1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,520 Hello class, today we are going to explain the origin of the First World War. 2 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:17,600 So let's start by looking at the most important contenders and causes of this war. 3 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:24,920 The First World War began in 1914 and there were two important contenders, two important 4 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:35,120 sides in this war, the Central Powers which were composed of Germany, Austria-Hungary 5 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:46,440 and also the Ottoman Empire and later on Bulgaria joined the war in 1915 and they fought against 6 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:56,560 the Allies, the Triple Entente which was composed of France together with Great Britain, actually 7 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:07,400 they signed an alliance in 1904 and later on France and Great Britain joined their forces 8 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:13,000 together with Russia in 1907. 9 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:23,040 Later on in the war the United States joined the Triple Entente in 1917 and actually Serbia 10 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:31,160 was the main ally of Russia, that's why Serbia belonged also to the forces of the Triple 11 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:33,160 Entente. 12 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:39,240 So now we are going to explain the main causes of this war, there were territorial causes 13 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:47,960 because France, for example, claimed the territories of Alsace and Lorraine, those 14 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:56,920 territories from Germany because remember France lost these important industrial territories 15 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:04,400 after the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. 16 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:18,280 Italy also claimed the territories of Istria and Trento from Austria-Hungary, why? 17 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:26,160 Because those territories belonged to the Austrian Empire and there was an important 18 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:33,960 Italian community in both territories, in Istria and Trento. 19 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:44,240 There were also causes related to the powerful ideology of nationalism because at that time, 20 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:50,920 for example, at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century the 21 00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:56,680 Ottoman Empire was in absolute decline. 22 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:04,320 Basically the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans, in the area of the Balkans, Balkanes, collapsed 23 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:12,360 and as a consequence of that the Austro-Hungarian Empire wanted to take over the area of the 24 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:14,600 Balkans. 25 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:20,840 So as the Ottoman Empire was in decline the Austro-Hungarian Empire wanted to take over 26 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:29,640 the area of the Balkans but Serbia and Russia were also interested in the Balkans because 27 00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:35,900 they would get access to the Mediterranean Sea. 28 00:03:35,900 --> 00:03:46,480 So when Austria conquered Bosnia in 1908 it increased the tension. 29 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:54,000 Bosnia belonged before to the Ottoman Empire but when the Ottoman Empire retreated, when 30 00:03:54,000 --> 00:04:00,560 they were in decline, they lost this territory and as a consequence of that the Austro-Hungarian 31 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:10,320 Empire took over Bosnia and it increased the tension which led to the Balkans War from 32 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:15,680 1912 to 1913. 33 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:25,520 In this war the Austro-Hungarian Empire fought against Serbia and also against Russia and 34 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:30,600 Serbia and Russia were the winners of this war. 35 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:40,680 So for the reason as Serbia was clearly becoming stronger, Austria-Hungary fearing a general 36 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:52,520 Slav uprising against them, for this reason they took an important decision which led 37 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:55,040 to the First World War. 38 00:04:55,040 --> 00:05:03,740 They looked to the Germans for support and for this reason the Germans became the main 39 00:05:03,740 --> 00:05:10,000 allies of Austria-Hungary against Serbia and Russia. 40 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,920 So this is an important reason. 41 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:20,760 Also there were colonial classes which led to the First World War because the imperialist 42 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:28,040 powers were fighting at that moment for the raw materials, for the colonies, for the markets. 43 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:36,320 This is the moment when France and Great Britain were fighting against Germany. 44 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:44,720 So there was a climate of mistrust which led to two important crises. 45 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:56,560 The first crisis was in the area of Fashoda in 1898 and it happened when the British, 46 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:04,640 as you know, the British had the goal in mind of conquering from Northern Africa, from Egypt 47 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:12,600 up to what is now South Africa, and for this reason Lord Kitchener, the general, the British 48 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:22,120 general met in the area of Fashoda with the French general Marchand, because remember 49 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:27,680 that the French had the goal in mind, they had the goal in mind of conquering from the 50 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:32,800 West, from Senegal up to the East. 51 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:39,040 Both of them, together with their armies, met in the village of Fashoda, in what is 52 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:43,320 now Sudan, and the British were the winners. 53 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:51,320 That's why they extended their territories from Egypt, from the North, to the South, 54 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,520 to the area of South Africa. 55 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:56,600 And the other crisis was in Morocco. 56 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:04,200 At the beginning of the 20th century, Morocco was the main scene of an international tension 57 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:09,320 as European powers competed to control it. 58 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:18,040 The possibility of war was constantly present and the crisis was in 1905, when the French 59 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:23,880 were actually controlling the vast majority of the territory. 60 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:31,640 But also the German emperor Wilhelm II was interested in Morocco, he wanted more raw 61 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:41,640 materials for Yemen, and for this reason there was a crisis between France against Yemen. 62 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:49,360 The situation was of a brink of a war, and they were on the verge of a war, close to 63 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:57,640 a war, and for this reason Great Britain helped France in this conflict. 64 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:06,480 In the end, there was a peace conference in the area of Algeciras in Spain, and as a consequence 65 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:13,440 of that, the vast majority of the territories were for France, and the territories of the 66 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:21,840 North, northern Morocco, the worst territories, the poor territories of Morocco, were for 67 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:30,640 Spain, and Germany, as you can imagine, was absolutely angry for the situation, they were 68 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:38,160 upset for the situation, which later on led to the First World War. 69 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:48,000 So the situation was really shameful for the Kaiser, for Wilhelm II, so there were also 70 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:54,480 military causes, because at that moment, at that time, at the beginning of the 20th century, 71 00:08:54,480 --> 00:09:03,120 there was an alliance system, and remember that the Triple Entente, which was composed 72 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:11,680 of the UK, France, together with Russia, was against the Triple Alliance, which was composed 73 00:09:11,680 --> 00:09:18,080 of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire, of course. 74 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:28,320 So at that moment, there was an atmosphere of mistrust, which led to an arms race, which 75 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:35,920 was called peace through strength, and at that moment, due to this atmosphere, due to this 76 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:47,440 climate of mistrust, any tiny incident could lead to a war of enormous proportions, and 77 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:54,720 this is what happened, class. The spark of the crisis, the spark of the crisis was, 78 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:03,200 it happened, the spark of the crisis, due to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. 79 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:12,720 Who was Franz Ferdinand? Franz Ferdinand was the heir of Austria-Hungary, and he was in Sarajevo, 80 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:24,480 he was in Sarajevo in a ceremony, and this is the moment on the 20th, on the 28th of June in 1914, 81 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:33,760 when Franz Ferdinand, the heir of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was the Archduke, was 82 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:47,440 assassinated. His assassin, his murderer, was Gabrilo Princip, was a Bosnian student who belonged, 83 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:56,720 who belonged to a Serbian nationalist organization, which was called the Black Hand. 84 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:04,160 What was the main goal of the Black Hand? The main goal was to expel the Austrians 85 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:12,800 from the Balkans, and this assassination, this assassination, actually, let me say this, 86 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:22,640 Gabrilo Princip was a teenager, and he didn't have anything to lose, because he was extremely sick, 87 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:31,600 he got tuberculosis, he was about to die, and for this reason he wanted to kill, before he died, 88 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:42,480 the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This assassination, the assassination in 1914, triggered, regrettably, 89 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:50,560 the First World War, but as you have studied before with me, the true causes of this war 90 00:11:50,560 --> 00:12:01,360 have been developing for decades. Actually, during the ceremony, the murderers, the assassins, 91 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:11,360 tried to kill Franz Ferdinand in three different times. At that moment, on the 20th, 92 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:16,320 on the 28th of June, during the ceremony, 93 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:27,280 the heir of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was in Sarajevo, and during the ceremony, the assassins 94 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:35,120 tried to kill him, together with his wife, in three different times, but they failed. 95 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:43,680 They tried in three different times, but they failed. So, as you can imagine, Franz Ferdinand 96 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:54,800 was really upset when he went to the hotel, but at that moment, at that moment, he decided to carry 97 00:12:54,880 --> 00:13:04,640 on with the ceremony. So, despite the difficulties, despite those attempts to kill him, 98 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:14,800 Franz Ferdinand decided to carry on with the ceremony. So, Gabriel Princip was conscious of 99 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:25,120 his failure. Actually, he decided to eat a sandwich in a bar, and when the car of Franz 100 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:36,800 Ferdinand wanted to carry on with the ceremony, they decided to carry on with it, to go to a 101 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:45,200 hospital, to carry on with this important and official ceremony. So, at that moment, 102 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:54,400 when Gabriel Princip was eating a sandwich, regrettably, the driver took a wrong street. 103 00:13:56,160 --> 00:14:05,440 The gearbox of the car was stuck at that moment, and imagine when Gabriel Princip was eating his 104 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:18,160 sandwich, and he saw in front of him Franz Ferdinand's car. This is the moment when Gabriel 105 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:32,480 Princip took his gun, he shot at him, and he shot also his wife, and he changed history, 106 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:40,800 regrettably, for the mankind. So, this is the beginning of the First World War. This is the 107 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:49,520 moment when Gabriel Princip was caught by the police, and it began the First World War. Why? 108 00:14:49,600 --> 00:15:03,440 Because, at that moment, Austria gave an ultimatum, they gave an ultimatum to Serbia, 109 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:12,160 that the vast majority of the countries thought that Serbia wouldn't comply, because if they 110 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:27,920 accepted this ultimatum, it would mean a loss. Serbia would lose its sovereignty, but 111 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:40,560 Serbia finally decided to accept the ultimatum from Austria. Regrettably for everybody, 112 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:49,520 it wasn't enough for the Austrians, and finally, Austria declared war on Serbia on the 28th of July. 113 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:58,560 When Austria declared war on Serbia, one month later on from the assassination, 114 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:09,520 on the 28th of July, Russia, as Russia was the main ally of Serbia, the Russians decided to move 115 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:24,240 their troops to the Austrian border, and they declared war on Austria on the 29th of July 116 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:34,240 to protect Serbia. So, on the 29th of July, Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary 117 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:50,320 to protect Serbia. And what happened next? When Russia declared war on Austria, as Germany was the main ally of Austria, 118 00:16:51,280 --> 00:17:02,240 Germany declared war on Russia and on France on the 1st of August in 1914. 119 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:11,200 Actually, this is an image of the multitude in Munich, they were celebrating war, because the vast 120 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:18,000 majority of the people were in favor of the war, they thought that they would have a break in their 121 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:27,040 routines, they didn't know the massacre that it would happen as a consequence of the war, and you 122 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:35,280 can see here among the multitude one man, and I don't know if you recognize him, but he is Adolf 123 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:44,160 Hitler and he was celebrating war in Munich. He will be an important figure, not in the First World War, 124 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:53,440 but he will be an important historic figure during the Second World War. And what happened 125 00:17:53,440 --> 00:18:05,040 next? We are about to finish. When Germany declared war on Russia on the 1st of August, 126 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:12,000 what happened next with France and with Great Britain? Remember that they had an alliance 127 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:20,560 with Russia. So, when Germany declared war on Russia, France and Great Britain 128 00:18:21,120 --> 00:18:28,400 declared war on Germany on the 3rd of August in 1914. 129 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:38,240 So, the countries spent vast amounts of money on manufacturing new weapons, building warships, 130 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:45,040 and strengthening their armies. They were all prepared themselves for a war 131 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:55,520 which could be started by any future conflict. And the assassination of the Austrian 132 00:18:55,520 --> 00:19:06,080 Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the conflict which triggered the First World War. 133 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:13,840 So, don't skip the following lessons class because I don't know if you can answer this 134 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:19,840 question, but do you know how many people died in the First World War? 20 million people. 135 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:29,760 From this incident in Sarajevo, from this assassination, it will turn our history 136 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:34,640 into a massive massacre. Thank you so much.