Editing Central Powers (section)

==== War justifications ====
[[File:German infantry 1914 HD-SN-99-02296.JPEG|thumb|German soldiers on the battlefield in August 1914 on the Western Front, shortly after the outbreak of war|alt=A black and white image of numerous soldiers charging to the left]]
[[File:Warschau unter Deutscher Besetzung 1915 - einzug deutscher Kavallerie (75299019) (cropped).jpg|thumb|German cavalry entering [[Warsaw]] in 1915|alt=A black and white image of soldiers on horseback with children watching on either side of them]]
[[File:SMS Seydlitz damage.jpg|thumb|German battlecruiser {{SMS|Seydlitz}} heavily damaged after the [[Battle of Jutland]]|alt=A black and white image of a heavily damaged German naval ship]]
[[File:Fordi-2.jpg|thumb|German [[Fokker Dr.I]] fighter aircraft of ''[[Jasta]]'' 26 at [[Erchin]] in [[German occupation of north-east France during World War I|German-occupied France]]|alt=A black and white image of triplanes lined up on grass a black Iron Cross on the back of each of them with many people behind them]]
In early July 1914, in the aftermath of the assassination of Austro-Hungarian [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|Archduke Franz Ferdinand]] and faced with the prospect of war between Austria-Hungary and [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]], [[Kaiser]] [[Wilhelm II]] and the German government informed the Austro-Hungarian government that Germany would uphold its alliance with Austria-Hungary and defend it from possible Russian intervention if a war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia took place.<ref name="Cashman, Greg 2007. P57">{{Cite book |last1=Cashman |first1=Greg |title=An Introduction to the Causes of War: Patterns of Interstate Conflict from World War I to Iraq. |last2=Robinson |first2=Leonard C |date=2007 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7425-5510-5 |page=}}</ref> When Russia enacted a [[general mobilization]], Germany viewed the act as provocative.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Meyer |first=G. J. |title=A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918 |publisher=[[Delacorte Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0553803549}}</ref>{{RP|39}} The Russian government promised Germany that its general mobilization did not mean preparation for war with Germany but was a reaction to the tensions between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.<ref name=":6" />{{RP|39}} The German government regarded the Russian promise of no war with Germany to be nonsense in light of its general mobilization, and Germany, in turn, mobilized for war.<ref name=":6" />{{RP|39}} On 1 August, Germany sent an ultimatum to [[Russian Empire|Russia]] stating that since both Germany and Russia were in a state of military mobilization, an effective state of war existed between the two countries.<ref name=":6" />{{RP|95}} Later that day, [[French Third Republic|France]], an ally of Russia, declared a state of general mobilization.<ref name=":6" />{{RP|95}}

In August 1914, Germany attacked Russia, citing Russian aggression as demonstrated by the mobilization of the Russian army, which had resulted in Germany mobilizing in response.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hagen |first=William W. |url=https://archive.org/details/germanhistoryinm0000hage |title=German History in Modern Times: Four Lives of the Nation |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0521191906 |page=228}}</ref>

After Germany declared war on Russia, France, with its alliance with Russia, prepared a general mobilization in expectation of war. On 3 August 1914, Germany responded to this action by declaring war on France.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer C |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5_tSnygvbIC |title=Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1851096725 |page=1556}}</ref> Germany, facing a two-front war, enacted what was known as the [[Schlieffen Plan]], which involved German armed forces moving through [[Belgium]] and swinging south into France and towards the French capital of [[Paris]]. This plan was hoped to quickly gain victory against the French and allow German forces to concentrate on the Eastern Front. Belgium was a neutral country and would not accept German forces crossing its territory. Germany disregarded Belgian neutrality and invaded the country to launch an offensive towards Paris. This caused [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]] to declare war against the German Empire, as the action violated the [[Treaty of London (1839)|Treaty of London]] that both nations signed in 1839 guaranteeing Belgian neutrality.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=E. H. |url=https://archive.org/details/lowcountries17800000koss |title=The Low Countries, 1780–1940 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1978|isbn=978-0-19-822108-1 }}</ref>

Subsequently, several states declared war on Germany in late August 1914, with [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] declaring war on Germany in August 1916,<ref>{{cite web |date=6 March 2015 |title=Il 1861 e le quattro Guerre per l'Indipendenza (1848–1918) |url=http://www.piacenzaprimogenita150.it/index.php?it%2F176%2Fil-1861-e-le-quattro-guerre-per-lindipendenza-1848-1918 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319075828/http://www.piacenzaprimogenita150.it/index.php?it%2F176%2Fil-1861-e-le-quattro-guerre-per-lindipendenza-1848-1918 |archive-date=19 March 2022 |access-date=12 March 2021 |language=it}}</ref> the [[United States]] in April 1917,<ref>McDuffie, Jerome; Piggrem, Gary Wayne; Woodworth, Steven E. (2005). ''U.S. History Super Review''. Piscataway, NJ: Research & Education Association. p. 418. {{ISBN|978-0-7386-0070-3}}.</ref> and [[Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg)|Greece]] in July 1917.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leon |first=George B. |title=Greece and the First World War: From Neutrality to Intervention, 1917–1918 |publisher=East European Monographs |year=1990 |isbn=9780880331814}}</ref>