9781422286029

Prelude to a Catastrophe

11

GREENLAND

N

E

W

ICELAND

St.Petersburg

NETH.

NORWAY

SWEDEN

RUSSIAN EMPIRE

S

GREAT BRITAIN

CANADA

DEN.

GERMANY

Berlin

London

AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMP. ROM. BULG. SERB. Vienna

BEL.

Paris

SWITZ.

MONGOLIA

FRANCE

Constantinople

ITALY

PORTUGAL SPAIN

OTTOMAN EMPIRE

UNITED STATES

GREECE

JAPAN

KOREA (Japan)

ALB.

FR. MOROCCO SP.

TUNISIA

AFGHAN- ISTAN

MOROCCO

CHINA

PERSIA

TIBET

ALGERIA

QATAR

NEPAL

KUWAIT

LIBYA

RIODE ORO (Sp.)

EGYPT

PACIFIC OCEAN

MEXICO

BHUTAN

BR. HONDURAS

FORMOSA (Japan)

HAITI

INDIA

DOMINICAN REP.

F

ARABIA

BURMA

CUBA JAMAICA

OMAN

GAMBIA

FRENCH WESTAFRICA

PHILIPPINES (U.S.)

SIAM

ERITREA

HONDURAS

ADEN

GOA (Port.)

GUATEMALA

FR. INDOCHINA

NICARAGUA

SUDAN

PACIFICOCEAN

BR.GUIANA

BR. SOMALILAND

ELSALVADOR

NIGERIA

PORTUGUESE GUINEA

DUTCHGUIANA

VENEZUELA

COSTARICA

ETHIOPIA

SIERRA LEONE

FR.GUIANA

PANAMA

MALAYSTATES

FR. SOMALILAND

COLOMBIA

UGANDA

FR. EQUATORIAL AFRICA CAMEROON

TOGO RIOMUNI

Empires in1914

BR.EAST AFRICA

LIBERIA

IT. SOMALILAND

BELGIAN CONGO GER. EAST AFRICA

ECUADOR

Britain France Germany Russia Austria-Hungary Ottoman UnderBritish

GOLD COAST

DUTCH EAST INDIES

INDIANOCEAN

NYASALAND

BRAZIL

PERU

ANGOLA (Port.)

N. RHODESIA S. RHODESIA

FIJI

BOLIVIA

ATLANTIC OCEAN

MADAGASCAR

GER. S.W. AFRICA

(

BECHUANA- LAND

PARAGUAY

AUSTRALIA

SOUTH AFRICA BASUTOLAND SWAZILAND

CHILE

protectionor influence Capitalsof theEmpires

URUGUAY

ARGENTINA

NEW ZEALAND

Miles

2,000

0

OP601World in1914 Black Cyan Magenta Yellow SecondProof

Because of the rival alliances, a conflict between two of Europe’s Great Powers could easily touch off a huge, catastrophic war. Many people assumed their leaders would be extremely reluctant to take that risk. Such optimism was misplaced. “All sides are preparing for European War, which all sides expect sooner or later,” wrote Helmuth von Moltke, head of Germany’s General Staff, in December 1912. A year and a half later, an assassination would set in motion a chain of events that led to the war Moltke anticipated. An Assassination in Sarajevo On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand—heir to the Austro-Hun- garian throne—was shot to death. His wife, Sophie, was also killed. The murders took place in Sarajevo, capital of Austria-Hungary’s troubled province of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Authorities arrested the shooter and a handful of others who had plotted with him to kill the archduke. They were all from Bosnia-Herzegovina. But an investigation quickly found that the In 1914, European countries dominated the globe. The British Empire alone covered about one-quarter of earth’s land area. Germany’s desire to expand its own empire was a major cause of World War I.