The War to End All Wars 3rd Ed.
Complete Game Rules
Forward
Europe, 1914
In August of 1914 the "Powder Keg" of Europe exploded, launching the world into five long years of the second bloodiest war in history. The "Powder Keg" of WWI, known as the Balkans, was a region of great instability that had suffered over four decades of strife and revolution. Nations such as Serbia, Romania, Greece and Bulgaria had all broken away from the weakening Ottoman Empire. Both the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires had been lasting enemies of the Ottoman Turks and wanted the Balkans for themselves, but not at the cost of allowing the other to move into the region.
In the west the French were still in the rebuilding phase after having lost the Franco-Prussian War to the newly unified German Empire. The knowledge that France intended to become stronger militarily and reclaim its lost provinces, Alsace and Loraine, was no secret. The British also worried about the new German dominance in the iron ore industry. The supremacy of the British Royal Navy was the means by which Britain maintained its massive empire and the rise of German naval power was quickly become a great concern to British security.
Advertisement
With concern over Germany's military prowess and growing economic dominance spreading throughout Europe, Germany faced potential enemies on all sides. To ensure a surviving chance in a possible conflict, Germany entered into an alliance with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy later joined the defensive alliance and it became known as the Triple Alliance. Feeling secure as members of the Triple Alliance, both Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire adopted more aggressive foreign policies. Germany began pressuring Britain to concede certain colonial possessions so they could become the imperial power "they deserved". Austria-Hungary set its eyes on Serbia, the most influential of the smaller Balkan nations.
On June 28, 1914, the Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria was assassinated by a member of a well known Serbian terrorist group. It was the excuse to move against Serbia that the Austrians had been waiting for. The Austrians sent the Serbian government a list of thirty demands that were to be met if war was to be avoided. Some of the demands were ludicrous and therefore flatly rejected. At this point, Russia began general mobilization of its army; a process that would take over a month to complete. Russia had both cultural and religious ties to Serbia and was prepared to wage war in order to protect its fellow Slav state.
Years before, Germany had formed a strategy called the "Schlieffen Plan", which was designed to win in the event of a two-front war against France and Russia. The Schlieffen Plan called for Germany to hurtle the bulk of its army through Belgium against France to knock France out of the war quickly, then transferring the army eastward to face the slower mobilizing Russian army. Though confident that Germany could defeat Russia, the generals knew that Russia held too vast a territory to overrun quickly. However, with Russian mobilization having already begun, the Schlieffen Plan was already at risk of failing. Germany had to decide what to do, and quickly. War between Austria and Russian seemed certain and Germany was honor bound to fight alongside Austria via the Triple Alliance, so on August 3rd Germany put the Schlieffen Plan into action and launched the world into WWI.
