The first of my new series; SG Explains.
About this creation
The Great War, the War to End all Wars. Both synonyms for what is now known as World War One. From 1914 to 1918 Europe, Asia, the World saw the first mechanised war and an extreme loss of life.
Space Gypsy: But how did the war start? It is widely accepted that the Assassination of the heir to the Austria-Hungary Empire was the cause of the war. But the causes are actually deeper than that and to understand one has to look at the politics of the time and recent events. This MOC will provide an explanation to why the First World War broke out in an understandable, humorous fashion. But before I begin, allow me to introduce you to the main belligerents of the War and stars of this MOC.
Space Gypsy: Meet the Triple Entente, one of two ‘teams’ participating in the war. On the left, President Poincare, who will be representing France. In the centre King George V, representing the British Empire. And on the right Tsar Nicholas II representing the Russian Empire.
Space Gypsy: Now, the Central Powers. The opposing side of the war. Meet Mehmet Resat representing the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Next to him is the German Kaiser Wilhelm II. To the right of him Franz Josef, the Emperor of Austria-Hungary. And on the far right is Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy
Space Gypsy: And finally, we have; the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Franz Ferdinand and his killer Gavrilo Princip representing Serbia.
Space Gypsy: So. The first factor contributing to the outbreak of the First World War was Imperialism. During the nineteenth-century the Empires of Europe scrambled for control of colonies in Africa and Asia. These empires accumulated great wealth in doing so. Britain and France built the greatest empires. Germany, having realised this, became ambitious and tensions occurred between the incumbent powers and those emerging.
Space Gypsy: In 1906 the Britain’s Royal Navy (then the most powerful) launched it’s most modern and greatest ship on the planet. HMS Dreadnaught. HMS Dreadnaught and other ships of equal strength were launched to counter the growth of the navies of the United States and Germany. However, her launch fuelled an arms race between Britain and Germany. Both built vast fleets. Germany, to extend her influence and Britain to maintain her power.
Space Gypsy: These ambitious moves made by Germany weren’t spontaneous. They were done because Germany felt more confident in herself after her victory against France in the Franco-Prussian War. Her victory gave Germany the power, resources and nationalism to upset the balance of power in Europe and led to the Anglo-German naval arms race.
Space Gypsy: In October 1908 Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia. This triggered what is known as the Bosnian Crisis. The annexation seriously damaged relation between Austria-Hungary and Russia who thought of herself as the protector of the countries in that area.
Space Gypsy: The Balkans Wars (1912-1913) is also considered a cause of WW1. It included Serbia and Greece attacking Bulgaria. This weakened the powers of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire in favour of Russia.
Space Gypsy: Like Germany, Russia experienced an economic boom and a growing population. As well as a large military. However, her position was threatened by the Ottoman Empire whose armed forces were trained by German experts and fielded the latest technology. To curb the growing power of Turkey, Russia planned to conquer areas of the Ottoman Empire and extend Russian influence in the Black Sea.
Space Gypsy: One important reason for the outbreak of the First World War was the web of alliances between world powers. Many countries had agreements that meant if one goes to war their partners would follow. This meant that when the war broke out many countries and their empires would be sucked into the conflict. For example, if Britain went to war Japan would declare war on Britain’s enemy. And so they did. Honouring the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.
Space Gypsy: And finally, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Bosnia by a Serb is what triggered the war. Because of this Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia on Austria-Hungary, Germany on Russia and Britain and France on Germany.
Space Gypsy: In conclusion, the First World War can be seen as a domino effect. All of the factors I have just explained being the dominoes of a delicate peace and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand set off the collapse of the dominoes.
Space Gypsy: But who’s to blame for the war? I’m afraid each country has a different opinion about that.
Russia: ‘It is the fault of Austria-Hungary. They declaring war on my friend Serbia resulted in me declaring war on them.
Germany: the Great German Reich believes it is the fault of Russia. They declaring war on Austria-Hungary changed a localised war into a wider one.
Britain: We believe it is Germany’s fault. They marched through neutral Belgium to attack France. Therefore we declared war on them.
Modern Historian: Many of the countries involved in World War One can share some of the blame. They were all involved in imperialism and international treaties that ultimately lead to the outbreak of the war. It’s really just a matter of opinion. What do you think?
I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have concerning the subject.
There will also be many more instalment of SG Explains coming soon. If you ant something explained be sure to ask so here and I’ll give it a shot.
And as always, CC is welcome!
Comments
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July 4, 2012 |
funy.. |
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I made it |
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July 4, 2012 |
Quoting George G.
Did you get King George's medal from the S7 Swimmer or from the new Olympic figures? I picked up 3 ofthe new ones today - they're so cool!
Anyway, very nice creation, and I loved the modern historian at the end :P
The S7 Swimmer. I'll be getting some of the Olympic ones this week I should think. I'm getting some for other MOCpages users too. |
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July 3, 2012 |
Interesting, I've never really known anything about WW1. |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Wow, SG, this is great. |
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Read what you said on the neatchat. Thanks for siding me. |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
This is very good, and I like the minifigures. |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Nicely done, well documented. I forsee a series... |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Very interesting Space Gypsy. I learnt this last year, and this rendition seems spot on! |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Did you get King George's medal from the S7 Swimmer or from the new Olympic figures? I picked up 3 ofthe new ones today - they're so cool!
Anyway, very nice creation, and I loved the modern historian at the end :P |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Absolutely fantastic sir. Would love to see more of these. |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
This is really awesome! Great idea and well done in telling the story! |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Not really that much on history... Actually, I can't stand history... But good job. |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Great Idea!
Its just like history class in my school though, especially with all the reasons and same vocab you use, but I guess hats due to the shared education system ;) |
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July 3, 2012 |
Nice job! I really like this idea! |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Cool! |
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I made it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Quoting --R.K. Blast--
Nice! I don't think I've seen a proper history lesson type moc here on the 'pages. This could be a very interesting series. Well written ,easy to follow and historically accurate. I shall definitely be following these! Good job!
--Blast--
Thanks. I spent ages comparing different sources for this. |
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July 3, 2012 |
Best so far. Definetely. |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Nice! I don't think I've seen a proper history lesson type moc here on the 'pages. This could be a very interesting series. Well written ,easy to follow and historically accurate. I shall definitely be following these! Good job!
--Blast-- |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Cool! Nice backgrounds, can't wait for the next one! |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Great explanation! |
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I made it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Quoting Original Channel of MOCpages (Caleb)
Looks like you put a lot of effort into that, and what font is that?
Yeah. It's called Destruction. My favorite font. |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Looks like you put a lot of effort into that, and what font is that? |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2012 |
Wow, this is a great explanation! Well done! |
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