Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The countries involved in the war were much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the United States, with battles extending into the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The largest nation before the First World War was Austria-Hungary .
They planned to defeat France swiftly, before Russia could marshal its forces. The invasion of France and the violation of Belgian neutrality brought Britain into the war. Find out all you need to know about Pre-First World War allliances.
This section describes—on a European rather than a national basis—the social, economic, intellectual, and cultural implications of these and other developments in Europe. For a complete discussion of the diplomatic events and military course of World Wars I and II, see World War I and World War II.
The political situation in Europe prior to World War I was one of the multiple developing powers jockeying for the control of Europe's smaller powers.
Empires before World War I. Map showing empires in existence pre-WWI in 1914 In 1914, much of the world was dominated by a handful of empires. When fighting broke out that year, the global reach of warring empires ensured a World War. See full-sized image for analysis.
By the summer of 1914, Europe was in a crisis. Just weeks before Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, had been assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serbian-backed terrorist. Now just a few weeks later, the continent's largest armies were mobilizing against each other with new nations joining the fight seemingly every week.
It is difficult to escape the conclusion that Europe before 1914 succumbed to hubris. The conventional images of “armed camps,” “a powder keg,” or “saber rattling” almost trivialize a civilization that combined within itself immense pride in its newly expanding power and almost apocalyptic insecurity about the future.
Learn about Europe before World War I and the alliances, ideologies, and tensions that contributed to the outbreak of the war. Discover important treaties and pacts. Updated: 11/21/2023.
Russia Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Greece Serbia Albania Montenegro Persia Ottoman Empire Norway Finland Sweden Ireland Spain Italy France Portugal Belgium Romania
Before 1914, six European great powers — Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Austria—Hungary and Russia — along with two others from outside the continent — the USA and Japan — ‘had brought the greater part of the earth’s...