How It Began

How It Began Updated - Saturday, 27 March, 2004 If you are new to the First World War - or are rusty after many years since history class - the reasons for the so-called 'Great War' can be shrouded in confusion. The Second World War was rather more straightforward: no questions there who did what and who was at fault. This website contains much material based in and around the events of World War One - but if you are unsure how it began and who did what, well, where to begin? That's the purpose of this section of the site. Admittedly the origins of the war remain somewhat controversial even after all these years, but the facts are there. The articles contained here outline the run-up to the war, who was who, and explain why the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was by no means the sole cause of the conflict, how it was spoiling anyhow. Having read these primers you will hopefully be in a better position to explore the remainder of the site which despite its size is, of course, still very much in development.

The Causes of World War One (click here) What happened and why Archduke Ferdinand's Assassination (click here) Memoir of Archduke's assassination The July Crisis (click here) Events of July 1914 leading to war How the War was Planned (click here) Plan XVII, Schlieffen Plan, Plan B... Balkan Causes of World War One (click here) The Black Hand and the Serbian Government Willy-Nicky Telegrams (click here) Kaiser to the Tsar and the Tsar to the Kaiser Austria's Ultimatum to Serbia (click here) Austria-Hungary's reaction to the assassination Map of Pre-War Europe (click here) European borders prior to the onset of war

Archduke Franz Ferdinand (click here) Heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Gavrilo Princip (click here) Member of the Black Hand and Ferdinand's assassin

The Battle of Liege (click here)

Opening land battle of World War One in Belgium 365 Days On (click here) Events of 1 August 1915

Kaiser Wilhelm II (click here) German monarch Tsar Nicholas II (click here) Russian monarch Emperor Franz-Josef (click here) Austro-Hungarian monarch Prince Alexander (click here) Serbian regent Sir Edward Grey (click here) British Foreign Secretary Count Leopold von Berchtold (click here) Austro-Hungarian Foreign Secretary President Wilson (click here) U.S. President Joseph Joffre (click here) French Commander-in-Chief Sir John French (click here) British Commander-in-Chief Helmuth von Moltke (click here) German Army Chief of Staff

The Minor Powers (click here) Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece Montenegro, etc. Who Declared War and When (click here) Rundown of war declarations by nation Principal Actions of World War One (click here) List of primary events, actions and offensives The War in Gallipoli: An Overview (click here) Summary of the war in the Dardanelles in 1915

Songs on the Way to the Front (click here) "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" (1914, MP3 music) Life in the Trenches (click here) Daily routine of trench life A Soldier Remembers... (click here) David Philips recounts his experiences In Flanders Fields (click here) Story of the war's best known poem

The Christmas Truce (click here) Story of the unofficial truce of Christmas 1914

The Armistice of 11 November 1918 (click here) The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month Military Casualties of World War One (click here) Numbers of dead, wounded and missing

Memorial to the Missing (click here) Monument to unknown dead in France at Thiepval