“The Great War”– Its beginning and aftermath with a main focus on Austria

Abstract

Many factors played a crucial role in the start of a conflict that the world had seen as “a war to end all wars”, that started after the assassination of the crown prince in Sarajevo. Initially a European war, soon nations worldwide got involved. With the end of the World War and the beginning of the collapse of the Habsburg Empire, the “Republic of German-Austria” was proclaimed on November 12th, 1918, after the treaty of Saint-Germain 10 September 1919 officially as “First Republic of Austria“.The circumstances opened the door to National Socialism and the much crueler Second World War.