The Great War

“We have lost everything, but we managed to keep our honor,” said Nikola Pasic, Prime Minister of Serbia.
In Sarajevo, on June 28, 1914,my countryman Gavrilo Princip, a Serbfrom Bosnia assassinated the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austro-Hungarian Empire. In that time,Bosnia was a part of Austro-Hungarian Empire.The assassination was an excellent excuse to execute Austro-Hungarian Empire plans for a war to destroy Serbia’s ability to interfere in Bosnia. In next few days, Austro-Hungarian Empireissue an ultimatum to Serbia with demands so stringent that it was bound to be in any way rejected.The Serbian government denied any involvement with the assassination and, when Austro-Hungarian Empire issued an ultimatum, turned to its ally, Russian Empire, for help.When Russian Empire began to mobilize its army, Europe’s alliance system, ironically intended to maintain the balance of power on the continent, drew one country after another into war. On July 28,Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia, exactly one month after assassination in Sarajevo.The World War began in Europe.Of course, German Empire as Austro-Hungarian Empire ally, declared war on Russian Empire and on France, and invaded Belgium.After that, Great Britain entered the war. In August, whole Europe took a partin two opposing alliances, on one sidethe Allies with Great Britain, France, Russian Empire, and Serbia, and on another side the Central Powers with Austro-Hungarian Empire, German Empire, Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.
In the same time, President Wilson officially announced that America would be neutral in World War. That neutrality extended to a policy of ‘fairness’, whereby American bankers could lend money to both sides in the war, and American companies could sell ammunition and other war materiel.Overseas trade was more complicated, because a Great Britain naval blockade of the German coastline made it all but impossible for America to trade with Germany.The Great Britain policy of blockading Germany was the primary reason for Germany ultimately introducing unrestricted submarine warfare. On May 7, 1915, a torpedo sank the Lusitania from a German submarine. The ship sank off the Irish coast in under twenty minutes, and 1,198 passengers and crewmembers, including 128 Americans, lost their lives. Although the United States strongly protested the incident (even though the ship was carrying contraband to Britain), there were several more sinkings before Germany, through the Sussex pledge (May 1916), agreed not to attack passenger ships without warning and to make provisions for the safety of noncombatants. The sinking of the Lusitania did raise questions about America’s preparedness, however, and steps were taken to get the country ready for war. The National Defense Act provided for the immediate expansion of the regular Army to 175,000 men and a maximum of almost 250,000 troops, while the Naval Construction Act instituted a three-year building program for the navy. The Council of National Defense was established to coordinate and mobilize industry, available natural resources, and labor in the event of hostilities with Germany.