Start Date For The Great War

Discussions on all aspects of the First World War not covered in the other sections. Hosted by Terry Duncan.
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Pips
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Start Date For The Great War

#1

Post by Pips » 03 Jul 2014, 15:14

Just what is the 'official' commencement date for the Great War?

Here in Oz (and I suppose Great Britain as well?) it's in the history books as 4 August, 1914. That's the day Britain officially declared war against Germany.

Yet there are several key dates, all of which have significant meaning for differing countries.

Is it the:
a) 28th July? The day Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
b) 1st August? Germany declared war on Russia.
c) 3rd August? Germany declared war on France.
d) 4th August? Great Britain declared war on Germany.

What date will be the 'universal' world date to mark this event? Will there in fact be a universal date?

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Terry Duncan
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Re: Start Date For The Great War

#2

Post by Terry Duncan » 03 Jul 2014, 17:12

The war is officially 28th July 1914 - 28th June 1919, dates accepted by different people in different nations will vary usually by the dates their own nation entered the war, but notably also in the end date of the war as most forget that the 11/11/18 Armistice was only the first of several armistices between then and the final peace treaty five years to the day after the assassination in Sarajevo.


ljadw
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Re: Start Date For The Great War

#3

Post by ljadw » 03 Jul 2014, 18:56

It is not 28 july (the AH DOW on Serbia did not result in other DOW's) but 1 august :the German DOW on Russia;it is also not 3 august (the German DOW on France),because the attack in the West started already on 2 august .

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Terry Duncan
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Re: Start Date For The Great War

#4

Post by Terry Duncan » 03 Jul 2014, 19:02

Without the declaration of war by Austria on 28th July none of the others would have taken place at all.

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Re: Start Date For The Great War

#5

Post by ljadw » 03 Jul 2014, 19:41

I disagree :

1)There were no "others"

2) The only thing that happened after 28 july was the German DOW on Russia,immediately followed by an attack in the West ;and,this was not dependant on the Austrian DOW on Russia .

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Terry Duncan
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Re: Start Date For The Great War

#6

Post by Terry Duncan » 03 Jul 2014, 19:54

If there had been no other declarations of war after 28th July then there would have been no Great War. To suggest the German actions on 31st July/1st August have no connection with the earlier Austrian declaration of war is to agree with Bethmann's policy that it was possible to localise a war between Austria and Serbia, which of course ignores that other nations considered they had an interest in the Balkans - and that the Austrian Note admitted this when mentioning the Serbian promise to the Powers as a group in 1909.

Other than that it would require a German decision to go to war irrespective of actions taken by Russia, including acceptance of the Austrian attack on Serbia.

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Terry Duncan
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Re: Start Date For The Great War

#7

Post by Terry Duncan » 04 Jul 2014, 00:50

A series of posts was moved to the 'Germany was the only responsible for WWI' thread as they concern the motives behind decisions and have nothing to do with the start date of the war.

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 7#p1884007

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Graeme Sydney
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Re: Start Date For The Great War

#8

Post by Graeme Sydney » 04 Jul 2014, 02:22

I would vote for the German DOW on Russia (as much as my vote might count :oops: ). Up until then it was a local war and could be kept as a local war but I think once the German DOW was declared it would have taken something exceptional, and unlikely, to stop the cascade into a World War.

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