Why wwi happened

Public opinion was further inflamed, writes Gregory, over the emergence of a telegram, supposedly from the German foreign minister Arthur Zimmerman to Mexico offering military assistance if the US entered the war. Observers soon came to believe that the change in public feeling made US entry into the war inevitable, and eight weeks later Congress approved a resolution declaring war on Germany. The Royal Navy at the time was regarded as the most powerful in the world, although its primary purpose was not military, but the protection of trade.

A shipbuilding arms race with Germany began in , but Britain had gained a technological edge over its rival by , with the development of a new class of battleship — the dreadnought.

Ultimately, Germany was unable to keep pace with the spending power of its rival and shifted attention away from its navy back to the development of its army. Attempting to identify which nation or nations should be held accountable for the war is an exercise doomed to failure, Margaret MacMillan argues in her First World War history, The War that Ended Peace. According to MacMillan, the alliances drawn up between nations before the war could actually have helped to preserve the fragile peace.

The Guardian identifies six people who, from a British perspective, had the largest roles in the events leading to the outbreak of war:. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia , who found himself caught between Russia's loyalty to Serbia, and his desire to avoid war on the continent. Skip to header Skip to main content Skip to footer. In Depth. Remembrance Day: why do we fall silent and wear poppies?

How did World War One end? The most moving First World War poems. Click the Edit button above to get started. This sample is exclusively for KidsKonnect members! To download this worksheet, click the button below to signup for free it only takes a minute and you'll be brought right back to this page to start the download!

This was the immediate cause but there were a series of events which triggered the war. See below for more information and facts about how World War 1 started. Over 17 million people were killed in the First World War and the impact it had on the old empires and the politics of the world was enormous, but what were the causes of WW1 and how did it start? The assassination was planned by a Serbian terrorist group, called The Black Hand and the man who shot Franz Ferdinand and his wife was a Bosnian revolutionary named Gavrilo Princip.

This bundle contains 17 ready-to-use WWI worksheets that are perfect for students to learn about and understand how the Great War started including important events and those involved.

Students will also learn about the beginning of WW1 and the timeline of events, triple entente vs the central powers plus many more challenging but engaging worksheets. Allow students to absorb and use this information as a lesson starter. Fill out the blanks on the timeline to refresh your memory. Triple Entente vs Central Powers Students will correctly identify which countries were part of the Triple Entente, and which were part of the Central Powers?

What country am i? Clue based task where students will be challenged to guess what the countries are based on the clues? Decode the phrase Decoding task where students are encouraged to unscramble each of the clue words. Interpret the quotation Interpretation task where students are challenged to write what they believe the British Prime Minister was saying in his famous speech. Solve the WW1 Mystery Mystery based task where students are challenged with rearranging tiles to form a clue.

Become A Journalist Roleplay based task where students are to act as a journalist and report on the beginning of the war. War is incredibly expensive - and this war was no different.

Before the war, Britain was in fact the world's economic superpower, with significant levels of wealth and resources. But war took its toll and the effect of how much it cost was felt for many years to come. It left much of Europe in severe economic hardship. Up until the war, women were perceived in a certain way in society. Their role was traditionally to stay in the home. Issues like politics and war were very much seen as things for men to deal with.

In the UK, laws were being changed to improve women's standing in society. For example, they had more rights when it came to their houses and their children, but there was still a long way to go before men and women would be treated more equally.

When war broke out and the men went off to fight, it was women who took on their jobs and kept things running back in Britain.

Across the country, by late , nine in every ten workers in the munitions industry were female - jobs which traditionally would have been done by men. Women also worked as conductors on trams and buses, as typists and secretaries, and on farms.

The war also changed how many women looked. Trousers appeared for the first time, corsets became increasingly less popular and short, bobbed hair came into fashion. Women still weren't allowed to do all jobs that men did, though, and there was still inequality in terms of wages and the skills they were allowed to learn. Many women also had to return to a more domestic life when the men came home as a result of a law called Restoration of Pre-War Practices Act.

It wasn't until the Second World War in that many women returned to these industrial jobs. But in February , some women won the right to vote for the first time. Then the Sex Disqualification Removal Act of made it illegal to exclude women from jobs because of their gender. The contribution made during the war by women was seen an important reason for laws changing, and progress being made in terms of better equality and opportunities for them.

As can often be the case following conflict between countries, World War One resulted in the political map of Europe being reshaped. Countries' borders moved and there was arguing over who would rule where. Under the Treaty of Versailles which was drawn up after the war to essentially decide what would happen next, Germany lost about a tenth of its lands.

Further treaties saw Bulgaria, Austria and Hungary all lose territory too. World War One spelled the end of the Ottoman Turkish empire and also contributed to the Russian revolution , which marked the beginning of a new politics system in action - communism.

The defeat meant the end of German plans for a quick victory in France. Both sides dug into trenches , and the Western Front was the setting for a hellish war of attrition that would last more than three years.

Particularly long and costly battles in this campaign were fought at Verdun February-December and the Battle of the Somme July-November German and French troops suffered close to a million casualties in the Battle of Verdun alone.

In the latter poem, McCrae writes from the perspective of the fallen soldiers:. To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. Visual artists like Otto Dix of Germany and British painters Wyndham Lewis, Paul Nash and David Bomberg used their firsthand experience as soldiers in World War I to create their art, capturing the anguish of trench warfare and exploring the themes of technology, violence and landscapes decimated by war.

This increased hostility was directed toward the imperial regime of Czar Nicholas II and his unpopular German-born wife, Alexandra. Russia reached an armistice with the Central Powers in early December , freeing German troops to face the remaining Allies on the Western Front.

At the outbreak of fighting in , the United States remained on the sidelines of World War I, adopting the policy of neutrality favored by President Woodrow Wilson while continuing to engage in commerce and shipping with European countries on both sides of the conflict.

In , Germany declared the waters surrounding the British Isles to be a war zone, and German U-boats sunk several commercial and passenger vessels, including some U. Widespread protest over the sinking by U-boat of the British ocean liner Lusitania —traveling from New York to Liverpool, England with hundreds of American passengers onboard—in May helped turn the tide of American public opinion against Germany.

Germany sunk four more U. With World War I having effectively settled into a stalemate in Europe, the Allies attempted to score a victory against the Ottoman Empire, which entered the conflict on the side of the Central Powers in late After a failed attack on the Dardanelles the strait linking the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean Sea , Allied forces led by Britain launched a large-scale land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula in April The invasion also proved a dismal failure, and in January Allied forces staged a full retreat from the shores of the peninsula after suffering , casualties.

British-led forces also combated the Ottoman Turks in Egypt and Mesopotamia , while in northern Italy, Austrian and Italian troops faced off in a series of 12 battles along the Isonzo River, located at the border between the two nations. British and French—and later, American—troops arrived in the region, and the Allies began to take back the Italian Front.

The biggest naval engagement of World War I, the Battle of Jutland May left British naval superiority on the North Sea intact, and Germany would make no further attempts to break an Allied naval blockade for the remainder of the war.

World War I was the first major conflict to harness the power of planes. At the dawn of World War I, aviation was a relatively new field; the Wright brothers took their first sustained flight just eleven years before, in Aircraft were initially used primarily for reconnaissance missions.

During the First Battle of the Marne, information passed from pilots allowed the allies to exploit weak spots in the German lines, helping the Allies to push Germany out of France. The first machine guns were successfully mounted on planes in June of in the United States, but were imperfect; if timed incorrectly, a bullet could easily destroy the propeller of the plane it came from. The Morane-Saulnier L, a French plane, provided a solution: The propeller was armored with deflector wedges that prevented bullets from hitting it.

The British Bristol Type 22 was another popular model used for both reconnaissance work and as a fighter plane.