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The Alliance System Collapses
Europe was divided into two rival Alliances
1. The Allies- Britain, France and Russia
2. The Central Powers- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and The Ottoman Empire
A Chain Reaction
Due to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, A.H. declared war on Serbia
Russia was allied with Serbia and moved troops to the A.H. border
As a result Germany declared war on Russia and their ally France
The Schlieffen Plan
Germany is in between Russia and France, so Germany’s general Schlieffen planned to attack France first before attacking Russia
They believed that Russia would take longer to mobilize due to their lack of railroads
Germany planned to defeat France on one side and rush back to the east to defeat Russia
The Schlieffen Plan
Germany invaded Belgium to attack France in the north
As a result, Belgium’s ally Britain declared war on Germany
Italy and Japan also joined the Allies
A Bloody Stalemate
The war turned into a long and bloody stalemate along the battlefields of France
This deadlocked region in northern France became known as the Western Front
A Bloody Stalemate
Germany’s plan to defeat France quickly and then fight the Russians failed
Germany was pushed back in the Battle of the Marne and a quick victory in the west was no longer possible.
In the east, Russian forces had already invaded Germany
War in the Trenches
The Western Front settled into a stalemate
Opposing armies on the Western Front had dug miles of parallel trenches to protect themselves from enemy fire
Trench warfare-soldiers fought each other from trenches. And armies traded huge losses of human life for small land gains