Start of World War I

28 June 1914 heir to Austrian throne: Archduke Franz

Ferdinand was shot by a Serbian nationalist (Gavrilo Princip)
in Sarajevo
With backing from its ally Germany
Austria presents an Ultimatum
This ultimatum declared
the Serbians must rein in nationalist and antiAustrian movements in their country
Austria declared war anyway even
though the Serbs fulfilled it
Likewise to Germanys alliance with Austria, Russia
was allied with Serbia
Because of this alliance, Russia
believed they would have a military disadvantage if
war broke out and the Germans were prepared before
them so they mobilized their troops
Germany followed suit and did the
same
To not fight Russia and
France at the same time, Germany attacked
France through Belgium
Since Britain was
committed to Belgian independence by treaty
they attacked Germany
Thusly World War I starts

Colonies

The empires were reliant on their colonies to have

more strategic positions as well as having a stronger
economic well-being
The other important part of these colonies was the
mother country could replenish troops with people from these
territories making it a global war

Ottoman Empire and

Persia

These were among the largest of all nations impacted

by the war
The Ottomans lost 25% of their population
This was roughly five million in a
population of 21 million
These casualties were on and off the battlefield
Four in five Ottomans lost their lives as
noncombatants
This was due to starvation and ethnic
cleansing
Many Armenians believe this was due
to genocide by the Ottoman government, yet the
Turks believe it to be due to war
Even though Persia was neutral in the war it had

similar losses to the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire PreWar vs. Post-War

Before the war, the Ottomans ruled most of the Middle

East outside of Saudi Arabia
By the 1920s: Turkey became an independent
republic, Asiatic Arab provinces were divided into what later
became their own states, Egypt became its own quasiindependent state, and most of Arab Peninsula was united by
dynasty control of ibn Saud

Nationalism

Post-war many nationalistic movements in previous

Ottoman territory
Some of these were successful while
others werent
With the end of the empire, Ottoman nationalism
osmanlilik was no longer an option
With no political framework to unite the Arabs and
Turks among other ethno-linguistic groups

Zionism

Broadly defined as Jewish nationalism

Belief Jews have same right to self-determination as
other people
That self-determination was in the site of Palestine
1917 Zionism recognized by Great Britain
During the period between WWI to WWII Jewish
immigration to Palestine soared
This led to the first violence between Jewish people
and the local indigenous groups
Not only did this spark creation for Israel, but it also
started the Israel-Palestine conflict

Political Change in
Persia

New political established after WWI in Persia by Reza

Khan who later gave himself the title Reza Shah
His son became Muhammad Reza Shah
Their reign centralized the government and state
power higher than ever before
Their decisions can still be seen by how they
influenced economic, social and political aspects of modern
life in Iran