Assassination in Sarajevo triggers the July Crisis

Germany sent the gunboat Panther to Agadir amid France’s intervention in Morocco. The crisis ended with a territorial bargain, but reinforced perceptions of encirclement and rivalry. Morocco was not...

Italy attacked Ottoman Libya to expand its empire, using aerial bombardment and occupying coastal cities. The war ended with Italy taking Libya and the Dodecanese. Anti-colonial resistance...

Montenegro’s declaration of war began a wider conflict involving Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece against the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman retreat reshaped borders and left unresolved rivalries. The wars...

Albanian leaders declared independence as Ottoman power collapsed in the Balkans. The new state’s borders were contested and imposed amid great-power bargaining, illustrating how claims of national...

Bulgaria attacked former allies over the division of Ottoman territories, triggering a second Balkan war. The settlement left grievances across the region and intensified strategic anxieties in...

Vienna delivered a severe ultimatum to Serbia, including demands that Serbian officials permit Austro-Hungarian participation in the investigation. Serbia accepted most demands but not all....

Austria-Hungary declared war after receiving Germany’s support. Mobilizations and declarations followed across Europe. The chain was not an automatic mechanical effect of alliances: political...

Germany invaded neutral Belgium as part of its western campaign. Britain declared war on Germany the same day. Belgium’s resistance and occupation became central to Allied war narratives, while the...

Fighting spread to German colonies in Togo, Cameroon, and German East Africa. African soldiers served in colonial forces, while large numbers of civilians were recruited—often forcibly—as carriers....

Union forces occupied the German port at Lüderitz as part of the campaign against German South-West Africa (today Namibia). South African participation was shaped by imperial allegiance but deeply...