![]() ![]() Sadly, we all know what happened thereafter.After the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, a series of crises escalated quickly. “Eventually Britain sent a telegram to Germany stating that if the Germans didn’t issue an order for withdrawal by 11pm, a state of war will exist between our two countries.”Īustralia pledged its support to Britain immediately. “Britain had been watching this crisis develop throughout July and had tried to exercise moderation and restraint and tell the belligerent nations to cool it,” Professor Stanley explains. The British cabinet was divided over the course of action in regards to Belgium, but the prevailing view in Britain was that Germany could not be allowed to dominate Europe. But Britain was obligated by treaty to defend Belgium’s neutrality. Picture: Matt Cardy/Getty ImagesĬould a full-scale global conflict have been avoided if Britain had chosen not to act in response to events on the European continent? Possibly. a poppy is left on a wall displaying the names of the missing on the Menin Gate Memorial, in Ypres, Belgium. The Russians were so backwards compared to Western Europe, they had to mobilise sooner, and once they start mobilising, it triggers the German mobilisation because the German emperor will support the Austria-Hungary emperor come what may.” It means they pulled out thousands of rifles, millions of pairs of boots, kitchen equipment to cook the food, communications equipment, basically everything an army needs. “It literally means millions of reservists make for their depots, a huge conscript army that absorbs reservists like a big sponge and pushes those units to places they’re supposed to go when war breaks out. “The counter response was the single most decisive disastrous step in the whole sorry month,” Professor Stanley explains. Russia was bound by a treaty to Serbia and announced a mobilisation of its army in its defence. Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand military cemetery near Reims, final resting place of over 1000 Russian soldiers out of 4000 who died as part of the Russian Expeditionary Force in France. ![]() “England and France had politicians, but the leaders of Austria-Hungary (Emperor Franz Joseph), Germany (Kaiser Wilhelm) and Russia (Tsar Nicholas) Germany had crowned heads who were unskilled and inexpert.Įast to West. “In many ways, for the last time in history, events were being run by a small group of crowned heads in the empires of Central Eastern Europe,” Professor Stanley explains. He says Britain was morally obliged to enter the war after Germany marched on Belgium, but Britain was not to blame for the outbreak of war.Īccording to Professor Stanley, the outbreak of war was essentially due to the incompetence of eastern Europe’s leaders. Professor Peter Stanley from the University of New South Wales, Canberra was a senior historian at the Australian War Memorial for 27 years. It was a flexing of muscles with dire consequences. It was a conflict sparked by the great powers of Europe, many of them in decline. Most wars are fought over land grabs or irreconcilable differences between nations, be they religious, political or economic. This was also one of the few wars to be fought for no clear reason other than power itself. No previous war had ever spanned continents and hemispheres. ![]() It was the first major war of the industrial age, the first war to include tanks, machine guns, trench warfare, gas and many other horrors which were previously unknown on the battlefields of the world.Īnd of course, it was the war fought on the biggest stage of all time. World War I was a conflict in which the world saw a staggering 37 million military and civilian casualties, including approximately 60,000 Australian dead and more than 150,000 wounded. It was the moment Australia was instantly dragged in to World War I, the so-called “War to End All Wars”. On this day in 1914, Great Britain reluctantly declared war on Germany.
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