Recent Event Highlights: Second Balkan War, First Balkan War, Second Moroccan Crisis, Triple Entente is formed, First Moroccan Crisis, Triple Alliance is formed, and 5 more...
-On June 26, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo
-The assassinator was a Serbian member of a group called the "black hand"
-The objective of this assassination was to break off ties between Austria-Hungary and their South-Slav provinces
-This event is what defines when WWI actually started, since this is when the first attacks were made between nations
-King Ferdinand of Bulgaria went to war with Serbia and Greece to gain more of the land they acquired from the First Balkan War
-Romania and Turkey joined the war so Bulgaria was being attacked from every side
-Bulgaria got defeated, lost 50,000 men and some of the land they had gotten before
-War against Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro against Turkey
-Turkey surrendered after 50 days of fighting
-Turks gave up their land in the Balkans at a peace conference in London
-Turkish land from Balkans was split between the four countries and Albania was created
-Also known as the Agadir Crisis
-1911 moroccan rebels attacked town of Fez
-French government sent 20,000 soldiers to remove them
-Kaiser Wilhelm sent a warship to port Agadir on Morocco's coast
-Britain feared Germans would make a naval base in Agadir
-Britain ships were prepared for war but the German ship was moved out at the last minute by Kaiser Wilhelm
-Arms race became even more frantic
-Bulgaria declared its independence
-Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina
-April 1909, Treaty fo Berlin was written to set an end to the crisis
-Crisis damaged relations between Austria-Hungary and Russia/ Serbia
-Britain and Russia settle differences
-British recognizes Russian sphere of influence, and Russians recognize British sphere of influence
-England, France, and Russia are now acting together-- but the British still refused to make any military commitments
-Also known as the Tangier Crisis
-Kaiser Wilhelm strode into Tangier in Morocco on his horse and informed the SUltan that he would not let France take over Morocco
-This was a test by Germany to see if France would declare war on Germany and if Britain would come to France's aid
- France and britain decided not to go to war with Germany over this but decided to have a conference in Algeciras
-Britain and France go to The Algeciras Conference in 1906
-Almost brought Great Britain and France to the verge of war over territorial disputes in Fashoda (located in East Africa)
-Was a definite sign of increasing tensions between European nations as they were starting to imperialize more
-Between Second French Empire and Kingdom of Prussia
-Happened due to the balance of power in Europe after the Napoleonic Wars
-The main battle was called Battle of Mars-La-Tour
-Prussian/Germany victory
-The territory of Alsace-Lorraine was taken from France by Prussia. However, this piece of land was later reclaimed by France in the Treaty of Versailles
-Germany had the strongest Army
-Rest of Europe scrambled to be on same level as Germany
-Armies went through technological and organizational development
-German Schlieffen Plan drew in more countries into conflict than were needed
-Standing armies of France & Germany doubled (1870-1914)
-Britain increased number of battleships
-Germany also started building up naval army
-Britain, Germany & France wanted more foreign markets to help provide goods for the Industrial Revolution
-Competed for economic expansion in Africa
-Clash of Germany against Britain and France in North Africa
-The crumbling Ottoman Empire was of interest to Austria-Hungary, the Balkans and Russia
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