How Did World War 1 Start? Wie begann der 1. Weltkrieg? Πώς ξεκίνησε ο 1ος Παγκόσμιος Πόλεμος; How Did World War 1 Start? ¿Cómo empezó la Primera Guerra Mundial? Comment la première guerre mondiale a-t-elle commencé ? Come è iniziata la Prima Guerra Mondiale? 第一次世界大戦はどのようにして始まったのか？ Kaip prasidėjo Pirmasis pasaulinis karas? Jak rozpoczęła się pierwsza wojna światowa? Como começou a Primeira Guerra Mundial? Как началась Первая мировая война? 1. Dünya Savaşı Nasıl Başladı? 第一次世界大战是如何开始的？

It was called the war to end all wars. Foi chamada a guerra para acabar com todas as guerras.

Unfortunately, World War I didn't deliver on that promise. Infelizmente, a Primeira Guerra Mundial não cumpriu essa promessa.

It was however the first time in the history of planet Earth that nations from around the

world fought in a single war. mundo lutou numa única guerra.

It started with an assassination and a series of questionable decisions. Tudo começou com um assassinato e uma série de decisões questionáveis.

We can point fingers and play the blame game, but really there is no single person or country Podemos apontar o dedo e jogar o jogo da culpa, mas, na verdade, não existe uma única pessoa ou país

that holds all of the responsibility. que detém toda a responsabilidade.

Could the war that killed millions have been prevented? A guerra que matou milhões de pessoas poderia ter sido evitada?

Most definitely. Definitivamente.

Let's take a look at what caused the Great War, explore how it could have been prevented, Vejamos o que causou a Grande Guerra e como poderia ter sido evitada,

and learn how to not repeat the mistakes of the past. e aprender a não repetir os erros do passado.

World War I lasted from 1914 to 1918 and included countries in Europe, Russia, the United States,

and countries in the Middle East. e países do Médio Oriente.

The two main sides of the war were the Central Powers which consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary,

Italy, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria, who fought against the Allied Powers of France,

Britain, Russia, Portugal and Japan.

Later in the war the United States would also join the side of the Allies. Mais tarde, durante a guerra, os Estados Unidos também se juntariam ao lado dos Aliados.

But what happened? Mas o que é que aconteceu?

Why did all of these nations get involved in one of the most disastrous wars in history?

Let's explore the mechanisms and missteps that led to the first World War.

Although there were many players in World War 1, the conflict started with Serbia and Embora houvesse muitos intervenientes na Primeira Guerra Mundial, o conflito começou com a Sérvia e a

Austria-Hungary.

The Serbian government was eager to claim more territory for the nation. O governo sérvio estava ansioso por reclamar mais território para a nação.

Serbia was already in a state of aggression due to the Balkan Wars that ended just a year A Sérvia já se encontrava num estado de agressão devido às guerras dos Balcãs, que terminaram há apenas um ano Сербия уже находилась в состоянии агрессии из-за Балканских войн, которые закончились всего через год.

before the start of World War I.

After the Balkan War, Serbian nationalists wanted to liberate the South Slavs of Austria-Hungary,

thus unifying the Slavic peoples under one nation. unificando assim os povos eslavos numa só nação.

This extreme nationalism led to the assissnation of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand who was heir

to the Astro-Hungarian Empire.

At 11:15 AM on June 28, 1914 Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, duchess of Hohenberg,

were shot to death in Sarajevo, Bosnia by Gavrilo Princip.

Princip was a Serbian extremist who had connections to a secret society called the Black Hand.

The assaisnation was the match that ignited the first world war, however, there were many O assaisnation foi o fósforo que iniciou a primeira guerra mundial, no entanto, houve muitos

other factors that led to the powderkeg that would explode. outros fatores que levaram ao barril de pólvora que explodiria.

Should the assassination of Franz Ferdinand have led to an all out War?

Probably not.

There is more to the story here.

In the shadows lurked Kaiser Wilhelm II, who may be as much to blame as Gavrilo Princip Nas sombras espreitava o Kaiser Wilhelm II, que pode ser tão culpado quanto Gavrilo Princip

in starting World War I. Wilhelm II was the leader of Germany and he was diabolical. в начале Первой мировой войны Вильгельм II был лидером Германии и был дьяволом.

Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted a strong Germany that dominated Europe both economically and

militarily in strength.

He did not want Russia or Great Britain to have more influence and power than he did. Ele não queria que a Rússia ou a Grã-Bretanha tivessem mais influência e poder do que ele.

Therefore, Wilhelm II allied himself, and Germany, with Austria-Hungary. Поэтому Вильгельм II заключил союз с Австро-Венгрией и Германией.

He knew that if Austria-Hungary went to war with Serbia, then Russia would come to Serbia's

aid.

This would drag Russia's ally France into the conflict.

We will examine later why Wilhelm wanted this war to happen so badly.

Kaiser Wilhelm II secretly funded Austria-Hungary in their endeavor to suppress Serbia. Kaiser Wilhelm II financierde in het geheim Oostenrijk-Hongarije in hun poging om Servië te onderdrukken. O Kaiser Guilherme II financiou secretamente a Áustria-Hungria em seu esforço para suprimir a Sérvia.

He allowed Germany to give Austria-Hungary a carte blanche, or “blank check.” Ele permitiu que a Alemanha desse carta branca à Áustria-Hungria, ou "cheque em branco".

Basically Germany would fund the war effort using their wealthy economy to ensure Austria-Hungary Basicamente, a Alemanha financiaria o esforço de guerra usando sua rica economia para garantir que a Áustria-Hungria

came out on top. saiu por cima.

With the assassination of their heir, and the backing of Germany, Austria-Hungary felt Com o assassinato de seu herdeiro e o apoio da Alemanha, a Áustria-Hungria sentiu-se

empowered to start their war with Serbia. autorizados a iniciar a guerra com a Sérvia.

They sent Serbia an ultimatum with such harsh terms that it was impossible to accept. Eles enviaram à Sérvia um ultimato com termos tão duros que foi impossível aceitar.

There was only one alternative.

War.

But there was more to the story. Mas havia mais na história.

The decisions of Austria-Hungary and Germany were clearly geared towards war. As decisões da Áustria-Hungria e da Alemanha foram claramente voltadas para a guerra. Решения Австро-Венгрии и Германии были явно направлены на войну.

It is undeniable that World War I started because of these aggressive decisions. É inegável que a Primeira Guerra Mundial começou por causa dessas decisões agressivas.

But could the whole conflict have been avoided if other countries had made better decisions? Mas todo o conflito poderia ter sido evitado se outros países tivessem tomado decisões melhores?

Were there strings being pulled behind the scenes by the countries on both sides of the Havia cordas sendo puxadas nos bastidores pelos países de ambos os lados do

war?

Let's find out. Vamos descobrir.

First let's take a look at the Triple Entente nations, which consisted of a secret pact Primeiro vamos dar uma olhada nas nações da Tríplice Entente, que consistiam em um pacto secreto

between Great Britain, France, and Russia.

Could any of these nations have secretly wanted a world war to heighten their power? Alguma dessas nações poderia secretamente querer uma guerra mundial para aumentar seu poder?

Could there have been a secret plot by the Allies to set up a war they would eventually Poderia ter havido um plano secreto dos Aliados para estabelecer uma guerra que eles acabariam

win?

Russia is, and always has been, a large, powerful nation. A Rússia é, e sempre foi, uma nação grande e poderosa.

What could Russia gain from a war against the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary,

and Italy?

At first glance Russia's role in World War I seems to be based around supporting their À primeira vista, o papel da Rússia na Primeira Guerra Mundial parece basear-se no apoio à sua

ally of Serbia.

But as we look closer it seems that Russia's alliance only played a superficial role in Mas, olhando mais de perto, parece que a aliança da Rússia desempenhou apenas um papel superficial na

their decisions to go to war.

In fact Russia barely even tried to find a diplomatic solution to prevent this conflict. Na verdade, a Rússia mal tentou encontrar uma solução diplomática para evitar esse conflito.

Instead, they immediately started to deploy troops and ramp up military production once Em vez disso, eles imediatamente começaram a enviar tropas e aumentar a produção militar uma vez que

Austria-Hungary showed aggression towards Serbia.

It would seem Russia had no intentions on working out the conflict diplomatically.

History shows it was Russia, not Germany, that mobilized its military first.

Russia may have wanted war to claim more territory and power for the nation.

But there was another player on the Triple Entente side who may have played a behind

the scenes role of starting World War I. France did not make any outwardly aggressive moves

in the months that led to the outbreak of war, but they were making secret strategic

moves.

France may be the only reason that Russia prepared for war in the first place. A França pode ser a única razão pela qual a Rússia se preparou para a guerra em primeiro lugar. Франция, возможно, единственная причина, по которой Россия готовилась к войне в первую очередь.

During talks of what was to be done about the Central Powers, France offered Russia

its own blank cheque. seu próprio cheque em branco.

The stipulation was that Russia would help Europeanise the Austrian-Hungry Empire.

France had an idea of what this part of the world should look like, and rather than entering

directly into conflict, they funded the Russian military to start a war that they could benefit

from.

France encouraged Russia's aggression towards Austria-Hungary and Germany.

French leaders seemed not to like the idea of having the powerful nation of Germany right

next door.

If Germany was focused on fighting Russia on the Eastern front, it would provide France

with the opportunity to either protect itself, or launch an uncontested invasion into Germany

from the western front.

It would seem that things did not play out exactly as France predicted because of Germany's

deployment of troops to fight on both the Russian and French fronts simultaneously.

If the shady actions of France leading up to the start of World War I surprised you

then what Great Britain did may shock you even more.

Britain was a dominant force in colonization and had control of the seas with their powerful

Navy.

Would they benefit from an all out war in Europe?

Germany was becoming powerful, both economically and militarily.

Britain knew that this was a threat to their empire.

In the eyes of Great Britain's leaders the world wasn't big enough for both a German

empire and British empire.

If Germany continued on the path it was headed, Britain's global dominance of the seas and

financial system would be threatened, and perhaps lost.

This was unacceptable to the leaders of Great Britain.

These notions of loss of dominance may have driven Great Britain to stay out of diplomatic

talks, and instead encourage Russian aggression.

It would seem that at the time Great Britain had an inferiority complex when it came to Похоже, что в то время у Великобритании был комплекс неполноценности по отношению к

Germany.

They had failed to meditate during the Balkan Wars and they refused to meditate during the Они не смогли медитировать во время Балканских войн и отказались медитировать во время

lead up to World War I.

The thought process may have been that the more conflicts Germany was a part of, the

more likely they were to be weakened.

Great Britain had clearly won the naval arm race by 1910, it just seemed that it wasn't

enough.

They were still living in fear of Germany's threats.

And it would appear rightfully so as history showed over the next several decades. И, как показала история последующих нескольких десятилетий, это было вполне обоснованно.

It needs to be said that if Great Britain wanted to prevent war, they should have contributed

to the mediation discussions.

The fact that they actively avoided the mediations shows Britain may have had other motives.

Especially if war meant a weakened Germany.

History is written by the victors.

Therefore, history textbooks tend to attribute most of, if not all of, the blame for World

War I to Austria-Hungary and Germany.

You have to wonder who would be blamed if the outcome of the war was reversed. Стоит задуматься, кого бы обвинили, если бы исход войны был обратным.

We discussed how the nations of the Triple Entente were by no means free of blame for

the start of this conflict.

But let's take a closer look at the motives and actions of the Triple Alliance, which

was the secret pact between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

Let's find out if they really are to blame like so many textbooks say.

Other than retaliation, what was Austria-Hungary after?

In a word, territory.

Austria-Hungary wanted to add more land and people to its already large empire.

More land equals more resources, and more men for their military.

Austria-Hungary had its sights set on Serbia for a while. Oostenrijk-Hongarije had een tijdje zijn zinnen gezet op Servië.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand allowed them the perfect opportunity to make

their dreams of taking over Serbian lands a reality.

Austria-Hungary's desires were made clear when they offered an obscene ultimatum to

Serbia.

The ultimatum itself was delivered on July 23, 1914.

It required Serbia to accept an Austro-Hungarian inquiry into the assassination of Archduke

Ferdinand.

The inquiry would be conducted solely by Austria-Hungarian investigators.

Serbia also needed to suppress all anti-Austrian propaganda and eliminate any terrorist or

extremist organizations within its borders.

The leaders of Austria-Hungary demanded that an answer to the ultimatum be sent within

48 hours.

However, the ambassador to Serbia delivered the ultimatum and immediately left the country

to return back to Austria-Hungary.

He already knew what was going to happen next.

There was no way that Serbia would accept the ultimatum.

This meant war.

The ultimatum served one purpose.

Austria-Hungary knew Serbia would never accept their terms, but they also knew if they attacked

without warning it would make Serbia look like the victim.

By sending the ultimatum it pushed the burden of avoiding war onto the Serbian government.

This way Austria-Hungary created the illusion of giving Serbia a chance to stop the war.

When they didn't, Serbia would look like the bad guy.

But the ridiculous ultimatum did not stand up to the test of history, and Austria-Hungary Но нелепый ультиматум не выдержал испытания историей, и Австро-Венгрия

is still seen as the aggressors.

Really what it came down to was that Austria-Hungary wanted to control more territory in the Balkan

region.

They needed a reason to go to war with Serbia to secure that land and they found it in the

assassination of their Archduke.

Was the assassination a reason to conduct an all out war? Было ли убийство поводом для начала полномасштабной войны?

Probably not, but it was sufficient enough reason for the Austria-Hungary government

at the time.

However, none of this would have been possible without one key player.

I am sure you can guess what is coming next.

Germany.

In the eyes of many historians Germany is to blame for the first world war.

Why was Germany considered the most responsible in a conflict that they did not directly start?

It is mostly because they alone had the power to stop the war between Austria-Hungary and

Serbia.

All they needed to do was withdraw their blank cheque, and Austria-Hungary would not have

had the financial ability to support a war with Serbia.

This would have kept Austria-Hungary in check and they would never have issued their ultimatum.

Germany also knew that if Austria-Hungary went to war with Serbia, Russia and France

would both get pulled in.

It was almost as if Germany needed to find a way to declare war on their competitors

in the region without doing it themselves.

Germany could never just outright declare war on the other nations or they would risk

unifying the entire continent of Europe against them.

But by strategically destabilizing the Balkans they could gode Russia, and therefore France, Но стратегически дестабилизировав Балканы, они могли бы ожесточить Россию, а значит, и Францию,

into a war with their ally, thus allowing Germany to start a war to suit their needs.

The other reason that Germany wanted war was because it had peaked as a nation. Другая причина, по которой Германия хотела войны, заключалась в том, что она достигла пика своего развития как нация.

If Germany allowed the rest of Europe to catch up they would lose power and prestige. Если бы Германия позволила остальной Европе догнать себя, она потеряла бы власть и престиж.

This upset no one more than Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was an angry militaristic autocrat.

He believed that he was predestined by God to lead his country to greatness.

He hated diplomats and maintained that the only way to ensure Germany's spot of power

was through war.

He knew it was now or never if Germany was going to become the predominant world power.

When a power hungry autocrat is in charge of one of the world's most wealthy and armed

nations there is only one outcome.

War.

In the end World War I was caused by many different factors and countries.

There is not just one person or nation to blame.

However, some are more responsible than others.

If the leaders of Europe were less hungry for power, and more willing to sit down and

negotiate, the war could have been avoided.

Make no mistake, World War I was not unavoidable.

But the leaders in charge saw war as a desirable outcome, or were forced into it by allies.

A situation that would repeat itself again 21 years later.

If you are interested in more World War I information check out 50 Insane World War

1 Facts That Will Shock You!

Or if you want to know how World War I and World War II stack up watch World War 1 VS Ou se você quiser saber como a Primeira Guerra Mundial e a Segunda Guerra Mundial se comparam, assista a Primeira Guerra Mundial VS

World War 2 - How Do They Compare?