After Sweden opted to preserve its neutral status. Sweden's security was strongly dependent on the status of Finland and indirectly on the policy of the USSR towards Finland as well. Finland derives its policy of neutrality from the period directly following the Second World War.
Its interest in remaining neutral in conflicts between great powers was first recognised in a treaty between Finland and the USSR in the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. The treaty forbids the signatories to join a military alliance against the other, and Finland could not allow its territory to be used for an attack on the USSR. Finland was also bound to preserve its neutrality through adequate armed forces.
Britain joined the Triple Entente. Despite being part of the Triple Entente, Britain was not committed to going to war in The Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, spent much of the summer of furiously trying to reassure Russia and Germany and prevent a war happening.
Germany hoped Britain would stay out of the war altogether. However, the Germans knew that Britain had promised to defend Belgium under the Treaty of London of The Germans wanted the British government to ignore the Treaty of London and let the German army pass through Belgium. The British government made much of their duty to protect Belgium.
Belgium's ports were close to the British coast and German control of Belgium would have been seen as a serious threat to Britain. In the end, Britain refused to ignore the events of 4 August , when Germany attacked France through Belgium. Within hours, Britain declared war on Germany. The Kaiser said how foolish he thought the British were. He said that Britain had gone to war for the sake of a "scrap of paper".
In , Germany and Austria-Hungary formed an alliance the Dual Alliance that gave them great strength in the centre of Europe. In , the French and the Russians formed their own strong alliance the Dual Entente that meant Germany now had an unfriendly power on each side. Soon afterwards, Germany's most powerful soldier, General Schlieffen, drew up a plan that would allow Germany to beat France very quickly in any future war.
This would then free most German troops to fight Russia in the east. By the early s, the alliances had developed. Britain was much less committed to this alliance than Russia or France. In and , there were disputes between the powers over colonies in North Africa. In , Austria-Hungary took over the province of Bosnia, which contained many Serbs.
However, he refrained from asking for a declaration of war because he doubted that the U. Wilson left open the possibility of negotiating with Germany if its submarines refrained from attacking U.
Nevertheless, throughout February and March , German submarines targeted and sank several U. On February 26, Wilson asked Congress for the authority to arm U. While the measure would probably have passed in a vote, several anti-war Senators led a successful filibuster that consumed the remainder of the congressional session. As a result of this setback, President Wilson decided to arm U. In return for this assistance, Germany asked for Mexican support in the war. Initially, the British had not shared the news of the Zimmermann Telegram with U.
Featured Content. Tags Find topics of interest and explore encyclopedia content related to those topics. Browse A-Z Find articles, photos, maps, films, and more listed alphabetically.
For Teachers Recommended resources and topics if you have limited time to teach about the Holocaust. Wise — International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. About This Site. Glossary : Full Glossary.
0コメント