Glossary
"THE FIRST BALKAN WAR. On March 13, 1912, Bulgaria |
"THE SECOND BALKAN WAR. Discord among the Balkan states was evident even during the early days of the first [Balkan] war. . . . According to secret pact before the war began, Serbia was to receive Albania. When Albania became independent, Serbia was deprived of this territory on the Adriatic. Bulgaria received not only the territory agreed upon by the secret treaty, but also Adrianople and other areas. . . . To counter the Bulgarian menace, the Greeks and Serbs signed a treaty of alliance on June 1 [1913]. The Second Balkan War began with a Bulgarian attack on the Greeks and Serbs on the night of June 29-30, 1913. The second war was shorter, but much bloodier, than the first. In July, Romania, and Turkey joined the Greeks, Montenegrins, and Serbians. On July 21, Bulgaria asked for a truce. The Treaty of Bucharest was signed on Aug. 10, 1913. Bulgaria lost much of the territory taken from Turkey in the previous war. . . . The peace settlement left Europe with new problems and a general uneasiness regarding the Balkans. Serbia's increased prestige encouraged the Slavs of Austria-Hungary to renew their efforts for independence." |
"BETHMANN-HOLLWEG. . . . served as Prussian minister for the Interior. . . . in 1909, Kaiser Wilhelm II appointed Bethmann-Hollweg as Imperial Chancellor. Inexperienced in foreign affairs, he was unable to achieve conciliation with England and France. . . . By 1914 Bethmann-Hollweg was deeply unpopular in Germany. He became convinced that only a successful war could divert opposition to his economic policies. He hoped and expected a short, limited war. He encouraged Austro-Hungarian aggression after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Bethmann-Hollweg changed his mind after it became clear that it might escalate into a world war. However, he lacked the political authority to halt the Schlieffen Plan." |
"BISMARK, OTTO VON. "(1815 - 1898), . . . a Prussian statesman, united the German states into one empire. He declared that the Great problems of his time must be settled by "blood and iron" instead of by speeches and resolutions. . . . Bismarck fought three wars to unify the German states. They were against Denmark in 1864; the Seven Weeks' War against Austria in 1866; and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. After Prussia defeated Napoleon III, the king of Prussia was crowned Wilhelm I, emperor of Germany. . . . He devoted his genius to the establishment of treaties that were to fortify the position of Germany in Europe. He created the Triple Alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy, which lasted until World War I. . . . Wilhelm II, who became king in 1888, dismissed the aged chancellor, because he was jealous of Bismarck's fame. Bismarck retired to his estates at Friedrichsruh, and died there on July 30, 1898."
(World Book, 2: 382)
"THE BLACK HAND. “In May 9th of 1911, a secret terrorist organization, known as 'Ujedinjenje ili Smrt' (Union or Death), was formed in Serbia by ten men. This soon gained the nickname 'the Black Hand'. The purpose of the Black Hand was 'To realize the national idea, the unification of all Serbs.' . . . Despite the failure [of an attempted assassination of Emperor Franz Joseph] . . . it began to grow in numbers [and] achieved a milestone 2,500 members in 1914.”
(prezi.com)
"FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR began in 1870 as a result of a dispute between France and Prussia, a German state. All the other German states joined Prussia, and the conflict became one between France and Germany. . . . The war ended with the Treaty of Frankfurt, which was signed on May 10, 1871. The treaty provided that France would give most of Alsace and part of Lorraine to Germany, pay Germany one billion dollars, and support a German army of occupation until the sum was paid. Germany expected the huge debt to handicap France for many years. But the French miraculously paid it off in less than three years. . . . The Franco-Prussian War abolished the North German Confederation and created a new German Empire. It helped set the stage for World War I by increasing French and German hostility."
(World Book, 7: 483-484)
"GAVRILO PRINCIP, (born July 25 . . . 1894, Obljaj, Bosnia—died April 28, 1918, Theresienstadt, Austria), South Slav nationalist who assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his consort, Sophie, Duchess von Hohenberg . . . at Sarajevo, Bosnia, on June 28, 1914. . . . In Yugoslavia—the South Slav state that he had envisioned—Princip came to be regarded as a national hero. Born into a Bosnian Serb peasant family, Princip was trained in terrorism by the Serbian secret society known as the Black Hand . . . . Wanting to destroy Austro-Hungarian rule in the Balkans and to unite the South Slav peoples into a federal nation, he believed that the first step must be the assassination of a member of the Habsburg imperial family or a high official of the government. Having learned that Francis Ferdinand, as inspector general of the imperial army, would pay an official visit to Sarajevo in June 1914, Princip, his associate Nedjelko Čabrinović, and four other revolutionaries awaited the archduke’s procession on June 28. Čabrinović threw a bomb that bounced off the archduke’s car and exploded beneath the next vehicle. A short time later, while driving to a hospital to visit an officer wounded by the bomb, Francis Ferdinand and Sophie were shot to death by Princip, who said he had aimed not at the duchess but at General Oskar Potiorek, military governor of Bosnia. Austria-Hungary held Serbia responsible and declared war July 28. After a trial in Sarajevo, Princip was sentenced (Oct. 28, 1914) to 20 years’ imprisonment, the maximum penalty allowed for a person under the age of 20 on the day of his crime. Probably tubercular before his imprisonment, Princip underwent amputation of an arm because of tuberculosis of the bone and died in a hospital near his prison."
(britannica.com)
"GRIGORY YEFIMOVICH RASPUTIN, (1872-1916) was the infamous 'holy man' whose ability to heal the Tsar and Tsarina's son Alexis led to his being adopted as a supreme mystic at court. . . . [A]t a young age . . . his actual name of Grigory Yefimovich Novykh was replaced with the surname 'Rasputin' - Russian for 'debauched one'. . . . Rasputin's influence continued into wartime. Alexandra sought his opinion on a variety of policy matters. Rasputin, generally ready to offer advice, occasionally offered advice on Russian military strategy . . . . Rasputin's presence, while generally damaging public perception of the Romanovs, nevertheless benefited the Tsar. Military calamities were often attributed by the Russian public to Rasputin's baleful influence: as such it therefore deflected direct criticism away from the Tsar himself. However, with the Tsar's decision to take personal command of his army from the front . . .[the Tzar was] thereafter directly associated with the fruits of his army's efforts . . . [and] domestic governance of political affairs [were] effectively left in the hands of the Tsarina and Rasputin. With Rasputin offering advice on the appointment (and dismissal) of public and church officials, . . . a group of nobles at court . . . determined to resolve the appalling damage inflicted by Rasputin upon the monarchy by arranging his murder. . . . On 29 December 1916 . . . Rasputin was shot |
Rasputin (center)
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"PRUSSIA: The area known as Prussia was inhabited in early times by West Slavic tribes, ancestors of the modern Poles, in the West, and Baltic tribes, closely related to Lithuanians, in the East. Sometime after the seventh century, the area was invaded and settled by pagan German tribes, later known as Prussians. . . . Prussia's power grew and in 1772, under King Friedrich II (Frederick the Great), consisted of the provinces of Brandenburg, Pomerania, Danzig, West Prussia and East Prussia (modern day East Germany, northern Poland, and a small portion of the Soviet Union). A major event in German history was the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, making Germany a world power. It was during this war that, in 1870, Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck orchestrated the unification of the German states. The German Empire was established under Prussian leadership with Bismarck as Chancellor. Wilhelm II, the last of the Hohenzollern dynasty, became Emperor of Germany (Kaiser) in 1888 and ruled until Germany's defeat in World War I."
(kolpack.com)
"RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR OF 1904-05: In the late Nineteenth Century, the expanding Russian and Japanese spheres of influence began to collide in Korea and Manchuria - the Russian occupation of Manchuria in 1900 led to war by February 1904. At the outset, the Russians were supremely confident, but it was the far better prepared Japanese who won victory after victory in a series of immense land and naval battles. Both nations were exhausted by the summer of 1905, and peace was concluded in September in a conference hosted by Theodore Roosevelt. The war was a disaster for Russia. The humiliating defeats weakened the Czar's authority and set off a revolution that contributed to the eventual triumph of the Bolsheviks a dozen years later. Indirectly, the war’s effects on Japan were equally unfortunate, as its ambitions - especially in China - began to grow uncontrollably."
(cnparm.home.texas.net)
"RUSSO-SERBIAN AGREEMENT: After the Russo-Turkish war of 1877 – 1878, Serbia and Bulgaria gained independence from Turkey. “Both became Russian allies. The original Russian alliances with Serbia and with Bulgaria were based upon ties of mutual national interests, Slavic ethnic identity, and Orthodox religious tradition. . . . [T]he Russian alliance with Serbia continued right up until 1948. . . .”
(Bacevich and Cohen 89)
"SCHLIEFFEN PLAN, Plan of attack used by the German armies at the outbreak of World War I. It was named after its developer, Count Alfred von Schlieffen (1833–1913), former chief of the German general staff. To meet the possibility of Germany’s facing a war against France in the west and Russia in the east, Schlieffen proposed that, instead of aiming the first strike against Russia, Germany should aim a rapid, decisive blow with a large force at France’s flank through Belgium, then sweep around and crush the French armies against a smaller German force in the south. The plan used at the beginning of World War I had been modified by Helmuth von Moltke, who reduced the size of the attacking army and was blamed for Germany’s failure to win a quick victory." |
Schlieffen Plan |
"SOPHIE, DUCHESS VON HOHENBERG. (1868-1914) . . . . Countess (Gräfin) Sophie Chotek von Chotkova und Wognin was born into a Czech family of the lesser nobility. She worked as a lady-in-waiting for Archduchess Isabella in Pressburg. . . . Franz Ferdinand had fallen deeply in love with Sophie and in 1899, decided that he wished to marry her. Hapsburg family law stipulated that Franz Ferdinand, as a Hapsburg, marry someone descended from the House of Hapsburg, or from one of the ruling dynasties of Europe, or specific other princely houses. . . . Only after Franz Ferdinand swore a morganatic oath, did Emperor Franz Joseph consent to their marriage on July 1, 1900. (This oath excluded Sophie from assuming her husband-to-be's royal title and excluded their future descendents from the line of succession.) . . . . Court protocol and strict etiquette rules meant that Sophie could not ride in the royal coach with her husband. At entrances to formal events, Sophie would have to wait until all of the higher ranking women had made their entrance before she could enter and rejoin her husband. . . . In June of 1914, Sophie traveled with her husband to Sarajevo. . . . While driving from City Hall to the hospital, to visit those injured in the bombing, another assassin (Gavrilo Princip) shot Franz Ferdinand in the neck and Sophie in the abdomen. She died less than an hour later from internal bleeding."
(wwi.lib.byu.edu)
TRIPLE ALLIANCE: "Germany was at the center of European foreign policy from 1870 until the outbreak of World War I. Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Germany's prime minister, formed a series of alliances to strengthen his country's security. He first made an ally of Austria-Hungary. In 1879, Germany and Austria-Hungary agreed to go to war if either country were attacked by Russia. Italy joined the agreement in 1882, and it became known as the Triple Alliance. The members of the Triple Alliance agreed to aid one another in the case of an attack by two or more countries." TRIPLE ENTENTE: "During the 1800's, Great Britain had followed a foreign policy that became known as 'splendid isolation.' But Germany's naval build-up made Britain feel the need for allies. The country therefore ended its isolation. In 1904, Britain and France settled their past disagreements over colonies and signed the Entente Cordiale (Friendly Agreement). Although the agreement contained no pledges of military support, the two countries began to discuss joint military plans. In 1907, Russia joined the Entente Cordiale, and it became known as the Triple Entente. The Triple Entente did not obligate its members to go to war as the Triple Alliance did. But the alliances left Europe divided into two opposing camps." (World Book, 21: 457) |
The Division of Europe in 19141914-1917
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