The German states formally united as the nation of Germany, and Germany began to catch up to Britain in economic power. Prussia, along with other German states, quickly defeated France. The brief Franco-Prussian War, which ended in 1871, led to a shift in Europe's balance of power. Britain was producing about two-thirds of the world's coal and more than half of its iron and cloth. In 1850, Britain led the world in industrial manufacturing. With its dominions and colonies, the empire held sway over about 450 million people and almost a quarter of the Earth's land area. Why and how did the world go to war in 1914?įor about 100 years, from 1815 to 1914, the great powers of Europe had managed to avert a full-scale Europe-wide war. World War I lasted four years and brought destruction on a scale that no one had imagined. The murders sparked a conflict that exploded into a war enveloping much of the world, causing more than 16 million deaths, and leaving 20 million people wounded or missing. His targets were two passengers in the open car: Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sophie. On June 28, 1914, an angry young man opened fire on a car going through the streets of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. On the front page of a 1914 Italian newspaper. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife,Sophie, as depicted in a drawing Main Article A Fire Waiting to Be Lit: The Origins of World War I
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |