlieffen Plan: Germany's plan to defeat France quickly through Belgium, then fight Russia.
Stalemate: A situation where neither side can win.
Western Front: The line of trenches across Belgium and France.
No man's land: The ground between the opposing trenches.
Convoy system: Merchant ships sailing in groups protected by warships.
Armistice: An agreement to stop fighting.