Setting the World on Fire: The Start of World War I 2
Setting the World on Fire: The Start of World War I 2
Setting the World on Fire: The Start of World War I 2
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
it felt compelled to honor. If Russia went to war with Germany,
French involvement was also inevitable, for France had been an
ally of Russia since 1894, when
alliance in which
economic links. Their goal was to contain
of
not openly attacked France in
Britain had no such formal alliance with France or Russia,
but it preferred those countries to
agreed to assist France in
hoped to avoid British involvement, for it did not want
to have to fight Great Britain as well. Early on, Germany
offered not to keep any French or Belgian territory it gained in
war if
offer. On August 3 German troops crossed over into tiny Luxembourg
and neutral Belgium to begin
and Britain declared war on Germany
Within days of
people believed that this war would be like
periodically erupted in Europe over
and not terribly bloody. The war plans of every country called
for a short campaign, and most expected that, following a brief
period of fighting,
would return. But
wars no longer existed, and Europe—and
world—soon found itself in a much larger war than
countries had imagined when making
War Plans
Leading
countries were military leaders who were eager to test war
plans
instructions for how a country’s generals should conduct a
war;
which areas and in which order. By far
and ambitious of
war plan was known as
Count Alfred von Schlieffen (1833–1913), who was chief of
24
Change language