Section 2 The Guns of August

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Section 2 The Guns of August

• I. Assassination in Sarajevo

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• Setting the Scene
• Bertha von Suttner devoted her life to peace.
  Though the daughter of a noble Austrian military
  family, she wrote a best-selling antiwar novel
  and organized a peace society. Her tireless work
  won her the nickname "Peace Bertha. Yet, in
  April 1913, Suttner wrote in her diary that "the
  great European disaster is well on its way. If so
  many seeds have been sown, surely the weeds will
  sprout up soon and surely so much stockpiled
  gunpowder will explode."
• "Peace Bertha" died on June 20,1914. Eight days
  later, an assassin's bullet set off the
  "gunpowder" and ignited a war that engulfed much
  of the world for four bloody years.

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I. Assassination in Sarajevo

• Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary
  announced that he would visit Bosnias capital,
  Sarajevo

Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie
von Hohenburg leave the town hall in Sarajevo and
get into their car (June 28, 1914)
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I. Assassination in Sarajevo

• Bosnia was home to Serbs and other Slavs the
  visit angered Serbian revolutionaries

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie at
Sarajevo on 28th June, 1914
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I. Assassination in Sarajevo

• Members of a Serbian Black Hand terrorist group
  vowed to take action

Seal of the Black Hand, officially named
Unification or Death
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I. Assassination in Sarajevo

• June 28,1914 - Serbian terrorist Gavrilo Princip
  assassinated the archduke and his wife

Gavrilo Princip assassinates Ferdinand and
Sophia. The Archduke's last words "Sophie dear,
Sophie dear, don't die! Stay alive for our
children.
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II. The Conflict Widens

• Austrian emperor Francis Josephs government saw
  the incident as an excuse to crush Serbia for good

Franz Josef I (1830-1916) Emperor of Austria and
King of Hungary from 1848 until 1916
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II. The Conflict Widens

• Kaiser William II advised Francis Joseph to take
  a firm stand toward Serbia and assured him of
  Germany's full support

Kaiser Wilhelm II wrote to Franz Josef, advising
him to take a firm stand toward Serbia. The
Kaiser assured the emperor of Germany's full
support. Thus, instead of urging restraint, the
kaiser gave Austria a "blank check of assistance
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II. The Conflict Widens

• Austria sent Serbia an ultimatum that included
  allowing Austria to investigate the assassination

In the aftermath of the assassination of Archduke
Ferdinand, Austria made ten demands of Serbia. An
Austrian official would be appointed to monitor
the fulfillment of these demands. The Serbians
accepted all but this last demand, and war was
declared.
Gavrilo Princip, second from right, is arrested
after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
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II. The Conflict Widens

• Serbia did not agree to all of the terms Austria
  declared war on July 28, 1914

King Peter I of Serbia (18441921)
King of Serbia
(1903-18)
King of Serbs,
Croats and Slovenes (1918-21)
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II. The Conflict Widens

• Serbia sought help from Russia Czar Nicholas
  urged the Kaiser to ask Austria to soften its
  demands

Czar Nicholas II of Russia
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II. The Conflict Widens

• The Kaiser refused to help Russia began to
  mobilize for war

Russian Army Mobilization
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II. The Conflict Widens

• When Russia began to mobilize, Germany responded
  by declaring war on Russia

Germany/Austria-Hungary versus Russia 
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II. The Conflict Widens

• Because Russia appealed to its ally France for
  help, Germany declared war on France

Germany versus France
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II. The Conflict Widens

• Italy chose to remain neutral Britain was
  uncommitted until Germany's war plan started

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II. The Conflict Widens

• General Schlieffen had developed a plan of attack
  against France requiring German armies to march
  through neutral Belgium

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II. The Conflict Widens

• European powers had signed a treaty guaranteeing
  Belgian neutrality when Germany invaded Belgium,
  Britain declared war

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II. The Conflict Widens

• Once war plans were set in motion, conflict was
  inevitable. War had come and it seemed like an
  exciting adventure to many

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• "The lamps are going out all over Europe. We
  shall not see them lit again in our lifetime
• British politician Sir Edward Greys comment
  when the war began