Europe prior to WWI-including part I of The Guns of August.

Edward VII

• First King of England in the 20th Century

• Died in 1910-his funeral opened The Guns of August

• Oldest son of Queen Victoria• Married to Alexandra of Denmark• Mostly peaceful reign (save the Boer Wars-in South Africa).

• Very focused on military and foreign affairs

Edward VII-Uncle to Europe

• The German Emperor Wilhelm II-nephew• Tsar Nicholas II of Russia-nephew • Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse-nephew • Duke Charles Edward of Saxe-Coburg-nephew • Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain-neice • Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden-neice • Crown Princess Marie of Romania-neice • Crown Princess Sophia of Greece-neice • Empress Alexandra of Russia-neice• King Haakon VII of Norway was both his nephew by marriage and his son-in-law

Edward VII-Uncle to Europe Continued…

• King George I of Greece-brother-in law • King Frederick VIII of Denmark-brother-in-law

• King Albert I of Belgium-cousin • King Charles I and King Manuel II of Portugal-cousin

• Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria-cousin • Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands-cousin

• Prince Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick-cousin

Wilhelm II, German Emperor/King of Prussia

• Ruled from 1888 to 1918• Forced Otto van Bismarck to resign as Chancellor and also got rid of his foreign policies.

• Ultimate goal was to reclaim Germany’s “place in the sun”.

George V

• The “new” king of England• Ruled from 1910-1936• Collected stamps and smoked a lot

• WWI took a toll on his health

Tsar Nicholas II

• Last emperor of Russia• Married to Alexandra, Queen Victoria’s granddaughter

• Saw Germany as the main enemy-even though the Kaiser was his cousin A series of telegrams were exchanged during the war: ”The Nicky-Willy telegrams”

• Forced to abdicate throne in 1917

King I Albert

• Ruled Belgium from 1909-1934• Upheld neutrality during WWI, standing up to Germany’s ultimatum

• Held up Germany’s “plan” by resisting and giving France time to make military preparations

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

Alfred von Schlieffen-author of the Schlieffen Plan

Helmuth von Moltke

• In charge with carrying out the Schlieffen Plan.

• He believed that once started, the plan could not and should not be motified

Joseph Joffre

• Commander in Chief of the French military during WWI.

• In charge of defending France against the Schlieffen Plan.

• Devised Plan 17, which contained no over-all objective and no explicit schedule for operations.

Franco-Prussian War

• Waged from July 1870- Feb. 1871• Previously, Napoleon I had conquered German lands, in this battle, the roles would be reversed

• This was a rapid and overwhelming victory for Prussia

• This made a united German Empire possible and ended the Napoleonic Empire in France

• Germany becomes a major European power and takes the French territory of Alsace-Lorraine

Entangling Alliances

• Germany and France are bitter enemies• Germany is afraid of both Britain and Russia

• Russia is weakened from it’s loss in the Russo-Japanese War

• Britain is divided over the impending war and the loss in the Boer War.

• Belgium is neutral-Britain has pledged alliance if Belgium is invaded

• France is allied with Russia, but Russia had also been previously allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary

Entangling Alliances Continued

• Italy enters into an alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungry, pledging neutrality

• Serbia allies with Russia• Austria-Hungary and Germany are allied and would come to include the crumbling Ottoman Empire (whose land was very appealing to Austria)

The Moroccan Crisis

• Morocco was given to France by Britain in 1904.

• Germany announces its support for Moroccan independence in 1905.

• Britain supports France and war is avoided by an international conference in 1906.

• France agreed to make Morocco a French protectorate.

The Moroccan Crisis II

• In 1911, Germany sent a warship to Morocco claiming that the French had violated international agreement.

• Britain again defends France and Germany backs off in exchange for part of the French controlled Congo.

Crisis in the Balkans

• In 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed the territory of Bosnia (which had formally been a Turkish province)

• This threatened Serbia, which was also interested in this territory. War threatened between Serbia (allied with Russia) and Austria-Hungary (allied with Germany). War is avoided, but tensions are still high

The Balkan Wars of 1912-13

• The Balkan states, including Serbia, fought the Turks and drove them back to Constantinople.

• The Balkans began to fight over the territory. Tensions increased again when Austria-Hungary forced Serbia to give up some of the lands gained.

• On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the heir to the Austo-Hungarian empire) is assassinated in Sarajevo by the Serbian Nationalist group The Black Hand.

• The Tuchman quote that has to be repeated (p. 133 in my book)

• “Europe was entering, Moltke wrote, the struggle that will decide the course of history for the next hundred years”.