Margarita Arnold HIS 112-100M The Great War Archduke Francis Ferdinands assassination was the shot that

was heard around the world, and it started the Great War, also known as World War I. According to Traditions and Encounters the assassination of Ferdinand brought around the war in Europe between already tense countries. Ferdinands assassination in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina as described in Traditions and Encounters is full of details about the Serbian nationalist assassins who were members of the Black Hand as determined by Austrian investigators in July of 1914. Ferdinands route was pre-planned, along the narrow streets full of spectators. There was seven assassins, a relevant number in history as well as religious texts. The first assassin failed to assassinate Ferdinand, but the second assassin threw a bomb which bounced off and hit the spectators. The assassin tried to kill himself by swallowing an old cyanide pill and jumping into a shallow creek; his suicide was unsuccessful. With all this commotion, Ferdinand still went to city hall for a reception, and then drove to the hospital where the wounded spectators were being treated. On the way there, Gavrilo Princip met Ferdinand and fired the first bullet into Ferdinands neck. The second bullet hit Duchess Sophie, Ferdinands wife into the stomach. The Duchess and the Archduke died almost instantly, while Gavrilo tried to commit suicide by swallowing an old cyanide pill, which did not work. Where did these people get old cyanide pills? The spectators and the police beat Gavrilo in the street, and put him in jail where he later died of tuberculosis. The First World War: An Illustrated History by AJP Taylor offers a little different account of the traumatic event as it happened in front of many eyes. Firstly, Taylor mentioned that Ferdinand and Sophie died on their wedding anniversary, and it was Ferdinands gift to Sophie to be in public together. Ferdinand could not take Sophie along on his trips because she was actually not a part of the monarchy she was just a countess. There was one loop hole. The Archduke was a field marshal and Inspector General of the Austro-Hungarian army. His wife could only enjoy the recognition of his rank when he was in military capacity (13). The assassinators were not identified as being part of the Black Hand, they were described as half a dozen grammar school boys (13) with crude weapons. Also, the lineup of the assassins is listed differently. The first assassin failed to draw his weapon (13), the second felt sorry (13), and the third assassin is listed as the second in Traditions and Encounters was the one who threw the bomb, which

angered Ferdinand. Ferdinand then, instead of going to the city hall as described in Traditions and Encounters wanted to drive out of town, but his chauffeur was not notified, so Ferdinand was presumably driven to the city hall. The chauffeur took a wrong turn, and that is when Gavrilo Princip got his lucky shot. The causes of WWI were intense nationalism, frustrated national ambitions, and ethnic resentments, the pursuit of exclusive economic interests, abrasive colonial rivalries, and a general struggle over the balance of power in Europe (764). Europe divided into two sides: The Central Powers and the Allied Powers. The Central Powers also known as the Triple Alliance contained Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. The Allie Powers comprised of Britain, France, Italy, Russia, and eventually the USA. According to the account in Traditions and Encounters Frances military plan was to attack, Germanys plan was planned by General Count Alfred von Schlieffen, to knock out France so the Germans would not be encircled. The military plans failed according to two factors listed in Traditions and Encounters: complex mobilization plans and the grinding logic of the alliance system.(768) Complex mobilization plans confused everyone, as well as exhausted all efforts to war after the first month. The logic of the alliance system, combined with nationalism was an explosion of butchery in the Western Front. No one had thought of a defense plan, only attack in the name of your country. In The First World War: An Illustrated History, Taylor writes about the both powers trying to threaten each other in order to avoid war at first. All the European Powers began to mobilize with plans of attacking, if their alliances were attacked first. It was like a game of poker: One bluff was piled on top of the other. (20) The disillusionment had begun, with an ideal from Britain a war to end all wars. (23) European Powers failed because their supreme commanders-Joffre in France, Moltke in Germany, Conrad in Austria Hungary, Grand Duke Nicholas in Russia- owed their position to favoritism or some twist of politics rather than to ability.(23) Delivering the men was speedy to the battle field by train and sluggish in battle because there was no machinery to transport them once they got there. Defense was mechanized; attack was not.(24) The battle of Mons along the Conde Canal in Belgium encompassed German army corps attacking British divisions. During the battle a supernatural vision occurred. The British soldiers observed the angels of Mons (29), a vision of angels fighting on the British side against the

Germans. This vision was observed by many, not just one person. There was much speculation after this vision, and it raised the British soldiers morale. (MacGregor) A theory for this vision is the usage of opiates by soldiers for medicinal purposes, which causes delusions and hallucinations. Rather, it is surmised that opium's primary use was as a medicine. The prohibitive cost of opium made the purchase of substantial quantities of the drug for recreation possible only for the well to do. (Hoffman, 3) Americas appetite for opiates was spurred on by the Civil War. With the invention of the hypodermic needle, the administration of morphine [opiates] became wide spread. Nevertheless most evidence seems to indicate that the Civil War produced quite a few habitual opiate users. Opium and morphine, which at least in the initial stages of their use produces euphoria, suited these purposed very well." (Hoffman, 5) Government authorities also established wage and price controls, extended work hours, and in some instances restricted the movements of workers. (773) As stated in Traditions and Encounters all European Powers abandoned capitalism and instituted a laissez-faire economy to stay within their means during the war. The USA felt called on to make the world safe for democracy. (769) Taylor instead wrote about volunteer recruitment, and monetary donations form the citizens of Britain: simple patriotism for less than 100 (56). Germany reduced taxes to alleviate the hardships of war and also brought demand for patriotic War Loans. (51) USA had tried to remain neutral, or more of a peace maker. Americans combined virtue and profit. They grew rich, supplying Allied needs(47) All the immigrants that left Europe for America would not support their counties of birth at war, after all they came to America to escape what was going on in Europe. The defense was moved by rail, and the attack was moved by horse. This observation by Taylor made the Great War lethargic. Troops were coming in by the dozen on the rail way, but after they were dropped off, the troops had to move by foot. This made progress of the war painstakingly slow. No one had thought of defense, because the military leaders have never been to war as described paragraph two. Thus without defensive maneuvers, no one could advance in the battle front and no one came home by Christmas as expected.

Sources Bentley, J.H., & Ziegler, H.E. (2011). Traditions & Encounters (5th ed., Vol 2). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Pages 763-774.

MacGregor, S. (n.d.). Smoke without fire: A re-examination of the Angel of Mons. Retrieved October 17, 2012, from http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwi/articles/angelofmons.aspx

Hoffman, J.P. (n.d.). The historical shift in perception of opiates: From medicine to social Menace. . http://www.cnsproductions.com/pdf/Hoffman.pdf.

AJP Taylor The First world War: An Illustrated History Pages 13-65.