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6 Key Steps to World War One | History Hit | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: 6 Key Steps to World War One
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The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, while the immediate spark, ignited World War I due to a complex web of imperial competition, dangerous ideologies, arms races, and a prevailing belief among European powers that war was inevitable and potentially beneficial.
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on the 28th of June
1914 a man and his wife were murdered in
Saro Bosnia as their car stopped at this
intersection an assassin shot them both
at close range it was just two shots yet
they sparked a global war one of the
bloodiest and most destructive in
history the first world war at least 25
million people died on Battlefield from
the Arctic Circle to Zambia Millions
more lives were lost in the disease the
dislocation and the Civil Wars that had
unleashed the map of the world was
completely redrawn as some of the
world's Mightiest Empires collapsed it
was a war that shaped everything that
was to come after that without the first
world war there would very likely have
been no Great Depression and no World
War II no musolini no Hitler no Stalin
no maong as as we know them today so why
was the world plunged into gigantic
conflict what were the real causes of
World War I I'll show [Music]
[Music]
you first things first this was a world
of Empires and they saw themselves as
being locked in competition Europeans
ruled over 84% of the Earth's surface
the biggest empire in the world was the
British stretching from Canada through
the Caribbean much of Africa and large
SES of South Asia into
australasia Britain also dominated the
world's oceans with the largest and most
powerful navy on Earth the French
controlled big chunks of Africa and Asia
the Russians ruled from Finland to the
Pacific and America had extended its
Frontiers across the continent and Beyond
Beyond
the Middle East was ruled by the ottoman
Turks much of Central and Eastern Europe
was controlled by the austr hungarians
and then we have the newest Empire on
the scene the Germans Germany had only
been a unified country for less than 50
years but it had exploded onto the
world's stage in that short lifespan it
had one of the world's biggest economies
and amassed the third largest global
Empire after Britain and France so and
this is a big underlying reason for the
first world war this was a world where
Conquest competition seizing territory
defeating your Rivals was an accepted
part of life from 1899 to 1902 the
British had fought a major war in
southern Africa to conquer the bore
republics the Germans had imposed their
rule on Namibia between 1904 and
1908 in 1911 11 the Italians had invaded
Libya part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire
Greece Serbia and its allies had also
attacked the otoman Turks in 1912 and 13
and captured much of the Turkish
territory in the Balkans War wasn't
something unfortunate a last resort but
something that was inevitable and could
even be positive not only could Empires
amass more territory and resources
overseas but War might serve a purpose
at home too across Europe new ideas were
on the March many people were calling
for political rights for democracy for
socialism for the breakup of Empires and
there was this very dangerous sort of
application of darwinian ideas to human
societies and social Darwinism believed
or argued that the human race could be
divided up into species and in their
natural state species tended to have
natural Predators tended to struggle for
survival and these ideas were applied to
societies and so there was an idea that
the French were the hereditary enemies
of the Germans and the Germans were the
hereditary enemies of the French and of
the Russians you these are dangerous
ideas because then you begin to think
well war is bound to happen and also
that whole notion that that that phrase
the struggle for survival acquires a
moral connotation if you don't struggle
for survival as a people you don't
deserve to survive what's wrong with you
you know you're weak you're feeble these
ideas were deeply dangerous to those in
charge insecure leaders thought that war
might bolster their rule by ramping up
patriotic rhetoric celebrating the
military emphasizing traditional
military values rather than new
Democratic ones the old Elites hope to
cling to power Kings and Emperors and
their children were shed in military
uniforms fictional bestsellers imagine
the next War soldiers wielded enormous
political influence a lot of these
rulers thought that war could be an
opportunity if we get a good War it'll
bring the nation together we won't have
all these internal divisions which you
know we do have we have different
political divisions different classes
different ethnicities and it will so
some of them thought they certainly
thought in Germany in certain circles
around the Kaiser it will give us the
excuse to suspend the Constitution get
rid of the Reich stag which we don't
like um close down the unions who who
are Troublesome get rid of the Social
Democratic party we can go back to some
sort of idealized past where you know
you ruled with an Iron Fist and the
lower classes knew their places so it's
a complex I think of ideas and emotions
so it was a world where war was an
accepted part of life and if you believe
that war was going to happen anyway then
it made sense to strike first when you
were ready and your potential enemy was
not German leaders for example were sure
that they were going to fight their
neighbors Russia sooner or later one
senior German civil servant wrote in
1914 we were reconciled to the fact that
we would have war with Russia if the war
did not come now we'd have had it in 2
years time under worse conditions in
1912 at a meeting of the very top German
political and military officials
Germany's senior General said war the
sooner the
better so the great Powers thought that
war was coming and they wanted to win it
they invested vast amounts of money in
creating better weapon systems better
Railway networks ships and defenses and
if your neighbor's doing that well you
should too the result a massive arms
race the size of Europe's armies and
navies grew and grew there comes a point
though when you can't expand your forces
anymore you run out of men you run out
of money you need allies so as the power
and size of their neighbors armies
increased Nations sought allies to help
out if and when war came France and
Russia were both neighbors of Germany
Russia to the east France to the West
worried about the strength of Germany
they formed an alliance they agreed if
Germany attacked one of them the other
would come instantly to their aid that
meant Germany worried about being
squeezed between the two of them and
looked for support to its neighbor
Austria Hungary they formed a close
Alliance becoming known as the Central
Powers Britain had hoped to avoid
getting involved in a bloody and
expensive European War but Germany was
also making the British nervous
Germany's leader the Kaiser vilhm
was the grandson of Britain's queen
Victoria while visiting his grandma in
her favorite Palace on the aisle of
white he'd watched the naval ships of
the British royal Navy sailing in and
out of their main base in Portsmouth he
had dreamed one day of building a mighty
German Navy and he'd made that dream a
reality in the Years leading up to
1914 Germany had built a modern
technologically advanced powerful navy
but that had worried the British and
despite their desire to stay out of
European War Wars it made Britain much
more sympathetic to France and Russia
Britain did not want to see Germany with
its huge navy dominating Europe even
more so Europe was separated into
massive power blocks each deeply
suspicious of each other and all of them
assuming that there would be a big War
sooner or
later a few years earlier Germany's
greatest Statesman oton bismar had
summed it all up Europe today is a power
keg and the leaders are like men smoking
in an Arsenal a single spark will set
off an explosion that will consume us
all and what he said next was spookily
accurate I cannot tell you when that
explosion will occur but I can tell you
where some damned foolish thing in the
bulans will set it
off so let's have a look at that spark a
that man and woman who were assassinated
in Saro deep in the Balkans that was
Arch Duke France Ferdinand and his wife
Sophie he was heir to the throne of the
Ostro Hungarian Empire he and his wife
were on a visit to Saro the capital of
the Empire's Bosnian Province many
bosnians were ethnically Serbian they
wanted Bosnia to leave the austr
Hungarian Empire and join their nextdoor
neighbor Serbia Serbia encouraged these
Rebels Serbian officials had supplied a
group of Assassins with bombs and guns
with which to Target France Ferdinand on
his visit the arch juke's motorcade
drove right through the middle of Saro
he'd been advised not to visit but he
insisted despite the obvious security
risk the street was not lined with
troops security was pretty lack the
route was lined with wouldbe assassins
as the AR sho's car drove past the first
them he failed to act the second member
of the group threw a bomb at France
ferdinand's car it bounced off and blew
up wounding a dozen people the moade
sped off to the town hall the other
assassins only glimpsed it as it whizzed
past after a ceremonial event at the
Town Hall the moade headed back through
the city after the drama on the way
there was confusion about which way they
should take on the way back the arch
juke's car turned down a side street an
official shouted the driver was going
the wrong way the driver stopped
attempted to reverse and stalled the car
by extraordinary coincidence standing on
that exact street corner was one of the
plotters gillo princip he had almost
given up hope and yet now here was his
Target in a stalled open top car a
couple of meters away from him he raised
his pistol and fired two
shots he couldn't miss both the arch
chuk and his wife Sophie were hit and
minutes France ferdinand's Murder set
off a chain reaction the Austrian Empire
wanted Revenge they were terrified of
looking weak if they did not act they
were worried their empire might break up
they had to take a stand they knew that
ibia had sent the gun used in The
Killing it was just another example of
Serbia undermining the Austrian Empire
encouraging its peoples to Rebel so for
Austria Hungary Serbia was an
existential threat if Serbia had its way
and the South slaves began to be pulled
out then the Poes in the north would
want to leave the ruthenians were
beginning to develop a national
Consciousness they might wanted to join
with with with the Russian Empire the
Czechs and the slovaks were already very
very well the Czechs particularly were
already very much demanding more and
more power so Serbia meant to Austria
Hungary the end now the austrians had an
excuse to deal with Serbia once and for
all but there was a problem with this if
Austria wanted to invade and punish
Serbia Serbia could call on its Ally the
giant of the East Russia Russia and
Serbia saw themselves as part of the
same Slavic people they shared a
religion language was similar Russian
leaders just like those in Austria were
also terrified of looking weak if they
let their all I Serbia get steamrolled
it would make them look impotent on the
world stage and encourage their
opponents at home so the Russians made
it clear that they would stand by
Serbia so Austria Hungary would now have
to contend with the huge Russian army if
it dealt with Serbia the austrians would need
help before the austrians did anything
they checked in with their key Ally
Germany the German Kaiser vilhelm was
not a fan of important members of royal
families getting killed in the street he
also did not want his austr Hungarian
allies to get pushed around also the
Germans were convinced they'd have to
fight the Russians and the French
eventually if it was
inevitable perhaps now was the time now
in 1914 things were looking better for
Germany than they would in a few years
time when the Russian army might have
upgraded its weapons and its War
Industries the Kaiser sent the austrians
a message of support known as the blank
check a week after the assassination on
the evening of the 5th of July Austrian
diplomats in Berlin reported back to
their masters in the austr Hungarian
Capital Vienna the Kaiser had said if we
really saw the necessity for military
action against Serbia he would think it
regrettable if we did not take advantage
of the present moment which is favorable
from our point of of view now with
German backing the austrians felt bold
they issued a tough ultimatum to the
serbs the serbs would have to allow
Austrian investigators to work inside
Serbia to track down anyone who
conspired to kill the arch chuk anti-
austr Hungarian messaging had to be
removed from the press and the education
syllabuses nationalist groups in Serbia
were to be shut down reading the
ultimatum in London the British Minister
for the Navy one Winston Churchill was
shocked the Austrian alternatum to
Serbia he thought was one of the most
insolent documents of its kind ever
devised Serbia even gave in on most of
the points but not all of them if you
are an independent state can you accept
having the officials of another Power
monitoring your your bu bureaucracy and
your legal system I mean it it would
have been too much and and what what is
more Serbia was given the altimate matum
it was given 48 hours to answer it while
the serbs were desperately trying to
come up with an answer they asked
Austrian the Austrian Embassy in
Belgrade was burning its papers Austria
broke off diplomatic relations on the
24th of July and ordered its Army to
prepare for war at 11:00 a.m. on the
28th of July
Serbia the first shots of the first
world war were fired on the danu
by an austr Hungarian gun boat it
bombarded the defenses of the Serbian
Capital Belgrade Russia now had to
decide what to do it Zar Nicholas II
came under enormous pressure from his
generals to order the Army to mobilize
that is to prepare for war reluctantly
he agreed and signed the order on the
30th of July this was a huge moment in
Russia Nicolas II you had a man who was
weak who was determined to hang on to
the Roman of power who who who saw any concession
concession
to the new forces in Russia the new
Democratic forces new constitutional
forces as weakness who had been forced
to give a constitution and then had
spent the next 10 years trying to trying
to claw back the powers this is someone
who was weak but who feared that if he
didn't look tough in 1914 uh people
would would stop supporting him I mean
he he decided on War I think partly
because he was afraid of being weak
Germany decided it could not let the
Russian army Mass on their Frontiers in
position to invade and not respond so on
the 1 of August Kaiser vilhelm signed
the orders for the German Army to
mobilize and then ordered champagne to
celebrate now here's the crazy thing
German mobilization didn't just mean the
Army gathered itself ready for war it
meant that the Army went to war because
it expected to go to war with the
Russians and the French who were their
allies the German war plan was to invade
France first knock their army out occupy
Paris and then turn with all their
strength the deal with the East the
Russians who would be slower to get
going there was no way the Kaiser could
for example say let's gather an army to
keep an eye on the Russians but not
strike first by mobilizing the Kaiser
hadn't just told the Army to get ready
War by 700 p.m. on the 1st of August the
day the Kaiser signed the papers the
German Army invaded Luxembourg the
following day the first German troops
marched into France France had been
preparing for a German invasion for
decades on its border with Germany it
had created a vast series of
fortifications the Germans knew that
very well so the German plan was to
avoid all that and strike around the
flank of the French through Belgium and
take them from the north it was known as
the schen plan after the strategist who
came up with it on the 4th of August
German troops entered Belgium but here's
the problem Belgium was neutral its
security was guaranteed by Great Britain
if Germany invaded Belgium Britain would
be obliged to help Britain had been
confident it could avoid the War the
British prime minister Herbert aswith
had written to his girlfriend on the
24th of July we are within measurable or
imaginable distance of a real Armageddon
happily there seems to be no reason why
we should be anything more than
Spectators but now with German troops
invading Belgium everything changed
Britain felt it should honor its word to
Belgium also it didn't want a triumphant
Germany controlling Europe with Belgian
and French bases very near the English
Coast for its powerful navy Britain was
also worried that if Russia and France
won they might threaten the British
Empire in Asia and elsewhere perhaps it
was better to get involved and help
shape the outcome the British cabinet
spent hours locked in tempestuous
discussion two cabinet members resigned
but it was decided the British
government would issue an ultimatum to
Germany get out of Belgium or it's
war on the evening of the 4th of August
the British cabinet sat together in
Downing Street waiting for Big Ben's
chimes at 11:00 or midnight Berlin time
the ultimatum ran out there had been no
response from Germany
reports made it clear that Germany had
certainly not stopped its invasion of
Belgium Britain declared war on Germany
I once came across this message sent out
by the British Naval High command at
1:00 a.m. on the 5th of August commence
hostilities at once against Germany the
great powers of Europe were now at War
but because of their huge Global Empires
that meant the world was at War Britain
had taken its Empire to war Canada South
Africa Australia India and many more
colonies these Imperial troops would
form some of the most effective units in
the British forces France brought its
colonies Morocco Algeria Cameroon they
would play an enormous role in the
French armies they tried to repel the
German Invaders Belgium brought its
Empire as well troops from Belgium's
enormous territories in the Congo
invaded German colonies in Africa the
war might have begun in Europe but the
fighting between these Global Empires
immediately spread all over the world on
the 6th of August British and German
naval ships clashed in the
Bahamas the first shot fired by a
British soldier in the war was in West
Africa on the 7th of August when alaji
guni of the British Gold Coast regiment
invaded German hell
togoland the next few years would see
terrible fighting on the so-called
Western Front in France and Belgium as
the Allies attempted to drive out the
German Invaders the static trench
warfare became Infamous for its enormous
casualties Giant offensives and little
movement for years on end the austr
hungarians did invade Serbia and
suffered a string of defeats at the
hands of the smaller country before
conquering them with the help of their
German allies the Russians fought the
Germans and austr hungarians on the
Eastern front in what is now Ukraine
Poland bellarus and mova the strain on
Russian Society would eventually lead to
the Empire's collapse it was fighting on
the world's oceans from the coast of
Chile to the North Sea as the war went
on other powers joined the fighting in
late August 1914 Japan agreed to enter
the war as an ally of Britain if it
could occupy all the German outposts in
East Asia Japan snapped up these German
territories which ignited its Ambitions
for a larger Chinese Empire later in
1914 the huge turkey Turkish Empire
joined the Germans and austr hungarians
tempted by the offers of captured
Russian territory they would be fighting
across the Middle East as the British
and French tried to knock turkey out of
the war Italy joined the Allies in 1915
likewise they were promised provinces of
the ustr Hungarian Empire if they joined
in the fighting in the mountains of
Northern Italy became Infamous for its
appalling conditions as thousands of men
died in Avalanches
alone the USA was determined to stay out
of it but in 1917 the Germans were
desperate to starve Britain into
submission and made the Fateful decision
to order their submarines to sink any
and All Ships heading towards British
ports that meant American ships carrying
grain oil and other supplies the
Americans could not stand by as their
ships were sunk and their Crews killed
in early April 1917 the USA declared war
on Germany the first American troops
arrived in France in June and by May
1918 over 1 million American troops were
in France to help deliver the final
Army the first world war radically
reshaped the course of history and we're
still living with its consequences the
Russian German Turkish and austr
Hungarian Empires collapsed although
they were victorious Britain and France
were weakened America had become a major
military power the map of eastern Europe
and the Middle East had been completely
redrawn the end of World War I didn't
lead to an end in the fighting as civil
conflict revolutions and Wars raged on
in the years that followed triggered by
the dislocation the rage and the
Ambitions ignited by the war the spark
that caused the War was the
assassination of the arch duuk but the
world with its Empires its competition
its arms race its insecure leaders was a
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