What were the main events of WW1?
Hello! Here’s WWI in a nutshell:
Causes: militarism, cross-continental alliances, imperialism in Africa, nationalism at home.
There’s another crisis in the Balkans, and tensions are running high among the different Slavic groups. A Bosnian extremist, Gavrilo Princip, shot the Archduke Franz Ferdinand while working for the Serbian terrorist organization Black Hand. Austria wants to declare war on Serbia.
Austria asks Germany for backup. Germany says do whatever the fuck you want, here’s a blank check, meaning no matter how much shit you fuck up, we’ll help you.
Austria waits until the French president is out of Russia (he was visiting on diplomatic terms, but you don’t want the guy parked on your Western border suddenly teaming up with the guy parked on your Eastern border. Remember, communication took a while back then - if the French president is all the way in France, chances are low that they’ll be able to respond in time.) and then they send an ultimatum to Serbia.
Their demands are too extreme and Serbia is forced to reject them.
Austria declares war on Serbia and hopes to God they are declaring war only on Serbia.
Nicholas II is like wow, Russians are Slavic, and wow, Serbs are Slavic, so wow, maybe I should help. Can I mobilize just half of my army?
Generals say no, it’s all or nothing.
Nick says okay let’s just send our entire military to protect this tiny Slavic nation.
Germany is like wow okay stop in the next 12 hours or face Premium Ass Kicking™
Germany knows that France and Russia are buds and assumes France is probably mobilizing at this point so they come up with the Schlieffen Plan, that diverts more troops to attacking France than fighting off the Russians.
Germany’s like let’s just redeploy to the other side once we’re done kicking French ass
Germany needs to march through Belgium
“But I’m supposed to be neutral-”
Britain is sitting quietly, then they see that someone has marched through Belgium.
August 4th, Britain goes to war on the side of France and Russia.
The French and Germans have machine guns and shovels. Trench warfare. Everyone’s getting mowed down. It’s hideous. Probably most bloody war in European history is the Western front. Don’t read books about it. They’re more depressing than Marley & Me. And that was a fucking depressing movie.
Germany and Austria beat the living shit out of Russia until it almost can’t fight anymore because of the number of casualties they suffered.
Russia runs away but Serbia’s ass is thoroughly destroyed.
Battle of Verdun on the Western front, 600k killed.
Germans redirect focus to Western front.
British colonizers in Arabia convince everyone to revolt against the Ottomans, so on a side note, the Ottoman empire dies. ottomans like
Battles in Africa because of colonization, wonderful
Japan joins so that it can have England and France’s stuff in East Asia?? okay
So the British blockade on Germany stops the Americans from shipping & selling shit which, as we all know, is all the US likes to do, so now they’re pissed too because they want to sell their shit
The Germans start submarine warfare thinking the Americans won’t give a shit
The Americans are angry about not selling shit and also they are friends with Britain, so they declare war in 1917
Britain is starting to sweat, Ministry of Munitions under David Lloyd George mobilizes like everything to make sure they still have artillery
France puts Georges Clemenceau up to bat.
German ass begins to get kicked
All the men are fighting and dying so now women get to do stuff
America - 19th amendment, thanks ladies
Nicholas II starts having internal problems, March Revolution and April Theses
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Russia and Germany
Armistice in 1918 on the Western front
Treaty of Versailles signed
I hope this helps! Let me know if you need anything else.