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How did World war one start?

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Question by lijah
Submitted on 3/5/2004
Related FAQ: [soc.history.war.world-war-ii] Frequently Asked Questions
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How did World war one start?


Answer by bob
Submitted on 3/16/2004
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dont konw thats why I asked

 

Answer by Twezz
Submitted on 3/17/2004
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I think it was because of the treaty of Versailles.  It caused a lot of conflict because the Germans didn't like the outcome, cos they were going to lose land and money.  That's what I've been taught recently anyway.

 

Answer by ashlee
Submitted on 3/18/2004
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because the duke and heir of Austria-Hungary was assassinated. this was blamed on the Slovaks of southern Austria-Hungary. Slovaks being originally from Russia meant Austria-Hungary suspected Russia had underlying power and wanted to overthrow Austria-Hungary via the Slovaks. this in turn meant Austria-Hungary tried to make Russia abide to a number or rules, when Russia objected AH declared war on them, France and Great Britain went to Russia's aid, Germany and Turkey went to Austria-Hungary's aid. the British-French-Russian Allie won and blamed Germany for the war(who knows why?) and drew up the Treaty of Versailles in which Germany were to follow. Hitler the come-leader was maddened by that which in turn was the cause of World War two. Russia changed sides after the first war. Phew. There!

 

Answer by beaver
Submitted on 3/21/2004
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cheese  brains

 

Answer by Peanut
Submitted on 3/24/2004
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hi! im lookin for why world war 1 started for my class assignment

 

Answer by Alissa
Submitted on 3/24/2004
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im lookin for when it started too for my class.

 

Answer by moo04
Submitted on 3/25/2004
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it started because of You! HA HA HA HA  

 

Answer by Danielle
Submitted on 3/25/2004
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because they had a penis in thier ear

 

Answer by Hannah
Submitted on 3/28/2004
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I would like to know How did these complex alliance systems play a part in the origins of World war one?

 

Answer by lila
Submitted on 3/28/2004
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riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhhttt

 

Answer by Debz Martin
Submitted on 3/29/2004
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it started because there had been rivalries building up between Germany and France, Germany and Britain and Austria-hungary and Russia.it started because Serbia wanted the salvs out of Austria hungary

 

Answer by charlie
Submitted on 3/31/2004
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your all gay!!1 hahahahahahahazha

 

Answer by Scotty
Submitted on 3/31/2004
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ARE ALL OF YOU GUYS REALLY NERDY

 

Answer by Boost
Submitted on 3/31/2004
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Francis Ferdenand, heir to the Austrian-Hungary throne, while traveling through Sarajevo, was assasinated by Gavrilo Prencip, on June 28 1914, who was in a 'gang' called the Black Hands. Although this didn't happen in Seribia the Austrian Hungarians held them acountable. Austrian foreign minister Lepold Berchtold sent an envoy on July 5 to Germany emperor William 2 to ask for his support. He was going on a cruise and told him go ahead he had full support of whatever he wanted to do. Austria- Hungary thought this ment war. Austria- Hungary gave Serbia an altimatum, Let us find people of this gang or war. This altimatum was inposible to accept. This angered Austria Hungary and they declared war n July 28 1914. both countries began to mobolize. News of this spred throughout Europe and the allies of the countriees also prepared for war. The central powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Ottoman empire. The Allied powers were Ireland, Great Britain France, Italy, Greece, Albania, Serbia, Romania, and Russia. Hows that explanation?

 

Answer by Boost
Submitted on 3/31/2004
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the reason the allies blamed it on Germany because after A-H declared war they said Garmany told them to

 

Answer by rique
Submitted on 3/31/2004
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The start of WWI was due to alliances and wars. Austria Hungary declared war on Serbia, causing a domino effect, with each countries allies backing them up, thus bringing much of Europe into the war, and later the US and some other countries from Africa and Asia, making it World War I.

 

Answer by al
Submitted on 4/1/2004
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On the 28th June, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie von Chotkova were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip. Several members of the Black Hand group in Sarajevo were arrested and interrogated by the Austrian authorities. The Austro-Hungariangovernment soon discovered that three men in the Serbian Army living in Belgrade had organised the plot. Emperor Franz Josef of Austro-Hungarian and his ally, Kaiser Wilhem II, of Germany, decided that Serbia had to be punished for this crime.

In the summer of 1914, Sir Edward Grey was the man responsible for Britain's foreign policy. Some historians have suggested that if Grey had made different decisions to those that he took during the summer of 1914, he could have helped stop the outbreak of the First World War.


 

Answer by GILLY
Submitted on 4/1/2004
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cos it did

 

Answer by Blair
Submitted on 4/1/2004
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I think i was a wrong left turn caused by one person.

 

Answer by Blair
Submitted on 4/2/2004
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I think it was a wrong left turn.
Corrected spelling mistake.
11:11

 

Answer by shadow of death
Submitted on 4/5/2004
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i belive and after alot of research the driver that was driving Franz Ferdinand and his wife and then made a wrong turn and that man sothing principe killed him  

 

Answer by Hp
Submitted on 4/5/2004
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eat my shorts

 

Answer by scally
Submitted on 4/8/2004
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what a load of wankers

 

Answer by meagan
Submitted on 4/8/2004
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you guys are all idiots!!! get an education please!

 

Answer by Hallan
Submitted on 4/12/2004
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i agree with Meagan you guys are retarded "get an education please"

 

Answer by hi
Submitted on 4/12/2004
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hi i think it is caused by people

 

Answer by ahr
Submitted on 4/12/2004
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it happened because of teh turtles, OMG TURTLEAWAY FOER LIEF

 

Answer by Beans
Submitted on 4/12/2004
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I think it was cuz of this guy who was gay

 

Answer by long dong silver
Submitted on 4/13/2004
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you are all a bunch of gay retards

 

Answer by lala
Submitted on 4/13/2004
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it started cuz a guy sucked  guyz pooder(small penis) n it exploded in hiz mouth so den they tried ta find wayz ta blow thingz up n they did so they radomly blew pplz pee peez off....oooo....watch out boyz hold ur pooderz

 

Answer by maria
Submitted on 4/13/2004
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ww1 started because of the ambush on Gavrilo Princip of Germany.after that war started all
over the world in Italy, Germany, U.S.A, Britan,and Japan and in many other places.

 

Answer by manny manor
Submitted on 4/17/2004
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it was a chain reaction starting with a murder to the throne of Austria-Hungraia so they proclaimed a war against serbia and then other stuff started to happen.Serbia killed that guy accidently

 

Answer by twiksie
Submitted on 4/18/2004
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i think it started becouse when franz was going through the place there were loads of people waiting for him to kill him then he died of shock

 

Answer by twiksie ,cokemusic
Submitted on 4/18/2004
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u are all stupid goodbye

 

Answer by dg
Submitted on 4/18/2004
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cos peps wanted 2 wipe ot al da sad inties out there

 

Answer by Tau
Submitted on 4/18/2004
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i hope you saw my answer dumbasses.

 

Answer by Smashleigh
Submitted on 4/18/2004
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because they were all jealous of GUY SEBASTIAN and SHANNON NOLL. and they wanted to kidnap them.

Broncos rock.

I Luv Guy

 

Answer by Hillbilly clatis
Submitted on 4/19/2004
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Gosh yall i came here because i wanned tao learn abou arrrrrchduuuke ferrrdinard an all yal face meltin sap suckers can talk about is this crap you make me siack

 

Answer by kelly
Submitted on 4/19/2004
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its because they ate the mushrooms. you should never eat the mushrooms.

 

Answer by blah blah
Submitted on 4/20/2004
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You are all a bunch of morfs.  stop quifen your pants and go to school and get an education.

 

Answer by adam roff(chubber)
Submitted on 4/20/2004
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  beacaus some dudes were angry

 

Answer by Box head
Submitted on 4/20/2004
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you all suck cox

 

Answer by babygirl
Submitted on 4/21/2004
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I think you all need to look at your anwsers again, cause you all have a bunch of crap on them. It's mostley lies

 

Answer by me
Submitted on 4/21/2004
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I started because someone shot some dude, and then that did somthing to start a war, and when all the allies got involved it was a world war.  

 

Answer by Alex
Submitted on 4/21/2004
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because some dude wanted have sex wtih another dude  so he kill him and had sex with him thats how it got start

 

Answer by Stef
Submitted on 4/21/2004
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How did world war one start

 

Answer by <Not Availible>
Submitted on 4/21/2004
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The ones that have posted disgusting answers, its obvious that you need to grow up, and get a serious edjucation, otherwise your going to stay loosers for the rest of your life. Thank you for the people who have actually bothered to help people in need.

 

Answer by helo
Submitted on 4/21/2004
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yo yo yo

 

Answer by liam
Submitted on 4/21/2004
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HELP ME IM TRYING TO FIND OUT HOW THAT WAR STARTED AND please immature people go 2 another site

 

Answer by POOP
Submitted on 4/21/2004
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BIG POOP FLYING DOWN FROM OUTER SPACE!!!!!

 

Answer by {Not Avilible}
Submitted on 4/26/2004
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On the 28th June, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie von Chotkova were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip. Several members of the Black Hand group in Sarajevo were arrested and interrogated by the Austrian authorities. The Austro-Hungarian government soon discovered that three men in the Serbian Army living in Belgrade had organised the plot. Emperor Franz Josef of Austro-Hungarian and his ally, Kaiser Wilhem II, of Germany, decided that Serbia had to be punished for this crime.


 

Answer by reena
Submitted on 4/26/2004
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Because of all that is said it does not answer this question and i really need it for school.

 

Answer by Xx easily amused oO
Submitted on 4/26/2004
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because Gavrilo Princip shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand & his wife. also, how the US got involved was because Germany kept sinking boats and then when they sunk the Lusitania Wilson "had had enough" and we joined. that IS the right answer, we are learning about that right now.
-Xx easily amused oO-

 

Answer by henry
Submitted on 4/27/2004
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When did World War 1 start???????????????

bye bye bye

 

Answer by Marlin Fitzgerald
Submitted on 4/27/2004
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Well i have come to the conclusion that when the cat was eaten by the dog it fell down the ladder and met Gordon the cupboard he was cool. and thats what i think happened, so ner Nicky ner ner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Answer by badmama
Submitted on 4/27/2004
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Because a man named Francis Ferdinand was assonated by a man called Gavrilo Princip. than people got made more people died the end

 

Answer by greg
Submitted on 4/27/2004
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good answers

 

Answer by izzy
Submitted on 4/27/2004
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because i'm smelly

 

Answer by Derek Jenkins
Submitted on 4/28/2004
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how many dwarfs are there in snow white is it 345 or not

 

Answer by Broughy
Submitted on 4/28/2004
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Moorhouse is gay

 

Answer by zoe
Submitted on 4/29/2004
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because britian declared war after germany invaded belgium

 

Answer by Tony Blair
Submitted on 5/1/2004
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im gay. i should loose my job and i cant make right decisions. i think we should all have a nuclear war and all die to get bk at bin laden! hahahahahahahahhahhahahaha i want me mom

 

Answer by N A
Submitted on 5/2/2004
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Really I think all of you people who have stated answers or what you think are answers should grow up and be more mature.The war started because the Germans wanted some of Poland's land and the English heard this so they said "If you attack Poland we will attack you"but the Germans decided to attack anyway and then the English attacked the Germans.

 

Answer by David LI
Submitted on 5/3/2004
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Because one of Britain's most important person got shot by Germany. So Britain  declared war with Germany.

 

Answer by me
Submitted on 5/3/2004
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being smart doesnt mean u r a nerd

 

Answer by sarah
Submitted on 5/3/2004
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I think this dude name Wade is the hottest guy in the world and thats why the world war started because they were all jelious.

 

Answer by boo
Submitted on 5/4/2004
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hey i want to know why world war one started

 

Answer by yufyit
Submitted on 5/6/2004
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because i'm ugly very ugly man i stink as well i never have a wash i also never brush my teeth

 

Answer by gregary
Submitted on 5/6/2004
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umm this is a question ?

      when did world war 1 start

 

Answer by emily
Submitted on 5/6/2004
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because i'm the hottest chic alive and every1 just wants 2 b like me but they kno they hav no chance, thats why...goodluck chicky dee's!!! luv the world and every1 will luv you (well works 4 me)

 

Answer by dudette katie!!
Submitted on 5/10/2004
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i reli need 2 know how world war 1 started but the hell with it!! n all them ppl hu r tellin the immature ppl 2 go 2 another website, u need 2 live a little n stop bein so borin........tel u wot, u go 2 another website....chickens rock this roof baby!! la la la la la!!........pointless dotts.....!

 

Answer by dudette katie!!
Submitted on 5/10/2004
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i reli need 2 know how world war 1 started but the hell with it!! n all them ppl hu r tellin the immature ppl 2 go 2 another website, u need 2 live a little n stop bein so borin........tel u wot, u go 2 another website....chickens rock this roof baby!! la la la la la!!........pointless dotts.....!

 

Answer by dudette katie!!
Submitted on 5/14/2004
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do u no wot i want to hear??????................................................................................................................................no nor do i!!!! lalalalala!!............pointless..... dotts!!!

 

Answer by matthew
Submitted on 5/15/2004
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i think the fisrt world war started cause of the people wanting land one person wants thier land the other side says no thats how they started and they probably got spyes to see wat the other country was doin and then the country that got the unwanted spyes and they found out they blamed another country and they blamed A whole lot of country's and the countrys who got blamed didn't like it and probably one of the country's they blamed was germany and boy people no how ignirint the germans are and they would of declaed war and it waould of started from the
                   the end

 

Answer by dudette katie!!
Submitted on 5/15/2004
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hi its me agen.............the pointless dotts!! i wana no hu matthew is?? cus if u read this u sound hot!!! if u wana no hu i am write bak on this site!!! mwah!

 

Answer by dudette katie!!
Submitted on 5/16/2004
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plz plz plz plz plz plz.............i wana no hu u r!!! dont b scared im not a freak!!lol!!

 

Answer by Ana
Submitted on 5/17/2004
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The stuff about Ferdinand was true, but the Poland/ Germany thing? Wasn't that WW2?

 

Answer by anisea
Submitted on 5/17/2004
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ok, there were 4 MAIN reasons:
Militarism
Alliances
Imperialsim
Nationalism

Each european country wanted power, more power than the other. Through alliances and other trigger poitns IE the balkans, the balance of peace was on teh fringe. when the arch duke was assignated, that was the spark that lite the war. allainces broght in other countries which escapaded into a total war. when germany declared war on russia, they also did on france b/c france  and russia were allies. Austria-hngary joined w/ germany b/c germany was poweerful and a-h was promised land if germany won. every country had an alterior motive. e-mail me at scndeabter@earthlink.net if you want to talk further

 

Answer by dabomb
Submitted on 5/19/2004
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was up mother @#%6!

 

Answer by hax ava rox
Submitted on 5/20/2004
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Electronic Resources:
Website Resources:
   Duffy, Michael. 2000. First World War. Original Material. 18 May 2004 <www.firstworldwar.com>.

Iavarone, Michael. "Trenches on the Web." 11 September 2001. World War 1. 18 May 2004 <www.worldwar1.com>.

2002. World War One. British Broadcasting Corporation. 18 May 2004 <www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwone/>.

"Timeline." World War One. Paralumun New Age Womens Village. 20 May 2004 <www.paralumun.com/warone.htm>.

Printed Resources:
   Book Resources:
Bourne, J.M. Who's Who in World War One. New York: Routledge, 2001.

Strachan, Hew. The First World War. Volume 1: To Arms ed. Oxford: Oxford, 2001.

Chickering, Roger. Imperial Germany and the Great War, 1914-1918. New York: Cambridge, 1998.

Herrmann, David. The Arming of Europe and the Making of the First World War. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996.

   Newspaper Resources:
Rosenberg, Howard. "'Great War': Long Ago but Not So Far Away." The Los Angeles Times 8 November 1996, 1.

Michaelson, Judith. "On the Front With PBS; 'The Great War' takes a more nuanced look at World War I, a story not just of combat and politics but of ordinary people who helped shape our century." The Los Angeles Times 10 November 1996, Home Edition ed.: 5.

   Magazine Resource:
   Brinkley, Alan. "For America, it truly was a great war." New York Times Magazine May 7 1995: 654.

 

Answer by ernest
Submitted on 5/20/2004
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We'll start with the facts and work back: it may make it all the easier to understand how World War One actually happened.  The events of July and early August 1914 are a classic case of "one thing led to another" - otherwise known as the treaty alliance system.

The explosive that was World War One had been long in the stockpiling; the spark was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.  (Click here to view film footage of Ferdinand arriving at Sarajevo's Town Hall on 28 June 1914.)

Ferdinand's death at the hands of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist secret society, set in train a mindlessly mechanical series of events that culminated in the world's first global war.

Austria-Hungary's Reaction

Austria-Hungary's reaction to the death of their heir (who was in any case not greatly beloved by the Emperor, Franz Josef, or his government) was three weeks in coming.  Arguing that the Serbian government was implicated in the machinations of the Black Hand (whether she was or not remains unclear, but it appears unlikely), the Austro-Hungarians opted to take the opportunity to stamp its authority upon the Serbians, crushing the nationalist movement there and cementing Austria-Hungary's influence in the Balkans.

It did so by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia which, in the extent of its demand that the assassins be brought to justice effectively nullified Serbia's sovereignty.  Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, was moved to comment that he had "never before seen one State address to another independent State a document of so formidable a character."

Austria-Hungary's expectation was that Serbia would reject the remarkably severe terms of the ultimatum, thereby giving her a pretext for launching a limited war against Serbia.

However, Serbia had long had Slavic ties with Russia, an altogether different proposition for Austria-Hungary.  Whilst not really expecting that Russia would be drawn into the dispute to any great extent other than through words of diplomatic protest, the Austro-Hungarian government sought assurances from her ally, Germany, that she would come to her aid should the unthinkable happen and Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary.

Germany readily agreed, even encouraged Austria-Hungary's warlike stance.  Quite why we'll come back to later.

One Thing Led to Another

So then, we have the following remarkable sequence of events that led inexorably to the 'Great War' - a name that had been touted even before the coming of the conflict.

Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with Serbia's response to her ultimatum (which in the event was almost entirely placatory: however her jibbing over a couple of minor clauses gave Austria-Hungary her sought-after cue) declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.


Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilisation of its vast army in her defence, a slow process that would take around six weeks to complete.


Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, viewed the Russian mobilisation as an act of war against Austria-Hungary, and after scant warning declared war on Russia on 1 August.


France, bound by treaty to Russia, responded by announcing war against Germany and, by extension, on Austria-Hungary on 3 August.  Germany promptly responded by invading neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the shortest possible route.


Britain, allied to France by a more loosely worded treaty which placed a "moral obligation" upon her to defend France, declared war against Germany on 4 August.  Her reason for entering the conflict lay in another direction: she was obligated to defend neutral Belgium by the terms of a 75-year old treaty.

With Germany's invasion of Belgium on 4 August, and the Belgian King's appeal to Britain for assistance, Britain committed herself to Belgium's defence later that day.  Like France, she was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary.


With Britain's entry into the war, her colonies and dominions abroad variously offered military and financial assistance, and included Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.


United States President Woodrow Wilson declared a U.S. policy of absolute neutrality, an official stance that would last until 1917 when Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare - which seriously threatened America's commercial shipping (which was in any event almost entirely directed towards the Allies led by Britain and France) - forced the U.S. to finally enter the war on 6 April 1917.


Japan, honouring a military agreement with Britain, declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914.  Two days later Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war on Japan.


Italy, although allied to both Germany and Austria-Hungary, was able to avoid entering the fray by citing a clause enabling it to evade its obligations to both.

In short, Italy was committed to defend Germany and Austria-Hungary only in the event of a 'defensive' war; arguing that their actions were 'offensive' she declared instead a policy of neutrality.  The following year, in May 1915, she finally joined the conflict by siding with the Allies against her two former allies.


Click here for more extensive information detailing who entered the war - and when.

The Tangle of Alliances

Such were the mechanics that brought the world's major nations into the war at one time or another.  It's clear from the summary above that the alliance system was as much at fault as anything in bringing about the scale of the conflict.

What was intended as a strictly limited war - a brief war - between accuser and accused, Austria-Hungary and Serbia, rapidly escalated into something that was beyond the expectations of even the most warlike ministers in Berlin (and certainly Vienna, which quickly became alarmed at spiralling events in late July and sought German reassurances).

It's possible to delve deeply into European history in the quest to unearth the roots of the various alliances that were at play in 1914.  However, for our purposes it serves to date the origins of the core alliances back to Bismarck's renowned intrigues, as he set about creating a unified Germany from the loose assembly of German confederated states in the 1860s.

Bismarck's Greater Germany

Bismarck, first Prime Minister of Prussia and then Chancellor of the German Empire (once he had assembled it), set about the construction of Germany through high politics judiciously assisted by war against Austria and France.

Appointed Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Prussia by Kaiser Wilhelm I in 1862, Bismarck was consumed with a desire to achieve the creation of a German Empire out of the collection of smaller German states largely led by Austria's influence (another German-speaking nation).

His first step was to oust Austria as the prime influence among these German states.  He achieved this by engineering war with Austria in 1866 over disputed territory in the duchy of Holstein (much against the wishes of his own Kaiser).

The resulting war lasted just seven weeks - hence its common title 'The Seven Weeks War' - and ended with the complete dominance of the supremely efficient Prussian military.

In a peace mediated by the French Emperor, Napoleon III, Bismarck extracted from Austria not only Schleswig and Holstein, but also Hanover, Hesse, Nassau and Frankfurt, creating the North German Federation.  As importantly, Bismarck had successfully displaced Austria in the spheres of influence over the many small German states.

Having assembled a united assembly in the north Bismarck determined to achieve the same in the south - and so unite all of the German states under the Prussian banner.

How to achieve this?  Bismarck resolved that war with the French, a common enemy, would attain his aims.

First, he needed to engineer a credible reason for war.  Thus, in 1870, Bismarck attempted to place a Hohenzollern prince on the throne in Spain.  Napoleon III, fearful of the prospect of theoretical war on two fronts - for the Hohenzollern prince was a relative of Kaiser Wilhelm I - objected.

Bismarck turned up the diplomatic heat by releasing, on 14 July 1870, a doctored version of a telegram ostensibly from the Kaiser to Bismarck himself, called the Ems Telegram.  The effect of the telegram was to simultaneously insult both France and Prussia over their inability to resolve the dispute over the Spanish throne.

Napoleon III, facing civil revolt at home over quite unrelated matters, and receiving encouraging noises from his military commanders, responded by declaring war against Prussia five days later, on 19 July 1870.

Once again, as was the case against Austria, the Prussian military machine demolished the French forces.  Napoleon III, who personally led his forces at the lost Battle of Sedan, surrendered and was deposed in the civil war that boiled over in France, resulting in the Third French Republic.

Meantime the Prussian forces laid siege to Paris between September 1870 and January 1871, starving the city into surrender.

The consequences of the war were numerous.  Aside from the usual territorial gains - France ceded both Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia and was forced to pay swingeing reparations (equivalent to around $1 billion today) - the southern German states agreed to an alliance with their northern counterparts, resulting in the creation of Bismarck's cherished German Empire.

Bismarck's Need for Alliances

Bismarck's creation of a unified Germany was of direct relevance to the outbreak of war some 43 years later, since it resulted in the assembly of the key alliances that later came into play.

For, having achieved his life's aim, Bismarck's expansionary plans were at an end.  He had secured what he wanted, and his chief desire now was to maintain its stability.  He therefore set about building European alliances aimed at protecting Germany from potentially threatening quarters.

He was acutely aware that the French were itching to revenge their defeat at the earliest opportunity - and the loss of Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia would prove to be a lasting sore.  Indeed, the French plan for war in 1914, Plan XVII, was largely based around the recapture of Alsace and Lorraine in the shortest possible time - with disastrous consequences.

Britain's Splendid Isolation

Bismarck did not initially fear an alliance between France and Britain, for the latter was at that time in the midst of a self-declared 1870s policy of "splendid isolation", choosing to stay above continental European politics.

If not Britain then, how about Russia and, conceivably, beaten foe Austria-Hungary?

The Three Emperors League & Dual Alliance

He began by negotiating, in 1873, the Three Emperors League, which tied Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia to each other's aid in time of war.  This however only lasted until Russia's withdrawal five years later in 1878, leaving Bismarck with a new Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary in 1879.

This latter treaty promised aid to each other in the event of an attack by Russia, or if Russia aided another power at war with either Germany or Austria-Hungary.  Should either nation be attacked by another power, e.g. France, they were to remain - at the very least - benevolently neutral.

This alliance, unlike others, endured until war in 1914.  It was this clause that Austria-Hungary invoked in calling Germany to her aid against Russian support for Serbia (who in turn was protected by treaty with Russia).

The Triple Alliance

Two years after Germany and Austria-Hungary concluded their agreement, Italy was brought into the fold with the signing of the Triple Alliance in 1881.  Under the provisions of this treaty, Germany and Austria-Hungary promised to assist Italy if she were attacked by France, and vice versa: Italy was bound to lend aid to Germany or Austria-Hungary if France declared war against either.

Additionally, should any signatory find itself at war with two powers (or more), the other two were to provide military assistance.  Finally, should any of the three determine to launch a 'preventative' war (a euphemism if ever there was one), the others would remain neutral.

One of the chief aims of the Triple Alliance was to prevent Italy from declaring war against Austria-Hungary, towards whom the Italians were in dispute over territorial matters.

A Secret Franco-Italian Alliance

In the event the Triple Alliance was essentially meaningless, for Italy subsequently negotiated a secret treaty with France, under which Italy would remain neutral should Germany attack France - which in the event transpired.

In 1914 Italy declared that Germany's war against France was an 'aggressive' one and so entitled Italy to claim neutrality.  A year later, in 1915, Italy did enter the First World War, as an ally of Britain, France and Russia.

Austria-Hungary signed an alliance with Romania in 1883, negotiated by Germany, although in the event Romania - after starting World War One as a neutral - eventually joined in with the Allies; as such Austria-Hungary's treaty with Romania was of no actual significance.

The Reinsurance Treaty

Potentially of greater importance - although it was allowed to lapse three years after its signature - Bismarck, in 1887, agreed to a so-called Reinsurance Treaty with Russia.

This document stated that both powers would remain neutral if either were involved in a war with a third (be it offensive or defensive).

However, should that third power transpire to be France, Russia would not be obliged to provide assistance to Germany (as was the case of Germany if Russia found itself at war with Austria-Hungary).

Bismarck's intention was to avoid the possibility of a two-front war against both France and Russia.

A decidedly tangled mesh of alliances; but the Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, allowed the Reinsurance Treaty to lapse in 1890 (the same year the new German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, brought about the dismissal of his veteran Chancellor, Bismarck).

Franco-Russian Agreements

The year after the Reinsurance Treaty lapsed Russia allied itself with France.  Both powers agreed to consult with the other should either find itself at war with any other nation, or if indeed the stability of Europe was threatened.

This rather loosely worded agreement was solidified in 1892 with the Franco-Russian Military Convention, aimed specifically at counteracting the potential threat posed by the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.

In short, should France or Russia be attacked by one of the Triple Alliance signatories - or even should a Triple Alliance power mobilise against either (where to mobilise meant simply placing a nation on a war footing preparatory to the declaration of hostilities), the other power would provide military assistance.

British Emergence From Splendid Isolation

Meanwhile, Britain was awaking to the emergence of Germany as a great European power - and a colonial power at that.  Kaiser Wilhelm's successor, Wilhelm II, proved far more ambitious in establishing "a place in the sun" for Germany.  With the effective dismissal of Bismarck the new Kaiser was determined to establish Germany as a great colonial power in the pacific and, most notably, in Africa.

Wilhelm, encouraged by naval minister Tirpitz, embarked upon a massive shipbuilding exercise intended to produce a naval fleet the equal of Britain's, unarguably by far and away the world's largest.

Britain, at that time the greatest power of all, took note.  In the early years of the twentieth century, in 1902, she agreed a military alliance with Japan, aimed squarely at limiting German colonial gains in the east.

She also responded by commissioning a build-up in her own naval strength, determined to outstrip Germany.  In this she succeeded, building in just 14 months - a record - the enormous Dreadnought battleship, completed in December 1906.  By the time war was declared in 1914 Germany could muster 29 battleships, Britain 49.

Despite her success in the naval race, Germany's ambitions succeeded at the very least in pulling Britain into the European alliance system - and, it has been argued, brought war that much closer.

Cordial Agreements: Britain, France - and Russia

Two years later Britain signed the Entente Cordiale with France.  This 1904 agreement finally resolved numerous leftover colonial squabbles.  More significantly, although it did not commit either to the other's military aid in time of war, it did offer closer diplomatic co-operation generally.

Three years on, in 1907, Russia formed what became known as the Triple Entente (which lasted until World War One) by signing an agreement with Britain, the Anglo-Russian Entente.

Together the two agreements formed the three-fold alliance that lasted and effectively bound each to the other right up till the outbreak of world war just seven years later.

Again, although the two Entente agreements were not militarily binding in any way, they did place a "moral obligation" upon the signatories to aid each other in time of war.

It was chiefly this moral obligation that drew Britain into the war in defence of France, although the British pretext was actually the terms of the largely forgotten 1839 Treaty of London that committed the British to defend Belgian neutrality (discarded by the Germans as "a scrap of paper" in 1914, when they asked Britain to ignore it).

In 1912 Britain and France did however conclude a military agreement, the Anglo-French Naval Convention, which promised British protection of France's coastline from German naval attack, and French defence of the Suez Canal.

Agreements Set, The Occasional Minor War...

Such were the alliances between the major continental players.  There were other, smaller alliances too - such as Russia's pledge to protect Serbia, and Britain's agreement to defend Belgian neutrality - and each served its part in drawing each nation into the coming great war.

In the interim however, there were a number of 'minor' conflicts that helped to stir emotions in the years immediately preceding 1914, and which gave certain nations more stake than others in entering the world war.

Russian War With Japan: Shock Japanese Victory

Ever since Russia declined Japan's offer in 1903 for each to recognise the other's interests in Manchuria and Korea, trouble was looming.

The Japanese launched a successful attack upon Russian warships in Korea, at Inchon, and in Port Arthur, China.  This was followed by a land invasion of both disputed territories of Korea and Manchuria in 1904.

Among other set-pieces, the Japanese astonished the western powers by destroying the entire Russian fleet at the Battle of Tsushima (27-28 May 1905) for the loss of two torpedo boats - a humiliating Russian defeat.

The U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt, mediated a peace agreement between Japan and Russia, one that resulted in material gains for Japan and with note being taken in Berlin of the fallacy of the myth of Russian "invincibility".

The scale of Russia's defeat in part contributed to the attempted Russian Revolution of 1905, and the battered and shaken Tsar, Nicholas II, was determined to restore Russian prestige (not least in the Romanov dynasty itself): and what better way to achieve this than through military conquest?

The Balkans, 1912: Italy Versus Turkey

Strife in the Balkans was nothing new.  In 1912 it continued with war between Italy and Turkey, over the latter's African possessions.  Turkey lost and was forced to hand over Libya, Rhodes and the Dodecanese Islands to the Italians.

The Balkans, 1912 (Part II): The First Balkan War

Turkey's troubles were not yet over.  Having concluded peace with the Italians it found itself engulfed in war with no fewer than four small nations over the possession of Balkan territories: Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria - and later Montenegro.

The intervention of the larger European powers brought about an end to this the First Balkan War of 1912-13.  Again Turkey lost out, shedding Crete and all of its European possessions.

The Balkans, 1913: The Second Balkan War

Later in the 1913, conflict erupted again in the Balkans, as Bulgaria, unsatisfied with its earlier spoils, fought with its recent allies in an attempt to control a greater part of Macedonia; and when the so-named "Young Turks" - Turkish army officers - denounced the earlier peace as unfair.

Between May and July 1913 Bulgaria's former allies beat back the new aggressor, Bulgaria, and Romania captured the Bulgarian capital Sofia in August.  Beaten and having surrendered on 10 August 1913, Bulgaria also lost Adrianople back to Turkey.

Troubled Peace in the Balkans

Despite the re-establishment of peace in the Balkans, nothing had really been settled and tensions remained high.  The numerous small nations that had found themselves under Turkish or Austro-Hungarian rule for many years stirred themselves in nationalistic fervour.

Yet while these Balkan nations sought their own individual voice and self-determination, they were nevertheless united in identifying themselves as pan-Slavic peoples, with Russia as their chief ally.

The latter was keen to encourage this belief in the Russian people as the Slav's natural protectors, for aside from a genuine emotional attachment, it was a means by which Russia could regain a degree of lost prestige.

Unsettled Empires

Come 1914, trouble was not restricted to the smaller nations outlined above.  The Austro-Hungarian empire was directly impacted by troubles in the Balkans and, under the ageing Emperor Franz Josef, was patently struggling to maintain coherence of the various diametrically opposed ethnic groups which fell under the Austro-Hungarian umbrella.

As such, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand by the Serbian nationalist secret society, the Black Hand, provided the Austro-Hungarian government with a golden opportunity to stamp its authority over the region.

Russia, ally of the Slavs - and therefore of Serbia - had been struggling to hold back full-scale revolution ever since the Japanese military disaster of 1905.  In 1914, while the Tsar himself was reluctant, his government saw war with Austria-Hungary as an opportunity to restore social order - which indeed it did, at least until the continuation of repeated Russian military setbacks, Rasputin's intrigue at court and food shortages combined to bring about the long-threatened total revolution (which, encouraged by Germany, brought about Russia's withdrawal from the war in 1917).

Then there is France.  Almost immediately following her defeat by Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, together with the humiliating annexation by the newly unified Germany of the coal-rich territories of Alsace and Lorraine, the French government and military alike were united in thirsting for revenge.

To this end the French devised a strategy for a vengeful war upon Germany, Plan XVII, whose chief aim was the defeat of Germany and the restoration of Alsace and Lorraine.  The plan was fatally flawed, and relied to an untenable extent upon the "élan" which was believed to form an integral part of the French army - an irresistible force that would sweep over its enemies.

Germany's Path to War

As for Germany, she was unsettled socially and militarily.  The 1912 Reichstag elections had resulted in the election of no fewer than 110 socialist deputies, making Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg's task in liaising between the Reichstag and the autocratic Wilhelm, not to mention the rigidly right-wing military high command, next to impossible.

Bethmann Hollweg, who became most despondent, came to believe that Germany's only hope of avoiding civil unrest sooner rather than later lay in war: preferably a short, sharp war, although he did not rule out a European-wide conflict if it resolved Germany's social and political woes.

This outlook on life fuelled his decision of 6 July 1914 - whilst the Austro-Hungarian government was weighing its options with regard to Serbia - to offer the former what has been commonly referred to as "a blank cheque"; that is, an unconditional guarantee of support for Austria-Hungary no matter what she decided.

Germany's military unsettlement arose in the sense that Kaiser Wilhelm II was finding himself largely frustrated in his desire to carve out a grand imperial role for Germany.  Whilst he desired "a place in the sun", he found that all of the bright areas had been already snapped up by the other colonial powers, leaving him only with a place in the shade.

Not that Wilhelm II was keen upon a grand war.  Rather, he failed to foresee the consequences of his military posturing, his determination to construct both land and naval forces the equivalent - and better - than those of Britain and France (with varying success).

However his government and his military commanders assuredly did anticipate what was to come.  A plan to take on both Russia and France, a war on two fronts, had long been expected and taken into account.

The so-called Schlieffen Plan, devised by former Army Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen, had been carefully crafted to deal with a two-front war scenario.  The plan, which very nearly succeeded, outlined a plan to conquer France, to knock her out of the war, on a 'Western Front', within five weeks - before, the Germans calculated, Russia could effectively mobilise for war on the 'Eastern Front' (which they estimated would take six weeks).

It is often speculated - and argued - that the plan would have succeeded but for the decision of the then-German Chief of Staff in 1914, Helmuth von Moltke, to authorise a critical deviation from the plan that, it is believed, stemmed from a lack of nerve, and crucially slowed the path towards Paris - with fatal consequences (and which ended in static trench warfare).

Still, the German plan took no real account of Britain's entry into the war.  The German government gave no credence to the possibility that Britain would ignore her own commercial interests (which were presumably best served by staying aloof from the conflict and maintaining her all-important commercial trading routes), and would instead uphold her ancient treaty of obligation to recover violated Belgian neutrality.

For a fuller explanation of the powers' war plans, and of their upshot, click here.

British Dithering

It is also suggested that Germany would have backed away from war had Britain declared her intentions sooner.  Believing that Britain would stay out of the coming conflict, and would limit herself to diplomatic protests - after all, Britain was under no strict military obligation to France - Germany, and Austria-Hungary, proceeded under the belief that war would be fought solely with France and Russia.

The British Government, and its Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Grey, attempted to mediate throughout July, reserving at all times its right to remain aloof from the dispute.  It was only as the war began that the British position solidified into support for, ostensibly, Belgium.

Hence the oft-levelled criticism that had Britain come out clearly on the side of Belgium and France earlier in July, war would have been avoided: Germany would have effectively instructed Austria-Hungary to settle with Serbia, especially given the latter's willingness to co-operate with Austria-Hungary.

Whether this would have transpired given the German war machine's determination for war is of course unknown.

A Family Affair

The First World War has sometimes been labelled, with reason, "a family affair".  This is derived from the reality that many of the European monarchies - many of which fell during the war (including those of Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary) - were inter-related.

The British monarch George V's predecessor, Edward VII, was the German Kaiser's uncle and, via his wife's sister, uncle of the Russian Tsar as well.  His niece, Alexandra, was the Tsar's wife.  Edward's daughter, Maud, was the Norwegian Queen, and his niece, Ena, Queen of Spain; Marie, a further niece, was to become Queen of Romania.

Despite these familial relations - nine Kings attended Edward's funeral - European politics was all about power and influence, of protection and encirclement.  Thus the tangled web of alliances which sprung up in the wake of the rise of the newly united German Empire in 1871.

Conclusion

This article has not by any means encompassed all of the suggested contributory factors that led inexorably to world war.

It has however attempted to pull together the main strands: Austro-Hungarian determination to impose its will upon the Balkans; a German desire for greater power and international influence, which sparked a naval arms race with Britain, who responded by building new and greater warships, the Dreadnought; a French desire for revenge against Germany following disastrous defeat in 1871; Russia's anxiety to restore some semblance of national prestige after almost a decade of civil strife and a battering at the hands of the Japanese military in 1905.

Having dealt with these topics, however briefly, feel free to further explore the First World War.com site to gain a wider perspective of what happened, when, and to whom.  The How It Began section is probably as good a place as any to start.  Click here to view a map of pre-war Europe.

 

Answer by dudette katie!!
Submitted on 5/22/2004
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my god u lot write loads!!!! well done m8s!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

i luv rob!......... but u dint wana no tht did ya!!

 

Answer by irsh dude
Submitted on 5/24/2004
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i think you are all nut cases and war is bad

 

Answer by irsh dude
Submitted on 5/24/2004
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i think you are all nut cases and war is bad

 

Answer by dudette katie!!
Submitted on 5/25/2004
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hey irish dude!!!!!?????? am i a nut case??
:( thts nasty!!! :S u make me cry :'(
o'well..............pointless dotts!!! hee hee hee hee hee hee hee heehee hee hee!!!!

i luv rob!!! xxxxxxxxx

 

Answer by dudette katie!!
Submitted on 5/26/2004
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Some day you’ll cry for me like I cried for you? Some day you’ll miss me like I missed you? Some day you’ll need me like I needed you? Some day you’ll love me, but I won’t love you!

I asked God for a flower, he gave me a bouquet. I asked God for a minute, he gave me a day. I asked God for true love, he gave me that too. I asked for an angel and he gave me you. But the bouquet is dying and the day gave is gone, the true love is fading, and my angel passed on.

I wish that you would change for me, and I wish you wouldn’t lie,
I wish you could of done things right, I wish you would of tried.
I wish that you were in love with me, like I was in love wit you.
I must be wishing on the wrong star, cause my wishes never cum true.

A million words would not bring you back,
I know, because I've tried.
Neither would a million tears,
I know, because I’ve Cried.

rob this is how u make me feel!!! :(

 

Answer by Ley
Submitted on 5/26/2004
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People on this site should respect other members, if you want to learn stay, if you don't, don't post!

 

Answer by Ley
Submitted on 5/26/2004
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Thankyou

 

Answer by Trix
Submitted on 6/6/2004
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Ur all crazy, I'd like to thank everyone who put in Posts worth reading they were very helpful :)

 

Answer by j girl
Submitted on 6/8/2004
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because they wanted to thanks a lot u have helped bye:)

 

Answer by papercut
Submitted on 6/10/2004
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hi luke!!!!!!!

 

Answer by ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Submitted on 6/14/2004
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............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

 

Answer by nigs
Submitted on 6/27/2004
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thanks

 

Answer by stacey-lee appleton
Submitted on 8/31/2004
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i would actually like to know when world war 1 started for my assignment.
but i think  its because people in this world are sometimes so selfish and cant get along and learn o live together in peace and harmony

 

Answer by lauren
Submitted on 9/7/2004
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y people on here av a go at people 4 knowing wot happened n calling them geeks n nerds! whats the point! thanks 2 every1 who is put summit bout world war 1 you have all help me so thanks! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Answer by Eleelle
Submitted on 9/11/2004
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I love Ben Scrandrett !!!!!!!!!

 

Answer by jamos
Submitted on 9/15/2004
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monkeys attacked

 

Answer by franz ferdinand
Submitted on 9/20/2004
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i was not assanated what the hell are you talking about?

 

Answer by princess julia
Submitted on 9/25/2004
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hi guys! wow, i was looking for something bout the war on the internet...duh lol, and i saw this site and i just wasted like 20 min reading it! thanx a lot...just joking, i luv u guys.  just a little comment to dudette katie ur funi lol, omg i cant believe that matthew guy didnt write u back, wut a meanie! u no whos hot? josh hartnett, does any one agree? omg he was in pearl harbour, a war movie! so technically my little comment about him is related to this site, so serious ppl dont get mad at me! ok g2g, but i actually do know how the war started, like seriosly, but its rlly long to write so mabye later.  luv yas! xoxo

 

Answer by Ellie
Submitted on 10/3/2004
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wow my comment on a websight! dont really know how it started, something to do with franz being shot, but that it wasnt really any one countries fault, anyway im enjoying these comments so if u dont like them well you dont have to  read them

 

Answer by rayman
Submitted on 11/1/2004
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all of you are gay

 

Answer by steph
Submitted on 11/3/2004
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hiaaaaaaaaaaaa nerdy peeps i nly came on ere 4 a scwl assessment thingy!!!!!!!!

 

Answer by wolves rox
Submitted on 11/7/2004
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I was just wondering, what happened after nationalism swept through Europe??

 

Answer by me
Submitted on 11/9/2004
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The snowball effect, the alliance systems( the triple alliance and the triple entente)the assasination of archduke ferdinand, the power struggle between Germany and Britain and a couple other reasons

 

Answer by G-baby
Submitted on 11/9/2004
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i am in class right now and i need to know why it started what happened and how it ended

 

Answer by DUDE
Submitted on 11/9/2004
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cuz there lesbians like me on the planet. HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHa
AHHHHHHHHHHH
i fellin GOOODD


 

Answer by Illuminatus
Submitted on 11/14/2004
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Because its never enough...
WW3 has begun and we must now serve to the waistlands of insanity at the front!
Who cares about WW1.
Mankind is so far into death...

 

Answer by GRACIE
Submitted on 11/15/2004
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BECAUSE THEY SUCKED EACH OTHERS KNOBS !!!!!

 

Answer by cortney albritton
Submitted on 11/16/2004
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aaaaahhhh omg ur cock is to big

 

Answer by cat
Submitted on 11/22/2004
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why did world war 1 start and who was on who's side

 

Answer by SASSY
Submitted on 11/24/2004
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IT STARTED WHEN FRANZ FERDINAND WAS ASSINATED AND AUSTRIAHUNGARY SATARTED THE WAR

 

Answer by crap
Submitted on 12/1/2004
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you all talk a load of crap and people on this making up answers you are all attention seekers ha ha ha ha ha ha suk cok

 

Answer by tupac
Submitted on 12/8/2004
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world war 1 started because my butt had fungus

 

Answer by AssholePenis
Submitted on 1/6/2005
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They are all peebrains and have crappy thinking. U GUYS ARE ALL NERDY AND GAY!

 

Answer by killer man
Submitted on 1/9/2005
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moo

 

Answer by blair
Submitted on 1/9/2005
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i duno, thts y im on here

 

Answer by doesn'tmatter
Submitted on 1/10/2005
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All I have to say, is that I came here for some serious information about WW1 that I need to understand for my report, and there are so many people on here that are just mouthing off about absolutely nothing, and a lot of it, that I can't even find anyone who actually posted reasonable responses. A tip to you all out there who just come here to use this as a chat room: find yourselves a lifecause right now all you are is a group of annoying specks.

 

Answer by GlitterBug2005
Submitted on 1/13/2005
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Firstly WW1 began with the assasination of Franz Ferdinand. Austia-Hungary blamed the Serbs. The Russians backed the serbs and the germans backed the austro-hungarians and so on untill all the powers in europe had taken sides and war was underway/

WW2 Was when germany invaded Poland and britain said "OI Hitler NOOOO!". Want more detail, look at ernest (if u can be arsed reading all that guff) Or PAY ATTENTION IN CLASS! read a book, ask a teacher, bully the clebver kid that sits in front of u USE UR INITATIVE!!!

By the way tp all the people who were having a laugh nice one! You can only be to;d the correct ansewer so many times anyway

To all those who moaned have a word wi yourself!! No wonder you a gimp get a personality ur still young act t!!!

 

Answer by becci- boo
Submitted on 1/17/2005
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cheese rules!!
it will take over the world n squash all non worshippers!!

does ne 1 else think danny frm mc fly iz seriously hot?????????? :P

 

Answer by Scottydancer
Submitted on 1/18/2005
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i think that you should respect others opinions.  they didnt submit there answers just to have them slaged by dumb arses!!!
lern to grow up will you!!!!
thank you to all the people who have wrote in. its been a great help

 

Answer by Scottydancer
Submitted on 1/18/2005
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i think that you should respect others opinions.  they didnt submit there answers just to have them slaged by dumb arses!!!
lern to grow up will you!!!!
thank you to all the people who have wrote in. its been a great help

 

Answer by not
Submitted on 1/18/2005
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It happen with guns.

 

Answer by kip
Submitted on 1/18/2005
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it happen with guns.

 

Answer by RASCISM SUCK MY COCK.... that was pointless
Submitted on 1/19/2005
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it was the same thing as world war 2 economic, financial,power and land wants or just Militarism Alliances Imperialism
Nationalism problems.. idiots of war .People were starting to get retarded wanting more land so they became the ring leaders dun dun duunn. See mines short but excelanté. and i have an education so screw you megan...and that other guy hallen i think  

 

Answer by Rachael Bonney
Submitted on 1/23/2005
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i love Daniel Chadwick for Eva

 

Answer by Good Charlotte lover
Submitted on 1/23/2005
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hi peeps, sup :)

 

Answer by j
Submitted on 1/31/2005
Rating: Not yet rated Rate this answer: Vote
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  


























































































































































































































 

Answer by Me
Submitted on 2/10/2005
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I think that world war 1 started because the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assasinated. Not the most detailed account i know but anyway.

Oh yea, can i just say that you people who are writing sad stuff need to seriously grow up and start thinking about their education and stop waisting other peoples time.

And it has actually helped me with what i needed to find out.  

So there!!!

 

Answer by jack germany /albeano=NAZI
Submitted on 2/12/2005
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coz dis bloke shot sum bloke and other people were angry...

 

Answer by Jason
Submitted on 2/14/2005
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      One thing what is wrong with you people.I mean some of those answers are right but the rest are just plain stupid.

 

Answer by Jason
Submitted on 2/15/2005
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   Now what is up with most of those answers you stupid mother */%"!/s

 

Answer by Muffy
Submitted on 2/16/2005
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whats up

 

Answer by PRINCESS
Submitted on 2/21/2005
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IT STARTED BY AH DUKE BEIN ASSASINATED AND THEY DIDN'T LIKE IT

 

Answer by Cait
Submitted on 2/22/2005
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Why is this on here as if anyone worth listening to would answer...

 

Answer by shorty
Submitted on 2/24/2005
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How in the world did WWI start??

 

Answer by Shorty
Submitted on 2/24/2005
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Where was WW1 held????? PLEASE ANSWER THIS ASAP!!

 

Answer by totti_1071
Submitted on 2/25/2005
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i want 2 wat was goin on in ww1 and none of these crap websites will give me any answers.

 

Answer by matrix
Submitted on 2/28/2005
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it all started when the black hand gang killed archduke franz ferdinand. u dumb people

 

Answer by Global Warming
Submitted on 2/28/2005
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Assholes

 

Answer by jelly
Submitted on 2/28/2005
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Ernest dat was so helpful. fanks.Dudette Katie u r wierd!

 

Answer by bob
Submitted on 3/7/2005
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u people are retarded, if someones goes into the country next to and kills everyone u kill them back so u dont die

 

Answer by Alicia
Submitted on 3/9/2005
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Because i am a hunk of love

 

Answer by bam
Submitted on 3/9/2005
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the reason the war started is cuz all the people found out ur moms had you and they thought u were so damn ugly they were going to fight ur country to kill u cuz ur country thought u were the cutest little thing but in reality u were uglyer than a donkey's ass.
no im kidding the real reason is is cuz duke and heir of austria-hungary was assassinated.   (everyone asks me y im so different but the real question is why are U so different?)(take my saying and ill shoot ur ass)
   I LOVE ROCK
                  I MISS U KORN AND BLINK-182!

 

Answer by .........................
Submitted on 3/14/2005
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UR A BUNCH OF GAY WANKERS.

 

Answer by Chillie
Submitted on 3/15/2005
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someone tell me how ww11 started

 

Answer by Charlie
Submitted on 3/29/2005
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I had read All of your answer and you have a great answers but it is not really on the topic you know so please try to answer on the topic and some of you just copy from the Internet and it so many but i had read all and it is so many and it is not much information from the world war one.
And some just idiots , swearing saying a bad language ,all of this is not a good idea to try like so.
People ask you for help because they have an assignment to complete and you just do that? One day you will have as assignment from school to do and a lot of people doing this to you how did you feel? I wish you are gonna say I feel great and happy to have an detention.
The last thing i would like to say is to thank all of you that try really hard for all of this information. and good luck and i hope people who is swearing and saying a bad language change them mind to try hard to get all the information and to win this game.   good luck...  Charlie

 

Answer by BOB
Submitted on 4/4/2005
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This site BLOWS. IT SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS!

 

Answer by ??!!@xxX
Submitted on 4/9/2005
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hey ppl thanx 4 the help i feel like a nerd tho lol
      lovin kaan nd james frm hertswood

 

Answer by Alex
Submitted on 4/10/2005
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Because the Rasmus suck and always will do...  you've gotta respect my answer okay!?!

 

Answer by howcares
Submitted on 4/12/2005
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f u all

 

Answer by Aumi
Submitted on 4/16/2005
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rate this GREAT
WW1 started cuz my penis goes around jupiter 1000000000000000000000000000000000 times!

 

Answer by UnKnOwN
Submitted on 4/18/2005
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wtf is every1 on about vote 4 me if u lyk the OC
THE OC ROX!!!! lol l8rz

 

Answer by falko
Submitted on 4/19/2005
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Well i think they were all bored so the bacon heads had war my granny owned in the war muwahahah

 

Answer by hey man
Submitted on 4/20/2005
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uuuuuuuuuuuu mpthoe

 

Answer by GULL
Submitted on 4/21/2005
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FUK LEBS FUKIN GET OUT OF OUR COUNTRY

GO KNIGHTS

 

Answer by bec l
Submitted on 4/24/2005
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becuse of the poltics

 

Answer by me
Submitted on 4/25/2005
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no not me u!

 

Answer by Mariam
Submitted on 4/25/2005
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Our faults brought us together, while our perfections drove us apart

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.

You’ll never see the stars if you are always looking down

Our eyes are placed in front because it is more important to look ahead than to look back

Don’t worry about knowing people, make yourself worth knowing

To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart

Nothing is said that has not been said before

You try to give away what you want yourself.

My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?

All love that has not friendship for its base is like a mansion built upon sand.

Passion makes the world go round. Love just makes it a safer place

I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get.

As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live

When a thing has been said and well, have no scruple. Take it and copy it

Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well

Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Observe your enemies, for they first find out your faults

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names

If you think you can win, you can win.

Faith is necessary to victory

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens

Believe one who has proved it. Believe an expert.

There is no greater joy or greater reward than to make a fundamental difference in someone's life.

Love isn't a decision. It's a feeling. If we could decide who we loved, it would be much simpler, but much less magical.

The first duty of love is to listen

I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there

Memory feeds imagination.

The past cannot be changed, the future is still in your power

Don't let today's disappointments cast a shadow on tomorrow's dreams

Somewhere there's someone who dreams of your smile,
and finds in your presence that life is worth while.

So when you are lonely, remember its true
Somebody somewhere is thinking of you.

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them

A lie told often enough becomes the truth

A person who doesn't trust himself can never truly trust anyone else.

When you really trust someone, you have to be okay with not understanding some things.

To love deeply in one direction makes us more loving in all others.
   

 

Answer by Nandita
Submitted on 4/26/2005
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hey!!!!! how am i supposed to know that..................... !!!!!!! hun........... don't you think i m right.... watsay..... man....!!!!!!!

 

Answer by me
Submitted on 4/27/2005
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ok, why do u ppl who just ryt pointless stuff bother? deres no point and its wastin ur time and mine, go 2 a chat room if u wanna talk bout sumfin interestin

 

Answer by Shoni
Submitted on 4/27/2005
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Hi, I'd also like to know something about WW1 but not how it started. When did it start and end?

 

Answer by ur dad
Submitted on 4/27/2005
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Ur all gays

 

Answer by Fag
Submitted on 4/27/2005
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IT ALL STARTED BECAUSE OF YOU GAY AMERICANS...FRICKEN REJECTS

 

Answer by Abigail
Submitted on 4/28/2005
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Whoever wrote that world war I started because of treat Versailles, needs to listen! that was the cause of World War II. gosh.. now i don't feel so stupid. ahahah

 

Answer by Big T
Submitted on 5/3/2005
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becausebig puss

 

Answer by bla bla bla.
Submitted on 5/5/2005
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THIS IS 4 ALL THE BLONDIES 2 FIGURE OUT

A TREE FELL IN THE FOREST , A MAN DIDN'T HEAR IT . HE'S DEAD NOW

 

Answer by Billybob
Submitted on 5/5/2005
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Reapeat after me! This land is made of Love and Peace! WoOT! Love and Peace!

 

Answer by snoop luva
Submitted on 5/5/2005
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what is the date for world war one

 

Answer by kaleigh
Submitted on 5/10/2005
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dudette kati u need to get a life and stop getting dates off of this cite ...LOSER!!!

 

Answer by you
Submitted on 5/13/2005
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the trety of vesailles didnt start it u twat that how it endeand caused hyperinflation in germany because they was printing off money to pay reparations

 

Answer by munchin
Submitted on 5/28/2005
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St Pats Rock ........... luv ya guys ...oh nd this site iz the maddest it helped me pass mi test .  Special thatx to ernest cuz u seriously helped me ...xoxox

 

Answer by me
Submitted on 6/1/2005
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look how many words ernest has put !!!

              (S.W.A.T)

 

Answer by sheepy
Submitted on 6/4/2005
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i don't know i arsked the question

 

Answer by cali
Submitted on 6/7/2005
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i think they are gay

 

Answer by redskatz
Submitted on 6/11/2005
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the whole thing about the grand duke is true but it was just the spark needed to start the already prepared fire, england didnt like germany'slarge navy and all countries a had a very strong nationalism atitude and wanted to expand their borders. it was inevitable, like boys fighting to see who is the stronger one. this was just the excuse they were looking for, think of all the lives lost because everyone wanted to be top dog.

 

Answer by Hitler from the dead
Submitted on 6/13/2005
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The war started when Hitler saw ya manky mum but britain thought she escaped from the london zoo. and coz they both disagreed they made sexual war between one another!

 

Answer by Anish Chavda
Submitted on 6/15/2005
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It started because of the two Murders in Sarajevo Ferdinand and his wife. Germans invaded Belgium then they helped and encouraged Austria-Hungary in Murdering Ferdinand and her wife. And German thinked they were strong enough so they started knocking every one out except Austria-Hungary and Italy (Triple alliance) so that why WW1 Started

 

Answer by trippy_princess_13
Submitted on 6/20/2005
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I would just like to ask why the f*** some of you people are even on this site?!?!?!?

I actually needed to know why ww1 started but had to waste so much time scanning through stupid immature responses.

Do you get so bored with your life that you need to waste other peoples time?

Seriously, get over your self and get a life.

In response to the question, WW1 stated because of a chain of event in Europe.

*Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia,
*Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilisation of its vast army in her defence
*Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, viewed the Russian mobilisation as an act of war against Austria-Hungary they declared war on Russia
*France, bound by treaty to Russia, found itself at war against Germany and, by extension, on Austria-Hungary
*Britain, (allied to France which placed them under a "moral obligation")declared war against Germany
* The Belgian King appealed to Britain for assistance
*Like France, Britan was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary.
*Britain then brought it's colonies to war Australia,  Canada, India, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.
*Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare forced the U.S. to finally enter the war on 6 April 1917.
*Japan, honouring a military agreement with Britain, declared war on Germany
*Two days later Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war on Japan.
*Italy, although allied to both Germany and Austria-Hungary was committed to defend Germany and Austria-Hungary only in the event of a 'defensive' war she finally joined the conflict by siding with the Allies against her two former allies.

And thats the end of that chapter, check it out at http://www.firstworldwar.com/origins/causes.htm

 

Answer by puppy
Submitted on 6/21/2005
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world war 1 starterd in 1914 and ended in 1918. i dont know why it started though, and how it started if you know can you please answer. thank you.

 

Answer by puppy
Submitted on 6/21/2005
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world war 1 started in august 1914 n ended in 1918. i dunno y n how it started if u noe pls tell me............

 

Answer by X~x babe x~X
Submitted on 7/11/2005
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it started because the assassination of Franz Ferdinand heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne!

 

Answer by X~x babe x~X
Submitted on 7/11/2005
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it started because the assassination of Franz ferdinand heir to the austro-Hungarian throne!

 

Answer by WeiQi
Submitted on 7/17/2005
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its was united states who declared war on germany first, before other countries were dragged in. then it became WWI

 

Answer by Ashiqa
Submitted on 7/21/2005
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The ones that have posted disgusting answers, it’s obvious that you need to grow up, and get a serious education; otherwise you’re going to stay losers for the rest of your life. Thank you for the people who have actually bothered to help people in need. Really I think all of you people who have stated answers or what you think are answers should grow up and be more mature. The war started because the Germans wanted some of Poland's land and the English heard this so they said "If you attack Poland we will attack you” but the Germans decided to attack anyway and then the English attacked the Germans.

This is gonna be long so yeah............................

The events of July and early August 1914 are a classic case of "one thing led to another" - otherwise known as the treaty alliance system.

The explosive that was World War one had been long in the stockpiling; the spark was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.  (Click here to view film footage of Ferdinand arriving at Sarajevo's Town Hall on 28 June 1914.)

Ferdinand's death at the hands of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist secret society, set in train a mindlessly mechanical series of events that culminated in the world's first global war.

Austria-Hungary's Reaction

Austria-Hungary's reaction to the death of their heir (who was in any case not greatly beloved by the Emperor, Franz Josef, or his government) was three weeks in coming.  Arguing that the Serbian government was implicated in the machinations of the Black Hand (whether she was or not remains unclear, but it appears unlikely), the Austro-Hungarians opted to take the opportunity to stamp its authority upon the Serbians, crushing the nationalist movement there and cementing Austria-Hungary's influence in the Balkans.

It did so by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia which, in the extent of its demand that the assassins be brought to justice effectively nullified Serbia's sovereignty.  Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, was moved to comment that he had "never before seen one State address to another independent State a document of so formidable a character."

Austria-Hungary's expectation was that Serbia would reject the remarkably severe terms of the ultimatum, thereby giving her a pretext for launching a limited war against Serbia.

However, Serbia had long had Slavic ties with Russia, an altogether different proposition for Austria-Hungary.  Whilst not really expecting that Russia would be drawn into the dispute to any great extent other than through words of diplomatic protest, the Austro-Hungarian government sought assurances from her ally, Germany, that she would come to her aid should the unthinkable happen and Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary.

Germany readily agreed, even encouraged Austria-Hungary's warlike stance.  Quite why we'll come back to later.

One Thing Led to another

so then, we have the following remarkable sequence of events that led inexorably to the 'Great War' - a name that had been touted even before the coming of the conflict.

Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with Serbia's response to her ultimatum (which in the event was almost entirely placatory: however her jibbing over a couple of minor clauses gave Austria-Hungary her sought-after cue) declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.


Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilization of its vast army in her defense, a slow process that would take around six weeks to complete.


Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, viewed the Russian mobilization as an act of war against Austria-Hungary, and after scant w

 

Answer by ashiqa
Submitted on 7/21/2005
Rating: Not yet rated Rate this answer: Vote
People on this site should respect other members, if you want to learn stay, if you don't, don't post!

The ones that have posted disgusting answers, it’s obvious that you need to grow up, and get a serious education; otherwise you’re going to stay losers for the rest of your life. Thank you for the people who have actually bothered to help people in need.
Really I think all of you people who have stated answers or what you think are answers should grow up and be more mature. The war started because the Germans wanted some of Poland's land and the English heard this so they said "If you attack Poland we will attack you” but the Germans decided to attack anyway and then the English attacked the Germans.
Ok, there were 4 MAIN reasons:
Militarism
Alliances
Imperialism
Nationalism

Each European country wanted power, more power than the other. Through alliances and other trigger points IE the Balkans, the balance of peace was on the fringe. When the arch duke was assonated that was the spark that late the war. Alliances brought in other countries which escapade into a total war. When Germany declared war on Russia, they also did on France b/c France and Russia were allies. Austria-Hungary joined w/ Germany b/c Germany was powerful and a-h was Promised Land if Germany won. Every country had an ulterior motive. E-mail me at scndeabter@earthlink.net if you want to talk further

It may make it all the easier to understand how World War One actually happened.  The events of July and early August 1914 are a classic case of "one thing led to another" - otherwise known as the treaty alliance system.

The explosive that was World War one had been long in the stockpiling; the spark was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.  (Click here to view film footage of Ferdinand arriving at Sarajevo's Town Hall on 28 June 1914.)

Ferdinand's death at the hands of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist secret society, set in train a mindlessly mechanical series of events that culminated in the world's first global war.

Austria-Hungary's Reaction

Austria-Hungary's reaction to the death of their heir (who was in any case not greatly beloved by the Emperor, Franz Josef, or his government) was three weeks in coming.  Arguing that the Serbian government was implicated in the machinations of the Black Hand (whether she was or not remains unclear, but it appears unlikely), the Austro-Hungarians opted to take the opportunity to stamp its authority upon the Serbians, crushing the nationalist movement there and cementing Austria-Hungary's influence in the Balkans.

It did so by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia which, in the extent of its demand that the assassins be brought to justice effectively nullified Serbia's sovereignty.  Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, was moved to comment that he had "never before seen one State address to another independent State a document of so formidable a character."

Austria-Hungary's expectation was that Serbia would reject the remarkably severe terms of the ultimatum, thereby giving her a pretext for launching a limited war against Serbia.

However, Serbia had long had Slavic ties with Russia, an altogether different proposition for Austria-Hungary.  Whilst not really expecting that Russia would be drawn into the dispute to any great extent other than through words of diplomatic protest, the Austro-Hungarian government sought assurances from her ally, Germany, that she would come to her aid should the unthinkable happen and Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary.

Germany readily agreed, even encouraged Austria-Hungary's warlike stance.  Quite why we'll come back to later.

One Thing Led to another

so then, we have the following remarkable sequence of events that led inexorably to the 'Great War' - a name that had been touted even before the coming of the conflict.

Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with Serbia's response to her ultimatum (which in the event was almost entirely placatory: however her jibbing over a couple of minor clauses gave Austria-Hungary her sought-after cue) declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.


Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilization of its vast army in her defense, a slow process that would take around six weeks to complete.


Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, viewed the Russian mobilization as an act of war against Austria-Hungary, and after scant warning declared war on Russia on 1 August.


France, bound by treaty to Russia, responded by announcing war against Germany and, by extension, on Austria-Hungary on 3 August.  Germany promptly responded by invading neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the shortest possible route.


Britain allied to France by a more loosely worded treaty which placed a "moral obligation" upon her to defend France, declared war against Germany on 4 August.  Her reason for entering the conflict lay in another direction: she was obligated to defend neutral Belgium by the terms of a 75-year old treaty.

With Germany's invasion of Belgium on 4 August, and the Belgian King's appeal to Britain for assistance, Britain committed herself to Belgium's defense later that day.  Like France, she was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary.


With Britain's entry into the war, her colonies and dominions abroad variously offered military and financial assistance, and included Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.


United States President Woodrow Wilson declared a U.S. policy of absolute neutrality, an official stance that would last until 1917 when Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare - which seriously threatened America's commercial shipping (which was in any event almost entirely directed towards the Allies led by Britain and France) - forced the U.S. to finally enter the war on 6 April 1917.


Japan, honoring a military agreement with Britain, declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914.  Two days later Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war on Japan.


Italy, although allied to both Germany and Austria-Hungary, was able to avoid entering the fray by citing a clause enabling it to evade its obligations to both.

In short, Italy was committed to defend Germany and Austria-Hungary only in the event of a 'defensive' war; arguing that their actions were 'offensive' she declared instead a policy of neutrality.  The following year, in May 1915, she finally joined the conflict by siding with the Allies against her two former allies.


Click here for more extensive information detailing who entered the war - and when.

The Tangle of Alliances

Such was the mechanics that brought the world's major nations into the war at one time or another.  It's clear from the summary above that the alliance system was as much at fault as anything in bringing about the scale of the conflict.

What was intended as a strictly limited war - a brief war - between accuser and accused, Austria-Hungary and Serbia, rapidly escalated into something that was beyond the expectations of even the most warlike ministers in Berlin (and certainly Vienna, which quickly became alarmed at spiraling events in late July and sought German reassurances).

It's possible to delve deeply into European history in the quest to unearth the roots of the various alliances that were at play in 1914.  However, for our purposes it serves to date the origins of the core alliances back to Bismarck's renowned intrigues, as he set about creating a unified Germany from the loose assembly of German confederated states in the 1860s.

Bismarck's Greater Germany

Bismarck, first Prime Minister of Prussia and then Chancellor of the German Empire (once he had assembled it), set about the construction of Germany through high politics judiciously assisted by war against Austria and France.

Appointed Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Prussia by Kaiser Wilhelm I in 1862, Bismarck was consumed with a desire to achieve the creation of a German Empire out of the collection of smaller German states largely led by Austria's influence (another German-speaking nation).

His first step was to oust Austria as the prime influence among these German states.  He achieved this by engineering war with Austria in 1866 over disputed territory in the duchy of Holstein (much against the wishes of his own Kaiser).

The resulting war lasted just seven weeks - hence its common titles 'The Seven Weeks War' - and ended with the complete dominance of the supremely efficient Prussian military.

In a peace mediated by the French Emperor, Napoleon III, Bismarck extracted from Austria not only Schlesinger and Holstein, but also Hanover, Hess, Nassau and Frankfurt, creating the North German Federation.  As importantly, Bismarck had successfully displaced Austria in the spheres of influence over the many small German states.

Having assembled a united assembly in the north Bismarck determined to achieve the same in the south - and so unite all of the German states under the Prussian banner.

How to achieve this?  Bismarck resolved that war with the French, a common enemy, would attain his aims.

First, he needed to engineer a credible reason for war.  Thus, in 1870, Bismarck attempted to place a Hohenzollern prince on the throne in Spain.  Napoleon III, fearful of the prospect of theoretical war on two fronts - for the Hohenzollern prince was a relative of Kaiser Wilhelm I - objected.

Bismarck turned up the diplomatic heat by releasing, on 14 July 1870, a doctored version of a telegram ostensibly from the Kaiser to Bismarck himself, called the Elms Telegram.  The effect of the telegram was to simultaneously insult both France and Prussia over their inability to resolve the dispute over the Spanish throne.

Napoleon III, facing civil revolt at home over quite unrelated matters, and receiving encouraging noises from his military commanders, responded by declaring war against Prussia five days later, on 19 July 1870.

Once again, as was the case against Austria, the Prussian military machine demolished the French forces.  Napoleon III, who personally led his forces at the lost Battle of Sedan, surrendered and was deposed in the civil war that boiled over in France, resulting in the Third French Republic.

Meantime the Prussian forces laid siege to Paris between September 1870 and January 1871, starving the city into surrender.

The consequences of the war were numerous.  Aside from the usual territorial gains - France ceded both Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia and was forced to pay singeing reparations (equivalent to around $1 billion today) - the southern German states agreed to an alliance with their northern counterparts, resulting in the creation of Bismarck's cherished German Empire.

Bismarck's Need for Alliances

Bismarck's creation of a unified Germany was of direct relevance to the outbreak of war some 43 years later, since it resulted in the assembly of the key alliances that later came into play.

For, having achieved his life's aim, Bismarck's expansionary plans were at an end.  He had secured what he wanted, and his chief desire now was to maintain its stability.  He therefore set about building European alliances aimed at protecting Germany from potentially threatening quarters.

He was acutely aware that the French were itching to revenge their defeat at the earliest opportunity - and the loss of Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia would prove to be a lasting sore.  Indeed, the French plan for war in 1914, Plan XVII, was largely based around the recapture of Alsace and Lorraine in the shortest possible time - with disastrous consequences.

Britain's Splendid Isolation

Bismarck did not initially fear an alliance between France and Britain, for the latter was at that time in the midst of a self-declared 1870s policy of "splendid isolation", choosing to stay above continental European politics.

If not Britain then, how about Russia and, conceivably, beaten foe Austria-Hungary?

The Three Emperors League & Dual Alliance

He began by negotiating, in 1873, the Three Emperors League, which tied Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia to each other's aid in time of war.  This however only lasted until Russia's withdrawal five years later in 1878, leaving Bismarck with a new Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary in 1879.

This latter treaty promised aid to each other in the event of an attack by Russia, or if Russia aided another power at war with either Germany or Austria-Hungary.  Should either nation be attacked by another power, e.g. France, they were to remain - at the very least - benevolently neutral.

This alliance, unlike others, endured until war in 1914.  It was this clause that Austria-Hungary invoked in calling Germany to her aid against Russian support for Serbia (who in turn was protected by treaty with Russia).

The Triple Alliance

Two years after Germany and Austria-Hungary concluded their agreement; Italy was brought into the fold with the signing of the Triple Alliance in 1881.  Under the provisions of this treaty, Germany and Austria-Hungary promised to assist Italy if she were attacked by France, and vice versa: Italy was bound to lend aid to Germany or Austria-Hungary if France declared war against either.

Additionally, should any signatory find itself at war with two powers (or more), the other two were to provide military assistance.  Finally, should any of the three determine to launch a 'preventative' war (a euphemism if ever there was one), the others would remain neutral.

One of the chief aims of the Triple Alliance was to prevent Italy from declaring war against Austria-Hungary, towards whom the Italians were in dispute over territorial matters.

A Secret Franco-Italian Alliance

In the event the Triple Alliance was essentially meaningless, for Italy subsequently negotiated a secret treaty with France, under which Italy would remain neutral should Germany attack France - which in the event transpired.

In 1914 Italy declared that Germany's war against France was an 'aggressive' one and so entitled Italy to claim neutrality.  A year later, in 1915, Italy did enter the First World War, as an ally of Britain, France and Russia.

Austria-Hungary signed an alliance with Romania in 1883, negotiated by Germany, although in the event Romania - after starting World War One as a neutral - eventually joined in with the Allies; as such Austria-Hungary's treaty with Romania was of no actual significance.

The Reinsurance Treaty

Potentially of greater importance - although it was allowed to lapse three years after its signature - Bismarck, in 1887, agreed to a so-called Reinsurance Treaty with Russia.

This document stated that both powers would remain neutral if either were involved in a war with a third (be it offensive or defensive).

However, should that third power transpire to be France, Russia would not be obliged to provide assistance to Germany (as was the case of Germany if Russia found itself at war with Austria-Hungary).

Bismarck's intention was to avoid the possibility of a two-front war against both France and Russia.

A decidedly tangled mesh of alliances; but the Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, allowed the Reinsurance Treaty to lapse in 1890 (the same year the new German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, brought about the dismissal of his veteran Chancellor, Bismarck).

Franco-Russian Agreements

The year after the Reinsurance Treaty lapsed Russia allied itself with France.  Both powers agreed to consult with the other should either find itself at war with any other nation, or if indeed the stability of Europe was threatened.

This rather loosely worded agreement was solidified in 1892 with the Franco-Russian Military Convention, aimed specifically at counteracting the potential threat posed by the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.

In short, should France or Russia be attacked by one of the Triple Alliance signatories - or even should a Triple Alliance power mobilize against either (where to mobilize meant simply placing a nation on a war footing preparatory to the declaration of hostilities), the other power would provide military assistance.

British Emergence From Splendid Isolation

Meanwhile, Britain was awaking to the emergence of Germany as a great European power - and a colonial power at that.  Kaiser Wilhelm's successor, Wilhelm II, proved far more ambitious in establishing "a place in the sun" for Germany.  With the effective dismissal of Bismarck the new Kaiser was determined to establish Germany as a great colonial power in the pacific and, most notably, in Africa.

Wilhelm, encouraged by naval minister Tippets, embarked upon a massive shipbuilding exercise intended to produce a naval fleet the equal of Britain's, unarguably by far and away the world's largest.

Britain, at that time the greatest power of all, took note.  In the early years of the twentieth century, in 1902, she agreed a military alliance with Japan, aimed squarely at limiting German colonial gains in the east.

She also responded by commissioning a build-up in her own naval strength, determined to outstrip Germany.  In this she succeeded, building in just 14 months - a record - the enormous Dreadnought battleship, completed in December 1906.  By the time war was declared in 1914 Germany could muster 29 battleships, Britain 49.

Despite her success in the naval race, Germany's ambitions succeeded at the very least in pulling Britain into the European alliance system - and, it has been argued, brought war that much closer.

Cordial Agreements: Britain, France - and Russia

Two years later Britain signed the Entente Cordiale with France.  This 1904 agreement finally resolved numerous leftover colonial squabbles.  More significantly, although it did not commit either to the other's military aid in time of war, it did offer closer diplomatic co-operation generally.

Three years on, in 1907, Russia formed what became known as the Triple Entente (which lasted until World War One) by signing an agreement with Britain, the Anglo-Russian Entente.

Together the two agreements formed the three-fold alliance that lasted and effectively bound each to the other right up till the outbreak of world war just seven years later.

Again, although the two Entente agreements were not militarily binding in any way, they did place a "moral obligation" upon the signatories to aid each other in time of war.

It was chiefly this moral obligation that drew Britain into the war in defense of France, although the British pretext was actually the terms of the largely forgotten 1839 Treaty of London that committed the British to defend Belgian neutrality (discarded by the Germans as "a scrap of paper" in 1914, when they asked Britain to ignore it).

In 1912 Britain and France did however conclude a military agreement, the Anglo-French Naval Convention, which promised British protection of France's coastline from German naval attack, and French defense of the Suez Canal.

Agreements Set, the Occasional Minor War...

Such were the alliances between the major continental players.  There were other, smaller alliances too - such as Russia's pledge to protect Serbia, and Britain's agreement to defend Belgian neutrality - and each served its part in drawing each nation into the coming Great War.

In the interim however, there were a number of 'minor' conflicts that helped to stir emotions in the years immediately preceding 1914, and which gave certain nations more stake than others in entering the world war.

Russian War With Japan: Shock Japanese Victory

Ever since Russia declined Japan's offer in 1903 for each to recognize the other's interests in Manchuria and Korea, trouble was looming.

The Japanese launched a successful attack upon Russian warships in Korea, at Inch on, and in Port Arthur, China.  This was followed by a land invasion of both disputed territories of Korea and Manchuria in 1904.

Among other set-pieces, the Japanese astonished the western powers by destroying the entire Russian fleet at the Battle of Tsushima (27-28 May 1905) for the loss of two torpedo boats - a humiliating Russian defeat.

The U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt, mediated a peace agreement between Japan and Russia, one that resulted in material gains for Japan and with note being taken in Berlin of the fallacy of the myth of Russian "invincibility".

The scale of Russia's defeat in part contributed to the attempted Russian Revolution of 1905, and the battered and shaken Tsar, Nicholas II, was determined to restore Russian prestige (not least in the Romano dynasty itself): and what better way to achieve this than through military conquest?

The Balkans, 1912: Italy versus Turkey

Strife in the Balkans was nothing new.  In 1912 it continued with war between Italy and Turkey, over the latter's African possessions.  Turkey lost and was forced to hand over Libya, Rhodes and the Dodecanese Islands to the Italians.

The Balkans, 1912 (Part II): The First Balkan War

Turkey's troubles were not yet over.  Having concluded peace with the Italians it found itself engulfed in war with no fewer than four small nations over the possession of Balkan territories: Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria - and later Montenegro.

The intervention of the larger European powers brought about an end to this the First Balkan War of 1912-13.  Again Turkey lost out, shedding Crete and all of its European possessions.

The Balkans, 1913: The Second Balkan War

Later in the 1913, conflict erupted again in the Balkans, as Bulgaria, unsatisfied with its earlier spoils, fought with its recent allies in an attempt to control a greater part of Macedonia; and when the so-named "Young Turks" - Turkish army officers - denounced the earlier peace as unfair.

Between May and July 1913 Bulgaria's former allies beat back the new aggressor, Bulgaria, and Romania captured the Bulgarian capital Sofia in August.  Beaten and having surrendered on 10 August 1913, Bulgaria also lost Adriano back to Turkey.

Troubled Peace in the Balkans

Despite the re-establishment of peace in the Balkans, nothing had really been settled and tensions remained high.  The numerous small nations that had found themselves under Turkish or Austro-Hungarian rule for many years stirred themselves in nationalistic fervor.

Yet while these Balkan nations sought their own individual voice and self-determination, they were nevertheless united in identifying themselves as pan-Slavic peoples, with Russia as their chief ally.

The latter was keen to encourage this belief in the Russian people as the Slav's natural protectors, for aside from a genuine emotional attachment, it was a means by which Russia could regain a degree of lost prestige.

Unsettled Empires

Come 1914, trouble was not restricted to the smaller nations outlined above.  The Austro-Hungarian empire was directly impacted by troubles in the Balkans and, under the ageing Emperor Franz Josef, was patently struggling to maintain coherence of the various diametrically opposed ethnic groups which fell under the Austro-Hungarian umbrella.

As such, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand by the Serbian nationalist secret society, the Black Hand, provided the Austro-Hungarian government with a golden opportunity to stamp its authority over the region.

Russia, ally of the Slavs - and therefore of Serbia - had been struggling to hold back full-scale revolution ever since the Japanese military disaster of 1905.  In 1914, while the Tsar himself was reluctant, his government saw war with Austria-Hungary as an opportunity to restore social order - which indeed it did, at least until the continuation of repeated Russian military setbacks, Rasputin's intrigue at court and food shortages combined to bring about the long-threatened total revolution (which, encouraged by Germany, brought about Russia's withdrawal from the war in 1917).

Then there is France.  Almost immediately following her defeat by Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, together with the humiliating annexation by the newly unified Germany of the coal-rich territories of Alsace and Lorraine, the French government and military alike were united in thirsting for revenge.

To this end the French devised a strategy for a vengeful war upon Germany, Plan XVII, whose chief aim was the defeat of Germany and the restoration of Alsace and Lorraine.  The plan was fatally flawed, and relied to an untenable extent upon the "élan" which was believed to form an integral part of the French army - an irresistible force that would sweep over its enemies.

Germany's Path to War

as for Germany, she was unsettled socially and militarily.  The 1912 Reichstag elections had resulted in the election of no fewer than 110 socialist deputies, making Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg'stask in liaising between the Reichstag and the autocratic Wilhelm, not to mention the rigidly right-wing military high command, next to impossible.

Bachmann Holler, who became most despondent, came to believe that Germany's only hope of avoiding civil unrest sooner rather than later lay in war: preferably a short, sharp war, although he did not rule out a European-wide conflict if it resolved Germany's social and political woes.

This outlook on life fuelled his decision of 6 July 1914 - whilst the Austro-Hungarian government was weighing its options with regard to Serbia - to offer the former what has been commonly referred to as "a blank cherub"; that is, an unconditional guarantee of support for Austria-Hungary no matter what she decided.

Germany's military unsettlement arose in the sense that Kaiser Wilhelm II was finding himself largely frustrated in his desire to carve out a grand imperial role for Germany.  Whilst he desired "a place in the sun", he found that all of the bright areas had been already snapped up by the other colonial powers, leaving him only with a place in the shade.

Not that Wilhelm II was keen upon a grand war.  Rather, he failed to foresee the consequences of his military posturing, his determination to construct both land and naval forces the equivalent - and better - than those of Britain and France (with varying success).

However his government and his military commanders assuredly did anticipate what was to come.  A plan to take on both Russia and France, a war on two fronts, had long been expected and taken into account.

The so-called Stiffen Plan, devised by former Army Chief of Staff Alfred von Stiffen, had been carefully crafted to deal with a two-front war scenario.  The plan, which very nearly succeeded, outlined a plan to conquer France, to knock her out of the war, on a 'Western Front', within five weeks - before, the Germans calculated, Russia could effectively mobilize for war on the 'Eastern Front' (which they estimated would take six weeks).

It is often speculated - and argued - that the plan would have succeeded but for the decision of the then-German Chief of Staff in 1914, Helmut von Molten, to authorize a critical deviation from the plan that, it is believed, stemmed from a lack of nerve, and crucially slowed the path towards Paris - with fatal consequences (and which ended in static trench warfare).

Still, the German plan took no real account of Britain's entry into the war.  The German government gave no credence to the possibility that Britain would ignore her own commercial interests (which were presumably best served by staying aloof from the conflict and maintaining her all-important commercial trading routes), and would instead uphold her ancient treaty of obligation to recover violated Belgian neutrality.

For a fuller explanation of the powers' war plans, and of their upshot, click here.

British Dithering

it is also suggested that Germany would have backed away from war had Britain declared her intentions sooner.  Believing that Britain would stay out of the coming conflict, and would limit herself to diplomatic protests - after all, Britain was under no strict military obligation to France - Germany, and Austria-Hungary, proceeded under the belief that war would be fought solely with France and Russia.

The British Government, and its Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Grey, attempted to mediate throughout July, reserving at all times its right to remain aloof from the dispute.  It was only as the war began that the British position solidified into support for, ostensibly, Belgium.

Hence the oft-leveled criticism that had Britain come out clearly on the side of Belgium and France earlier in July, war would have been avoided: Germany would have effectively instructed Austria-Hungary to settle with Serbia, especially given the latter's willingness to co-operate with Austria-Hungary.

Whether this would have transpired given the German war machine's determination for war is of course unknown.

A Family Affair

the First World War has sometimes been labeled, with reason, "a family affair".  This is derived from the reality that many of the European monarchies - many of which fell during the war (including those of Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary) - were inter-related.

The British monarch George V's predecessor, Edward VII, was the German Kaiser's uncle and, via his wife's sister, uncle of the Russian Tsar as well.  His niece, Alexandra, was the Tsar'swife.  Edward's daughter, Maud, was the Norwegian Queen, and his niece, Edna, Queen of Spain; Marie, a further niece, was to become Queen of Romania.

Despite these familial relations - nine Kings attended Edward's funeral - European politics was all about power and influence, of protection and encirclement.  Thus the tangled web of alliances which sprung up in the wake of the rise of the newly united German Empire in 1871.

Conclusion

this article has not by any means encompassed all of the suggested contributory factors that led inexorably to world war.

It has however attempted to pull together the main strands: Austro-Hungarian determination to impose its will upon the Balkans; a German desire for greater power and international influence, which sparked a naval arms race with Britain, who responded by building new and greater warships, the Dreadnought; a French desire for revenge against Germany following disastrous defeat in 1871; Russia's anxiety to restore some semblance of national prestige after almost a decade of civil strife and a battering at the hands of the Japanese military in 1905.

Having dealt with these topics, however briefly, feel free to further explore the First World War.com site to gain a wider perspective of what happened, when, and to whom.  The How It Began section is probably as good a place as any to start.  Click here to view a map of pre-war Europe.

I hope you all go good on your assignments .by the what I’m ashiqa and I go to Granville south high AND I AM NOT A NERD.....AND I HATE ZUBAIR MOHAMMED FROM MY SCHOOL!!!!!!!!

 

Answer by somuch
Submitted on 7/27/2005
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ww1 started bcoz austria declared war on serbia . russia supported serbia. so england & france also supported it
   germany ,italy, hungary were to the side of austria
russia declared war on japan like this many countries participated in this war

        austria declared war on serbia on 28 july 1914 but all countries joined in august 1914

 

Answer by the real reason world war one started
Submitted on 8/5/2005
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The reason for the first world war was........the british invasion of
iraq.

Not the most popular theory you will ever hear I am sure, but lets
look at the facts.

Oil was discovered in what was the Ottoman empire in the early 1900s.
Ottoman rule over Iraq lasted till the Great War when British forces
invaded the country. One of the first British regiments sent out to
war was the Dorset regiment who were sent too........Basra. Why was this ?

http://www.regiments.org/wars/ww1/mesopotam.htm

Oil was behind the industrial revolution and thus fundamentally
important to Britain. Newman argues that German plans to complete a
railway from Baghdad to Berlin were the reason the first World War
started.

You will find a link about this here :-

http://www.answers.com/topic/baghdad-railway

After hearing all of this I thought Newmans argument kind of made a
little more sense than the assasination of the archduke ferdinand.

Since oil was discovered in Iraq we have pretty much occupied Iraq
ever since. The fact is that the politicians are not going to say that
we needed to invade Iraq as we need control of the oil, a foreign
policy that has been conistent for generations, instead we are told
that we are in Iraq for humanitarian reasons. Anyone who believes we
are allowing hundreds to die everyday for humanitarian reasons needs
their heads examined.

As for the US/UK pulling out of Iraq, well seeing as the US are
currently building twelve permanent army bases don't expect things to
change in the near future. While there is oil in those fields there
will be US and UK soldiers in Iraq.

By the way here is a link about the "enduring" US bases in Iraq :-

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0930/p17s02-cogn.html

 

Answer by custodian
Submitted on 8/10/2005
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some dude had to kill that man

 

Answer by shaye and mitchell
Submitted on 8/10/2005
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because it was fun to kill people!!!!!

 

Answer by emily, shaye
Submitted on 8/11/2005
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LONGREACH STATE HIGH ROCKS

 

Answer by Jasmin
Submitted on 9/2/2005
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at the end of all them i forgot what the question was please remind me

 

Answer by bloop
Submitted on 9/5/2005
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ernest you just copy pasted that from http://www.firstworldwar.com/origins/causes.htm


 

Answer by jonster
Submitted on 9/9/2005
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youre all a load of sad acts

 

Answer by piggy
Submitted on 9/10/2005
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Hail Hitler!

 

Answer by Bethan parlmer
Submitted on 9/15/2005
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I am gay

 

Answer by kiker
Submitted on 9/18/2005
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the war started because germany woz copyin england by buldin factors so haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa some of u r smelly hehe

 

Answer by kiker
Submitted on 9/18/2005
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the war started because germany woz copyin england by buldin factors so haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa some of u r smelly hehe

 

Answer by the king
Submitted on 9/20/2005
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the war started because everyone wanted to kik som1 ass and blah blah blah..............
u better rate somtin good to this or ill kik ur peoples asses

 

Answer by Amanda
Submitted on 9/20/2005
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I love world war one. i love adolf hitler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Answer by rectum
Submitted on 9/26/2005
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a guy died and then russia was mad at turkey or something like that and just for dudette katie heres some pointless dots...................................................................................................................................................................................

 

Answer by shadow72
Submitted on 9/28/2005
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u all suck my 10 inch cock

 

Answer by josh
Submitted on 9/28/2005
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i loved the big poop from the space answer.... very classy... and the pooder one wuz great... but the best one... wuz the really long one i copied and pasted and handed in for my history assignment :)

 

Answer by BILLYTHEDRAGON
Submitted on 9/29/2005
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You all are wrong.  wwI started because of idiots just like everything eles

 

Answer by dark shadow princess
Submitted on 10/8/2005
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it started because of you!!!!!!!!! well done 4 starting it

 

Answer by Boff noff
Submitted on 10/9/2005
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World war one started because Austria-hungary'sheir to the throne, Arch duke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip a nationalist man from Serbia. You see, if Franz Ferdinand got to the throne his plans would mean it would be more difficult for Serbia to get their independance back. Austria-Hungary were sure the Serbian goverment had something to do with this so they gave serbia and ultimatum because of its severe and harsh content Austria-Hungary was sure Serbia would not agree, which they did not, this gave Austria-Hungary a chance to stamp out all nationalist activity within Serbia. Austria-Hungary were put in a different position when Russia got invovled, Serbia and Russia had a long term alliance. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia then ordered mobilisation to help Serbia, this would take a couple of weeks to complete. Austria-Hungary needed to call for support from their allie Germany. Russia called for suport from France who came face to face with their long term rival Germany, Germany was bigger and stronger than ever which meant she could not fight her on her own, she called for help by Britain one of the most powerful and rich counties at the time. This is how it became a world war!!  

 

Answer by Mazi x <3
Submitted on 10/9/2005
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what the hell! would the gay people get a life! the whole point of this is to learn stuff! anyway..! *tut tut* How did "franz ferdinand's death trigger off world war 1? x

 

Answer by crazzzyman
Submitted on 10/9/2005
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because some Austina guy died! oh and because your all gay nob suckers muhuhuhahahahahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Answer by jew
Submitted on 10/10/2005
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i'ma jew to so i'dlike to say poo to the arche duke

 

Answer by stephi
Submitted on 10/11/2005
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what year did world war 1 start

 

Answer by frankie-kwockamoley
Submitted on 10/12/2005
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No u people i no they answer because I'm doing a history essay its because Austria blamed Serbia for the killing of Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie

 

Answer by Danha
Submitted on 10/14/2005
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HI DAN ITS ME BEHINF U IN SCHOOLL WALLALALLALALALA

 

Answer by duh
Submitted on 10/14/2005
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u know there wasnt just ONE single reason for the beginning of the first world war, it is monocausal. The assasination of franz ferdinand in 1914 was the TRIGGER of the war but was not the primary cause. Austria-Hungary could not declare war on Serbia because there was no evidence that the serbian government was involved. but the agadir crisis n naval race caused a lot of tension and distrust between britain n germany, the 10 point ultimatum issued by A-H to Serbia caused A-H to declare war on Serbia, Russian mobilization caused German distrust and resulteds in Germany declaring war on Russia, Germanys mobilization plan, the schlieffen plan, caused Britain to declare war on germany to "defend belgium" however this was just an excuse to go to war (casus belli) the real reason being if germany tuc belgium and defeated france, briains security wud be threatene´d n britain wud have a german threat directly accross the coast. the war was caused by the previous points but is NOT limited to these points. u idiots.

 

Answer by snert09990
Submitted on 10/19/2005
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We're still not learning anyhing here, pl\ease be more specific and tell us how world war started please!

 

Answer by bilberry o sullivan
Submitted on 10/20/2005
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ernest u r sad and obviously like men.......jack is camp!

 

Answer by catherine buttler
Submitted on 10/20/2005
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It started by the germans wanting welt poltic (world power)... they believed they were better than every1!!!

 

Answer by little robtyer
Submitted on 10/25/2005
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don't know

 

Answer by ????
Submitted on 10/29/2005
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It wasn't just because of the assasination there was a load of other stuff b4 the assasination was just like the trigger cause?

 

Answer by tom
Submitted on 10/31/2005
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i suk n i know it but these nothing i can do lol but i agree with LaLa but i helped...

 

Answer by Chode
Submitted on 11/5/2005
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Hey this site is wank it doesn't even tell u anything about world war 1

 

Answer by kokai
Submitted on 11/6/2005
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um daaaaa what was the qq again????!!

 

Answer by o.o
Submitted on 11/6/2005
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i vote the guy who thinks your all wankers xD

 

Answer by ur all really really borin fockers
Submitted on 11/9/2005
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oh my god there was dis guy called Hitler and he did a poo so england got angry ok im not no nerdy crphed kk!!!!!!

 

Answer by mini_bubbles
Submitted on 11/9/2005
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why is russia allied with serbia , in world war 1

 

Answer by aziz bousnane
Submitted on 11/11/2005
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i want to answer by question and i give all  answer
who is murderd?
the archduke fredinand of austria and his wife

 

Answer by aziz bousnane
Submitted on 11/11/2005
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i want to answer by question and i give all  answer
who is murdered?
the archduke Ferdinand of Austria and his wife

 

Answer by me
Submitted on 11/15/2005
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cause franz ferdinand was killed

 

Answer by tootise gurl
Submitted on 11/19/2005
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the assassination of archduke firdinand

 

Answer by EJ
Submitted on 11/19/2005
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What day was the war declared? I know already when the Duke was assassined but when did war actually begin? Thanks....

 

Answer by woo1233
Submitted on 11/20/2005
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Answer by irsh dude
Submitted on 5/24/2004
Rating: Not yet rated  Rate this answer:  N/A Worst Weak OK Good Great    
i think you are all nut cases and war is bad




Answer by dudette katie!!
Submitted on 5/25/2004
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hey irish dude!!!!!?????? am i a nut case??
:( thts nasty!!! :S u make me cry :'(
o'well..............pointless dotts!!! hee hee hee hee hee hee hee heehee hee hee!!!!

i luv rob!!! xxxxxxxxx




Answer by dudette katie!!
Submitted on 5/26/2004
Rating:   Rate this answer:  N/A Worst Weak OK Good Great    
Some day you’ll cry for me like I cried for you? Some day you’ll miss me like I missed you? Some day you’ll need me like I needed you? Some day you’ll love me, but I won’t love you!

I asked God for a flower, he gave me a bouquet. I asked God for a minute, he gave me a day. I asked God for true love, he gave me that too. I asked for an angel and he gave me you. But the bouquet is dying and the day gave is gone, the true love is fading, and my angel passed on.

I wish that you would change for me, and I wish you wouldn’t lie,
I wish you could of done things right, I wish you would of tried.
I wish that you were in love with me, like I was in love wit you.
I must be wishing on the wrong star, cause my wishes never cum true.

A million words would not bring you back,
I know, because I've tried.
Neither would a million tears,
I know, because I’ve Cried.

rob this is how u make me feel!!! :(




Answer by Ley
Submitted on 5/26/2004
Rating: Not yet rated  Rate this answer:  N/A Worst Weak OK Good Great    
People on this site should respect other members, if you want to learn stay, if you don't, don't post!




Answer by Ley
Submitted on 5/26/2004
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Thankyou




Answer by Trix
Submitted on 6/6/2004
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Ur all crazy, I'd like to thank everyone who put in Posts worth reading they were very helpful :)




Answer by j girl
Submitted on 6/8/2004
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because they wanted to thanks a lot u have helped bye:)




Answer by papercut
Submitted on 6/10/2004
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hi luke!!!!!!!





Answer by ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Submitted on 6/14/2004
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............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................




Answer by nigs
Submitted on 6/27/2004
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thanks

 

Answer by woo1233
Submitted on 11/20/2005
Rating: Not yet rated Rate this answer: Vote
get a life....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................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.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................woooooo

 

Answer by dezy
Submitted on 11/21/2005
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some of you people say get an education plz but the ppl answering oviously have an education and oviously u need to get 1 beezys!!

 

Answer by guy
Submitted on 11/22/2005
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it was started in 1914 and ended 1918 hahahahahahaahhahahhahhhhh aaa hhhh aaa booo!!!!

 

Answer by jen
Submitted on 11/24/2005
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hey, my name is jennifer and i think u should put in a date of when world war one started

 

Answer by Dan
Submitted on 11/26/2005
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coz of a wrong left turn

 

Answer by not a nice boy
Submitted on 11/28/2005
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because i killed franc ferdinand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Answer by hi bob
Submitted on 12/1/2005
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i dunno

 

Answer by someone
Submitted on 12/1/2005
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it started cos of ducks

 

Answer by K8y Babe
Submitted on 12/5/2005
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omfg wot kinda ppl go on these webbys?
w8 a min - im on ere!
o god i av sunk so low

 

Answer by mozzy
Submitted on 12/5/2005
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the war started in 1914 and it ended in 1918. it was all a huge fight over land. Sir Robert Borden was the prime minister during the war and he eventually committed 500,000 troops to the war. he also formed a union government of liberals and conservatives to implement concsription. At the end of world war one, canda ratified the treaty of versailles and joined the league of nations as an independant nation.
thats what i learned, lol, and my canadian history teacher won't let me 4get it, lol. does that answer any questions?

 

Answer by baby-girl
Submitted on 12/8/2005
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you are all stupid!

 

Answer by lj    m
Submitted on 12/11/2005
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I could not find one thing about how World War 1 started one the web.
I found other thing aboutWorld War 1.
Like World War 1 was known as the First War,
the Great War, the War of the Nations, and
the War to end all wars.
World War 1 started in 1914 and ended in
1918.  More than 9 million peopl died on the battle feild.  The leader of World war one was Allied Powers.
The places where World War 1 fought was Europe, Africa, Pacific, Alantic, Indian Ocean, and MiddleEast........................


 

Answer by The Jesus of Suberbia
Submitted on 12/13/2005
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whos dudette katie? and whos rob

 

Answer by fatballer
Submitted on 12/13/2005
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The reason it started is that Gavrilo princip got assassinated. Tensions began to build. After this Russia's army mobilized and made Britain mad. The angaged and attack and because of all of the alliances at the time, the war broke out. That is the actual answer.

 

Answer by no one
Submitted on 12/15/2005
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Yea ump its 2005 now So Holla !!1

 

Answer by Little Nasty #1
Submitted on 12/21/2005
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you have no life you can get  one just log on to www.getaliferightnow.com....good luck!!

 

Answer by mEL
Submitted on 12/25/2005
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From what i found out world war 1 started when someone in austria - hjungary was assinated - the austria hungarian empirew instantly jumped to a conclusian that it was plotted by russians or something like that. i think that jumping to coclusians like this is the cause of most wars

 

Answer by rubymoon
Submitted on 12/29/2005
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firstly the question is HOW not WHY. and it started on august 10 1914 when Prime Minister Robert Borden decided to create an army of 25,000 volunteer to join Britain in war in Europe. and that ladies and gentlemen is HOW it all started. Ashlee answered (why) not how, what are you stupid? geez.

 

Answer by Claire
Submitted on 1/1/2006
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look they probably went on a website got sone facts copied them and pasted them on2 here duh!

 

Answer by scum bum
Submitted on 1/4/2006
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your mum is so faT, WHEN SHE DANCES, the whole world has an earthquake

 

Answer by mark anderson(in washington)
Submitted on 1/9/2006
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i think ur all a bunch of losers. you guys really need to get ur facts straight. of course i am really stupid but at least i know something. at least i admit that i have a low iq. so try reading a book! even thow i can't read.

 

Answer by Jerrys kid lol
Submitted on 1/11/2006
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IDK EITHER TAHT IS WHY I ASKED TOO!!!!!

 

Answer by dman
Submitted on 1/12/2006
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in what yeardid world war begin in

 

Answer by Jodie
Submitted on 1/13/2006
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When did WW1 start?

 

Answer by Em
Submitted on 1/14/2006
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Thank you every1 who put useful answers u have all really helped me!!! :)

 

Answer by Rylan
Submitted on 1/16/2006
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jo naput kivanok magyar vagyok skot vagy o angol en angol vagyok hungary van austria es te en magyar vagyok

 

Answer by toothpick
Submitted on 1/16/2006
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What was the name of the Islamic empire that fought in WWI that was not European?

 

Answer by fireland
Submitted on 1/19/2006
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u r all oddballs u immature people! i cant believe u can argue over nothing but not discuss world war one!

 

Answer by time4mountians
Submitted on 1/19/2006
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plz shut up and stop disrespecting the answers you pervets and immature people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Answer by Julz
Submitted on 1/22/2006
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OMG!!! this is soo hard! ok .. if in a court like situation... and you are defending Austria-Hungary... how can u find Serbia guilty?.. im prosecuting Serbia for class project and i need to have 3 or more questions... ww1... PLEASE!! thanx

 

Answer by Kelly
Submitted on 1/24/2006
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Ive started oh my god!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Answer by blah
Submitted on 1/24/2006
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i ham vrom zermany hand zo i ham hisgusted u should hall vie ( vait i ment die)

 

Answer by u are !!!
Submitted on 1/26/2006
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wats this garbage man got anything better to do
u suck !!!

 

Answer by a smart teacher
Submitted on 1/26/2006
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it was caused for more than one reason...first because the Germans sank the Lusitania and it had Americans on board, then Germany sent a message to Mexico saying distract America so they don't send the navy to Europe, and also because they invested a lot of money into the Allies and would get money back...which they DIDN'T get back!

 

Answer by Meghen
Submitted on 1/27/2006
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cry me a river build a bridge and get over it

 

Answer by alejandra
Submitted on 1/27/2006
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what was it like for the front men of austria hungary

 

Answer by Jack_the_Ripper
Submitted on 1/29/2006
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On the 28th June, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie von Chotkova were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip. Gavrilo Prencip was in a 'gang' called the Black Hands. Several members of the Black Hand group in Sarajevo were arrested and interrogated by the Austrian authorities. The Austro-Hungarian government soon discovered that three men in the Serbian Army living in Belgrade had organised the plot. Emperor Franz Josef of Austro-Hungarian and his ally, Kaiser Wilhem II, of Germany, decided that Serbia had to be punished for this crime.

Although this incident didn't happen in Serbia the Austrian Hungarians still held them accountable. Austrian foreign minister Lepold Berchtold sent an envoy on July 5 to Germany emperor William II to ask for his support. William was going on a cruise at this time and told him go ahead he had full support of whatever he wanted to do. Austria- Hungary thought this meant war. Austria- Hungary gave Serbia an altimatum, “Let us find people of this gang or war.” This altimatum was impossible to accept. This angered Austria-Hungary and they declared war in July 28 1914. Both countries began to mobilize. This news spread throughout Europe and the allies of the countries also prepared for war. The central powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Ottoman Empire. The Allied powers were Ireland, Great Britain France, Italy, Greece, Albania, Serbia, Romania, and Russia.

 

Answer by im awesome
Submitted on 2/1/2006
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your mom started it

 

Answer by im awesome
Submitted on 2/1/2006
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war is stupid and so is george bush. he can go suck me off tool

 

Answer by jen
Submitted on 2/7/2006
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ww1 started partly because of germany u-boats sinking u.s n british boats with goods on them. then some act was passed so that the boats had to have all passangers and crew removed and then could be sunked. this helped ena the war.

when did ww1 start & end? i need dates!!

 

Answer by Sharz
Submitted on 2/7/2006
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what started world war 1 well a man byb the name of franz ferdinand was sent down to the country of surbia becoz his uncle was too busy (joseph fredinand) well anywaiiz germany which was erging to become the worlds greatest but didnt have an excuse to start a war. until the incident in surbia with franz ferdinand (nephew of joseph ferdinand) then serbia turns to russia which russia turns to france which truns to great britian which left germany and austria/hungary on its own

 

Answer by Daf
Submitted on 2/14/2006
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Some of the things that caused World War one was Nationalis,militarism,imperialism,and the system of alliances were four main factors that pressed the great powers toward this explosive war. Although Francis Ferdinand's assasination had sparked the beggining of the war,this however was not the main cause

 

Answer by chancat500
Submitted on 2/22/2006
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wat the hell is all this

 

Answer by mc weiner
Submitted on 2/25/2006
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GAY ASSHOLES MICHALE JACKSON WAS CAUGHT HAVING SEX WITH HIS CHILD

 

Answer by annoyed by ignorant people
Submitted on 2/26/2006
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THANK YOU ERNEST.  Amen to you answer, even though you just posted what was on another site... :-D  Thank you for that.  I shall have a wonderful debate now!  At least now I know there are some intelligent, helpful people in the world....

 

Answer by .......
Submitted on 3/8/2006
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look up militarism imperialism nationalism etc

 

Answer by loz
Submitted on 3/24/2006
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its simple, there was a gang of lads cant member deyre names lol but one was called gavrilo princip and dey tried 2 kill archduke , heir to the Austria Hungary throne but failed but den  gavrilo went  to but a sandwich (i no its sounds weird but really its true) and came across the archdukes carriage which had taken a wrong turn and dats wen he shot him, and his pregnant wife. den dey was lots of arguing yaddayadda yadda! and da alliances got together and thats how it started    some dude made a shiffeln plan in Germany to attack France den go for Russia before it had chance to fight back , being a big country and not being able to get its troops ready quick enough but it  fought back quickly and the shiffeln plan failed plus Germany  didn't realize there were new weapons like guns and at first  they were armed with swords and so many died until they got the new weapons >>> i hope this helps , if you can even understand it lol

 

Answer by Rausten
Submitted on 3/27/2006
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Cause your all silly gooses and retarted ducks


Signed by
Diabetes

Has anyone beat diablo yet or world of warcraft

 

Answer by me
Submitted on 3/27/2006
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you r all a bunch of gay fags no 1 cares and they r asking cuz the dont kno so y do u expect any one to answer so thats all                      bye!!!

 

Answer by giddy aunt
Submitted on 3/29/2006
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this is very mad and giddy

 

Answer by R.J
Submitted on 4/1/2006
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The British announced "war, Germany, act

 

Answer by Swizz
Submitted on 4/3/2006
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i love Glitz, Big L, Crazii C, n Bologna Blossom haha boyfrinend stealer...daville all daii everydayy

 

Answer by Nancey
Submitted on 4/3/2006
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It started b/c of ur face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Answer by josh_saunders
Submitted on 4/3/2006
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Your muma's so fat, NASA plan to use her to shore up the hole in the Ozone layer. Your muma's so fat when I had to swerve to avoid hitting her on the road I ran out of Petrol!

 

Answer by butterfly babe
Submitted on 4/4/2006
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hey thnx, i gotta do stuff bout this for school, and yeah it really helps knowin how it started, so thnx to all the ppl who put in  explanations.

 

Answer by chocolate
Submitted on 4/7/2006
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I don't know!!!

 

Answer by livier
Submitted on 4/8/2006
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Archduke Ferdenand was killed by Gavrilo
Prencip on June 28, 1914.  That was the main cause, and could be a lot longer if I wanted it to be.  P.S If you wrote a sick answer, you are gross, stupid, and very dumb

 

Answer by Johnnie
Submitted on 4/11/2006
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hahahaha that dudette katie chick said cum....everyone laugh hahahahahahaha......cum....get it, hahahahahahahahaha,.......hahaha ...ha ha ha....mmmmmm

funny aye?

 

Answer by historyboy
Submitted on 4/17/2006
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Well i am doing my standart grade 3rd year exam on world was 1 in a few days and i need sum pass pappers!!.....but i think it was because of the tension in the balkans with the arch duke franze ferdinand was murdered in serbia, austrai hungry blamed serbia for his death, austria came up with ten commands for serbia sayin that if they didnt give into them all they wld declare war on them, serbia only submitted to eight of austrias commands so serbia austria hungry declared war on serbia, germany joined to help aunstria hungry and dispite serbia and frances revenfull past they joined together to fight germay and austria hungy, soon italy joined germany to for the triple alliance annd then when germany invaded belgum brittain decided2 join the war with france and serbia to form the tripple entant.

 

Answer by historyboy
Submitted on 4/17/2006
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Well i am doing my standart grade 3rd year exam on world was 1 in a few days and i need sum pass pappers!!.....but i think it was because of the tension in the balkans with the arch duke franze ferdinand was murdered in serbia, austrai hungry blamed serbia for his death, austria came up with ten commands for serbia sayin that if they didnt give into them all they wld declare war on them, serbia only submitted to eight of austrias commands so serbia austria hungry declared war on serbia, germany joined to help aunstria hungry and dispite serbia and frances revenfull past they joined together to fight germay and austria hungy, soon italy joined germany to for the triple alliance annd then when germany invaded belgum brittain decided2 join the war with france and serbia to form the tripple entant.

 

Answer by ginny craig
Submitted on 4/19/2006
Rating: Not yet rated Rate this answer: Vote
JOIN ME NOW FOR YOUR FREE WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM. A DOLLAR A POUND,THATS ALL IT TAKES!!!!

 

Answer by willowy
Submitted on 4/19/2006
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WW1 started because Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne for Austria-Hungary, was assasinated by a Serbian Nationalist named Gavrilo Princip. He was a member of a group called the Black Hand. Austrian government blamed Serbia because Gavrilo supported Serbia. In my opinion, the was would have started anyway because european countries were power hungry. Every one who put in dumb answers should get off the website now.

 

Answer by sammy bob n tabi
Submitted on 4/26/2006
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i fink ya all r crazy fukin dutch bastards get lifes and a education,x*x*x*x

 

Answer by sammy bob n tabi
Submitted on 4/26/2006
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how much did u write ernest????!!!!

 

Answer by sammy bob n tabi
Submitted on 4/26/2006
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how much did u write ernest????!!!!

 

Answer by sammy bob n tabi
Submitted on 4/26/2006
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we think the bloki dat started the war iz fit az fuk m8 x x  x

 

Answer by i love you dudette katie
Submitted on 5/2/2006
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hey dudette katie you know who i am because i go to your school.

 

Answer by ...................................................................
Submitted on 5/4/2006
Rating: Not yet rated Rate this answer: Vote
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
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Answer by Meg
Submitted on 5/7/2006
Rating: Not yet rated Rate this answer: Vote
wow no more weird commits wow
any way thanks for all those people out there that actually helped!

 

Answer by Kaitie_luvs_sean
Submitted on 5/7/2006
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hey whats going on every1???

 

Answer by bla bla bla
Submitted on 5/8/2006
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ur all a bunch of gays

 

Answer by Rockin dude
Submitted on 5/8/2006
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Don't know...................................................................................................................................... but        nope don't know.

 

Answer by Donut's Guuuh
Submitted on 5/8/2006
Rating: Not yet rated Rate this answer: Vote
I'M so fat I'm as fat as     well  my self hey what are you looking at fatso hey your not fat I'm fat I'M FAT FAT (Fart)oops.                                           I'M FAT.

 

Answer by ***kaitie_rock_chik***
Submitted on 5/9/2006
Rating: Not yet rated Rate this answer: Vote
hey dudes n dudettes wat have u all been up 2? can u pls answer this question 4 me? thanx a bunch luv ya XoXo
what countries did australia fight in world war 1???
yer im really bored so yer wat skewls do u all go 2? n how old r u all???

 

Answer by rae
Submitted on 5/25/2006
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it started because some guys got mad at each other so they decleared a war and then people died and cried and the people that servied were happy as bumble bees in the moring sun... just joking it started because 2 countrs were having an argument and it got way out of hand and people died and cried

 

Answer by bargh!
Submitted on 6/8/2006
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it was because ofg penny hughes and ollie pollies bunyans at bunyan land.
And because they ate bung wings!

 

Answer by lol
Submitted on 6/9/2006
Rating: Not yet rated Rate this answer: Vote
465789456

 

Answer by by monique
Submitted on 6/21/2006
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the war stared because of Franz Ferdinand being assassinated by gavilo princip

 

Answer by Vee
Submitted on 6/21/2006
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why do u think i asked in the fist place.....so you can give me some info. Oh god this is going be a long night!!!!!!!!!

 

Answer by scotty
Submitted on 7/4/2006
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well it was because one guy was drunk and stumbled into another country mby mistake.

 

Answer by *me*
Submitted on 7/16/2006
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it started because the king of Autria Hungary was killed in Serbia. Serbia is the country that broke away from Sustria Hungary. so Austria Hungary declared war on Serbia and Seria got Russia involved so Austria Hungary got Germany involved and so on. thats why it became a huge world war.!!!

 

Answer by bored biker1011
Submitted on 7/19/2006
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its called google?

 

Answer by lawl
Submitted on 8/4/2006
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lol this website is all messed

 

Answer by dont no
Submitted on 8/7/2006
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i dont no gosh idoit iam not that smart

 

Answer by west side muthafukarz
Submitted on 8/13/2006
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all u mutha fuking junkies talk properly b4 tupac chopz ur headz off

 

Answer by bekky
Submitted on 8/22/2006
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it started because the arch duke of serbia, "Franz Ferdinand" was assassinated by glavlio Principe, and Serbia blammed it on Austria Hungary, so Serbia declared war on them. Germany the warned Serbia to back off, because Germany was allied to Austria Hungary, so Russia mobilized troops, as they were allied to Serbia, and then for some stupid reason Germany invaded Belgium to get to France, so every one went with there allies, like Britain etc, thats why the war got so big!! stupid people.

 

Answer by c0uGaRz!
Submitted on 9/10/2006
Rating: Not yet rated Rate this answer: Vote
homg use r full smarties aye. im jst lyk staring at yas lyk aawat? . lol.. and pplz that r lyk "stop writing pointless things" use should shutzes up! were jst tryina put fun in thinigs aiight! .. and dudette katie. i lyksa ur poems! =]

 

Answer by KT
Submitted on 9/20/2006
Rating: Not yet rated Rate this answer: Vote
I AM DOING AN ESSAY ON WW1 AND HOW IT STARTED DOS ANY ONE NO ABOUT HOW EMPIRE EFFECTED THE WAR PLEASEPLEASE HELP ME IVE GOT 2 DAYS TO DO THIS HELP MEX

 

Answer by Ledhead
Submitted on 9/24/2006
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Thankx evry1 who put sensible things u ova people need to grow up

 

Answer by mr helpful
Submitted on 9/24/2006
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hey i really need to know any possible reason why ww1 could have started the Russian revolution. thank you for any help

 

Answer by sklgurl
Submitted on 9/27/2006
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world war one was started by the assasination of archduke Francis Ferdenand, heir to the austrian-hungary throne. there was already so much tension between the nations due to imperialism an strong feelings of nationalism, that when the assasination occured it was like throwing a match on gassolene. everything blew up then. and not to metion how everyone in europe was allied with someone elce. everyone was allied with everyone so that if anyone went to war, someone elce had to go to, even if they had no conflict! so basically it was sorta like dominoes. when someone went to war someone elce did so on and so forth, untill there was no peace left.

 

Answer by hassan
Submitted on 9/28/2006
Rating: Not yet rated Rate this answer: Vote
hello gus u can suck ure mums fannys and lik there asses!!!!! and have sex witth them.i got cusses. ure mum so dum that she was sittin on the tv and watchin the couch.
heheehhe!

ure mammas r hoes! lol!


u lot r fat and gay!




 

Answer by peanut
Submitted on 10/8/2006
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i wanted to know when did world war 1 started?

 

Answer by jacko
Submitted on 10/10/2006
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because u are mums fat!lol not its because the country leaders are big gays!

 

Answer by skool kid XD
Submitted on 10/11/2006
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All the great powers of World War One were somewhat responsible for this Great War. They were all somehow allied to each other which led them to getting involved. However the immediate cause of the war was the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand’s murder. His murder was the reason for Austria to attack Serbia which they did. Although by this point Austria had gotten full support from Kaiser Wilhelm II and Serbia had help from Russia. As a result of Russia joining the war Germany had to put into practice the schlieffen plan which got Britain and France involved.

To begin with, Austria started a Balkan war, which unintentionally lead to the World war. In 1908 Austria attacked Bosnia which exasperated the Serbians. Moreover after Austria had taken over Bosnia, Austria was very alarmed at the growing power of Serbia, and she felt Serbia could weaken her own Empire. However the Serbians wanted their revenge on the Austrian’s for taking Bosnia, and they thought they would do so by getting a member from the Black Hand to kill Austria’s Archduke whilst he was on his way to attending an official reception in Sarajevo. Franz Ferdinand’s first attempt on his life was when he was in his car on his way to City Hall where the official reception was held. Nedjelko Cabrinovic hurled a hand grenade at the archduke’s car, yet the driver Franz Urban saw the object flying towards him and accelerated leaving the grenade to explode under the wheel of the next car. As the day went on, the archduke followed his schedule, however he wanted to see the people who got injured by the grenade and decided to take a detour by the hospital. Potiorek who was in charge of telling the driver the new plan forgot, and the driver drove them into a one way street where there just happened to be a member of the Black hand; who whilst they were turning  round got up and shot the archduke and his wife. After this incident Austria declared war on Serbia. This proves that Austria clearly wanted to go to war with Serbia before Serbia’s Empire got too powerful; but all she was waiting for was a reason to declare it.

Nevertheless as soon as Austria declared war on Serbia, the Serbians asked the Russians for support. Without a doubt the Russians gave the Serbians the support they were looking for as they refused to be once again humiliated by Austria.
In 1905 Russia had traveled all around the world until they had reached their target, Japan. Though soon after reaching their target they were defeated in a period of twenty minutes, and this was the first time they had been humiliated. ‘In 1908 Austria took over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbian officials were angry because they were planning to take over those countries themselves. Consequently, they wanted to go to war but Russia had not mobilized yet.’ And yet again Russia was humiliated. In 1914, although Russia had no need to support Serbia, they were determined not to back down again. At first Nicholas II ordered a partial mobilization, in spite of this decision, it made sure that Germany would now attack France. So Nicholas had to go back and rethink his plan which was a general mobilization, nonetheless this caused an even bigger crisis. Because the crisis had gotten so big, Germany decided to present and ultimatum to the Russia to stop the progress of their mobilization within twelve hours. However the Germans knew that the Russians would not let themselves be humiliated once again and that they would not respond the ultimatum, they knew that they would end up going to war with Russia, which would then get France involved and the schlieffen plan after all these years could finally be put into practice.

Consequently the Germans were turning the Balkan war into a world war. Also, since Germany was founded and existed in 1870, they caused fear and suspicion in Europe. On the other hand, the Germans had quite a few disadvantages which were, a plan which was ten years out of date, they were badly geographically positioned as they were encircled by their enemies, but also they had an unpredictable leader, Kaiser Wilhelm, who was a problem and disadvantage to Germany. But the schlieffen plan was the main issue of why Germany is partly responsible for turning the Balkan war into a World War, because the schlieffen plan got Britain and France involved as well.
The schlieffen plan was that the Germans would go and defeat France, this would take six weeks meanwhile the Russian army would be preparing to go to war, and at the end of the six weeks the Germans would move up towards Russia to defeat them. Unfortunaly for the Germans their plan turned out differently. They first presented an ultimatum to France in which she was asked to promise to stay neutral and to hand over border fortresses as guarantied the Germans being smart knew that France would never agree to this and that they would have to go to war with them. Since the French, as the Germans had planned, did not agree to their ultimatum, Germany declared war on France.  Besides getting the war against France that they had been longing for, their schlieffen plan was to spend three days going through Belgium before reaching France. Though Germany had asked the Belgians the right to send their army through their country the Belgium’s refused, but that didn’t stop their Germans. Because the Germans were going through Belgium to get to France and the Belgians didn’t want them too they asked help from their allied country, Britain, who sent an ultimatum to the Germans asking them to leave Belgium. The Germans being so close to combating the French did not respond to the Ultimatum. Britain then declared war on Germany.

By now Britain was fully involved in the war, although Britain used Belgium as an excuse to go to war, as the British wanted to destroy the German naval power which Kaiser brought in because everyone else had a navy. Britain was helping their allied country France, and France wanted revenge on Germany for taking Alsace-Lorraine away from them.

and well thts all ive gt so far

 

Answer by Tyler
Submitted on 10/21/2006
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you guys are all fags.

 

Answer by nothin
Submitted on 10/25/2006
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world war 1 started for the people who want to know in 1914.

 

Answer by jay
Submitted on 10/29/2006
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gay boys suck willies and have it up the arse

 

Answer by CAVEMAN
Submitted on 10/30/2006
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all u guys r retarded

 

Answer by Hamlakalih........................
Submitted on 11/1/2006
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the world war one happened because they were all good

 

Answer by Ehtan Wenburg from lexington, ne
Submitted on 11/2/2006
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well for one thing i think that every body who submitted to this is immature. ww1 started because of imperialism, militarism, nationalism, and militarism,and the alliance system. if any hot age 14-16 girls are reading this call my cell at 1 308 746 2545 i am 16 yrs old

 

Answer by ooooolaa
Submitted on 11/5/2006
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All i wanted to know was which countries went into war first and i cant be bothered to read ernest's

 

Answer by sabz
Submitted on 11/5/2006
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um sorry but this really doesn't help me that much! its kinda confusing and its hard to follow.uh it was good though....i think! try to do better next time k this didn't help me at all T_T

 

Answer by musrey
Submitted on 11/5/2006
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thank you, this really help my report on the fourteen points

 

Answer by Punisher
Submitted on 11/6/2006
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thnks guys, u lot really helped with my histroy assignment lol,
by the way to all the peopl who criticize u for being nerds ect, your not nerds you are just people who have a good knowledge and education
good for u :)

 

Answer by beansy
Submitted on 11/8/2006
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it started by franze ferdinand getting killed by a saberbian

 

Answer by boo
Submitted on 11/10/2006
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boo whoo boo

 

Answer by in your face
Submitted on 11/14/2006
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i hope u people who wrote discusting answers know that u are imature, nasty, little kids who seriously need to GROW UP!!!!!!! SO THERE HHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

and thank u people who acually wrote
answers worth reading!!!



 

Answer by Moo man
Submitted on 11/16/2006
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World war 1 started because the germans sunk our ships.

 

Answer by Hannn !!!
Submitted on 11/19/2006
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because of your mum.

 

Answer by babi gurl
Submitted on 11/20/2006
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Basically...Austria-Hungary went to war with Serbia. So Germany went to help Austria-Hungary. Russia went to help their friends Serbia. So Germany declared war on Russia. The France went to help their friend Russia (who was in the same alliance as them). Then Germany decided to invade the neutral Belgium so they could get to France and invade Paris, so the goverment would surrender. Britian, went to go help France and Belgium... because They were in the same alliance as France and they went help Belgium because they signed a treaty saying that they would protect Belgium.

 

Answer by babi gurl
Submitted on 11/20/2006
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Basically...Austria-Hungary went to war with Serbia. So Germany went to help Austria-Hungary. Russia went to help their friends Serbia. So Germany declared war on Russia. The France went to help their friend Russia (who was in the same alliance as them). Then Germany decided to invade the neutral Belgium so they could get to France and invade Paris, so the government would surrender. Britain, went to go help France and Belgium... because They were in the same alliance as France and they went help Belgium because they signed a treaty saying that they would protect Belgium.

 

Answer by nun of ur business
Submitted on 11/21/2006
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go suck something stiff

 

Answer by WiCkY!!!
Submitted on 11/23/2006
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The war started because of people like you guys that leave stupid comments like the ones that you are leaving... stop telling us to go and get an education cause really u r the ones that need it and u r stopping us from gettin one by saying stuff like u r saying... get over urself and get urself an education... LOVE all ma gurls...

 

Answer by prue officer
Submitted on 11/25/2006
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Katie hu eva u r ur a sad, sad person!!! Nd i feel lyk such a nerd doin dis gay ass project. BURRRNNN!!! LOL! OMG people its RAINING!

 

Answer by prue officer
Submitted on 11/25/2006
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OMG lol u chiks r soooooo full of ya selves but its funi lol! y du i even kare? p.s its still raining.

 

Answer by doodle!!!
Submitted on 11/25/2006
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cHARLIE UR A DUM ASS!!!! ( HAHAHAHAHA, HAHAHA ) SUK ON DAT!

 

Answer by WICKY!!!!
Submitted on 11/27/2006
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The war started bcoz of ppl like u guys who do not hav a life so u hav to put stupid answers like the ones that you are putting on here... GET A LIFE, and stop ruining ours buddy!!!!!!!!!

 

Answer by esmond's gay
Submitted on 11/29/2006
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coz da germans r gay twats

 

Answer by esmond's gay
Submitted on 11/29/2006
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wot bra size r u

 

Answer by esmond's gay
Submitted on 11/29/2006
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do u like lostprophets or r u a chav chavs r gay so fuk u

 

Answer by bob
Submitted on 12/4/2006
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I need a time line of the important facts of WWI can anyone help me out?

 

Answer by moi.
Submitted on 12/12/2006
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thats y i asked i dnt have a clue i need it for my essay! god

 

Answer by Lagasee
Submitted on 12/16/2006
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i need some help, for a project. Who started world war 1? THX!!!!!!!!!!

 

Answer by brii
Submitted on 1/3/2007
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when Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assinated

 

Answer by nathan b
Submitted on 1/5/2007
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it started cus i got bored and flicked a rubber at some german dude

 

Answer by devonne
Submitted on 1/9/2007
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i'm not sure how ww1 started tho i know it had something to do with the assassination of franz ferdinand and had something to do with some kaiser man. britain only got involved because austria hungry or someother country went through belgium (who were neutral) to get to germany or france or somewhere. britain thought this was unfair and got involved... cos britains hard!!!!!

 

Answer by rawwr
Submitted on 1/11/2007
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THE WORLD IS JUST A SPHERE NO BIGGER THAN THE BALLS YOU SUUUUUCK

 

Answer by dudette brooke
Submitted on 1/13/2007
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because u r all gay retards, get a damn education!! :)

 

Answer by LIVI
Submitted on 1/14/2007
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WELL I DONT NO Y IT HAPPENENED AND IS THE REASON FOR Y I ASKED YOU.DUR !!!!!!! NO 1 ELSE ON THIS WEBSITE NOS SO Y NOT JUST TELL US AND IT WILL CAUSE LESS CONFUSION . BIBI

 

Answer by someone
Submitted on 1/16/2007
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i think half of you people are really immature.. i really dont care what you say about me beacuse i will never come back to this site...butsome of you need to learn respect and get a life, rather then saying eat my shorts, or your mom, your gay or stupid responses like that.

 

Answer by chyeah
Submitted on 1/17/2007
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because you touch yourself at night

 

Answer by spike
Submitted on 1/22/2007
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i think it was germany that started the war in 1918

 

Answer by sum random person - (st.nick)-sshhh!!
Submitted on 1/28/2007
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erm...a bloke called archie duke shot an ostritch because he was hungry or sumthin lyk dat !
i dnt no !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
n e way huz bothered it was lyk 80 years ago!!

 

Answer by tina
Submitted on 1/28/2007
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i was wondering what part militarism had in world war 1?

 

Answer by maeshell
Submitted on 2/17/2007
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june 1914, francis ferdinand and his wife got assassinated in Bosnia, by a Bosnian student name Gravillo Princep. Francis Ferdinand is heir to the Austrian-Hungary throne. this act plunged Europe to war, and because of this, it starts a regional conflict between Austria-Hungary and Bosnia. for years, Europe has been on the edge of war. reasons for Europe being on the edge of war were that, growing feelings of nationalism on the part of subject peoples like the Bosnian. they were Slavic people who wanted to shake off Austrian rule and set up their own nation. other reason that led to war was the sharp rivalries. all these rivalries led the European powers to build up their armies and navies. the murder of Francis Ferdinand set off a chain reaction in Europe. Blaming Serbia, and Austria declared war. America was expected to be out of the conflict but among Americans, the spirits of nationalism was still strong. Woodrow William, president at that time called out the Americans people to remain neutral in fact as well as in name impartial. The united state may have wanted to stay neutral but in their thinking they were surely not impartial.

 

Answer by bummer
Submitted on 2/17/2007
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ur ver fat

 

Answer by jason hodgeson
Submitted on 2/20/2007
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because he gay. and so am i

 

Answer by someone
Submitted on 2/20/2007
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because he got his balls chopped off for someone else

 

Answer by Leslie
Submitted on 2/28/2007
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Germany U-boats sunk down U.S SHIPS with weapons being sold to the Allies.  Eventually the U.S got mad and sided with the Allies.

 

Answer by Angel Valentine
Submitted on 3/1/2007
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I think the WW1 started because of Germany, they shouldn'thave went through Belgium to fight France and shouldn't have started earlier to fight them, just because it's a triple entente and triple alliance.

 

Answer by Michelle
Submitted on 3/1/2007
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heyy umm.... world war one started for 4 main reason.. militarism, alliances, imperalism, and nationalism. The main thing that sparxed WWI was that the archduke franz ferdiand was assassinted by gavrilo princip a 19 yr old serb (serbia) who was a member of the black hand. He shot the archduke and his wife sophie while they were driving down a back road. He shot two shots into the vechile one hitting the archduke and one hitting sophie. Austria-Hungary gave Serbir an ultimatium to respond to within 48 hours. when serbia rejected the ultimatium, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

 

Answer by SAshha!!!! < coolest person
Submitted on 3/7/2007
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because i love Genny!

 

Answer by twisted lil anna
Submitted on 3/8/2007
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becuase of alistar hahaha. he is evil.

 

Answer by ashley wilson
Submitted on 3/8/2007
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World war one was started by militerisum, imparilisum and most of i believe the blank check started it because the Russians started mobilizing after this because they thought they were going to go to war with Siberia

 

Answer by BECKY!
Submitted on 3/21/2007
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THiiS iiS REALY
GAY ii WAS LOOKiiN 4 THE
ANSWER AND iI DiiDNT EVEN
GET iiT SO THiiS WEBSiITE
NEED TO GO SOMEWHERE!

 

Answer by dom ass
Submitted on 3/28/2007
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got to school and learn it

 

Answer by erik9392
Submitted on 3/30/2007
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im gay times a million

 

Answer by JACK
Submitted on 4/11/2007
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Your Face

 

Answer by the big knuckle
Submitted on 4/22/2007
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it was be cos Franz Ferdinand was a gay and the black hand in Serbia was totally against homosexuals, so they thru a sex toy that hit him in the eye.. and he died. HAH! just kidding. Dan is actually gay.

 

Answer by tyler poophead
Submitted on 5/13/2007
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i love to poop my pants and than eat it. that is why WWI started

 

Answer by Rebecca
Submitted on 5/15/2007
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Ur all Gay

 

Answer by whatuneed
Submitted on 5/15/2007
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This war was first started when Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassination in Sarajevo, Serbia.

 

Answer by sophie
Submitted on 5/16/2007
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i am not sure even tho i learnt bout it in history lol

 

Answer by sophie
Submitted on 5/16/2007
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i am not sure even tho i learned bout it in history laugh out loud

 

Answer by WW1 Geek
Submitted on 5/23/2007
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IT was because back in those days they star wars movies and people hated soi homer simpson said to the kangaroo that he didnt like pie and kangaroo declared on homer then something bout the hungary alliance stared some bullcrap and war begun
purple pencilcase
fury stamps

 

Answer by Jman2
Submitted on 5/30/2007
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gaybo i need to find it noobs u cock

 

Answer by Trevor
Submitted on 5/30/2007
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This is exactly what happened.
Why did WWI even start?
Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian-Hungary throne, while travelling through Sarajevo, was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, on June 28 1914, who was in a 'gang' called the Black Hands. Although this didn't happen in Serbia the Austrian Hungarians held them accountable. Austrian foreign minister Leopold Berchtold sent an envoy on July 5 to Germany emperor William 2 to ask for his support. He was going on a cruise and told him go ahead he had full support of whatever he wanted to do. Austria- Hungary thought this meant war. Austria- Hungary gave Serbia an ultimatum, Let us find people of this gang or war. This ultimatum was impossible to accept. This angered Austria Hungary and they declared war n July 28 1914. both countries began to mobilize. News of this spread throughout Europe and the allies of the countries also prepared for war. The central powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Ottoman empire. The Allied powers were Ireland, Great Britain France, Italy, Greece, Albania, Serbia, Romania, and Russia.

Gallipoli was a war in the year 1915. The war hadn’t already finished by Christmas 1914. So the war kept going to 1915. The ANZAC troops were trying to break through the western front. The British thought if they would take out Turkey it would weaken Germany because Turkey was a new ally. The plan was for the battleships to
Go through the river called Dardanelles, to attack Turkeys Capital, Constantinople. This was to force turkey out of the war and open up a supply route from ally Russia.
This opened another opportunity for the British to attack another ally of  Germany, Austria and Hungary. The British wanted to take out the land-based guns that had threatened the British Fleet.

The Gallipoli wasn’t such a success. The Naval assault was a failure because from mines and shellfire. This made the British think twice about the attack. The British made the plan to invade the Turks by land. Little did they know that the Turks had weeks of advance warning. The German General Liman Von Sanders, had been organizing troops for weeks to build up defences. When they arrived they were welcomed with the fire of Turkish gun fire.

The British miscalculated the landing spot and landed two kilometres north of the landing point. This lowered their chances of success. On the 25th of April 1915, 16 thousand ANZAC troops landed at Gaba Tepe. The Turkish troops were ready with infantry to fire. This surrounded the ANZAC troops on the beach now known as Anzac cove. There were Turkish troops surrounding the beach from both ends leaving them no escape. By nightfall that first day they made 900 metres of ground for a cost of two thousand people. Over the next week more than twenty seven soldiers landed at Anzac Cove. They tried maintaining the beach by making trenches. There were gun fires from the Turkish at a distance as close as 30 metres. On the 19th of May, the Turkish soldiers tried to advance into ANZAC lands. They were unsuccessful and paid a huge toll of deaths to both sides. The British and Turks agreed they would stop fighting for a few hours to bury there dead and collect their wounded from no man’s land.

Now the British tried thinking of a new tactic. This was to try and attack the Turkish at Lone Pine. The Anzacs went to Lone Pine but took a huge death toll to both sides. Having the ANZACS 2300 casualties and the Turks 6000 casualties. The attack of the Nek was even less successful. In Early hours of the fight the light horsemen tried four suicidal missions to get to the Turkish trenches that were only 45 metres away. The next 45 minutes 234 light horsemen died and 138 were wounded. While this was happening the British safely landed at Suvla Bay and could be seen settling. By late August the British military strategist realised that they did have much hope of defeating the Turkish troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula. They evacuated the area with only two casualties. By the end there were twenty six thousand casualties among the ten thousand deaths.

The Gallipoli Campaign and the Anzac Legend that has come upon us from this war has had a huge compact on Australian society. The British’s plan to take out Turkey was a huge mistake at first. Them not knowing that the Gallipoli Peninsula was a hard even impossible place to take them out. Having the Turks already having so much defence and how prepared they were. Now Australians view the period of war as being the Australian soldiers having bravery and sacrificing themselves for this country. For people now the participation of the Australian soldiers taking part in the war brings Australia to be coming of age as nation

 

Answer by Alicks
Submitted on 6/11/2007
Rating: Not yet rated Rate this answer: Vote
HEy guyz!!
i like the penis!!
yay!

 

Answer by Alicks
Submitted on 6/11/2007
Rating: Not yet rated Rate this answer: Vote
In answer To ur question. BECAUSE OF YOUR MUMS HAIRY CHEST!!!!!!!!
LOVE YA!!!
XXXXXXXXX

 

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