WORLD FIRST WAR (WORLD WAR 1) The Causes of World War One

June 28 in Sarajevo

We'll start with the facts and work back: it may make it all the easier to understand how World War One actually happened.  The events of July and early August 1914 are a classic case of "one thing led to another" - otherwise known as the treaty alliance system.
The explosive that was World War One had been long in the stockpiling; the spark was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.  (Click here to view film footage of Ferdinand arriving at Sarajevo's Town Hall on 28 June 1914.)
Ferdinand's death at the hands of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist secret society, set in train a mindlessly mechanical series of events that culminated in the world's first global war.

Austria-Hungary's Reaction

Austria-Hungary's reaction to the death of their heir (who was in any case not greatly beloved by the Emperor, Franz Josef, or his government) was three weeks in coming.  Arguing that the Serbian government was implicated in the machinations of the Black Hand (whether she was or not remains unclear, but it appears unlikely), the Austro-Hungarians opted to take the opportunity to stamp its authority upon the Serbians, crushing the nationalist movement there and cementing Austria-Hungary's influence in the Balkans.
It did so by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia which, in the extent of its demand that the assassins be brought to justice effectively nullified Serbia's sovereignty.  Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, was moved to comment that he had "never before seen one State address to another independent State a document of so formidable a character."
Austria-Hungary's expectation was that Serbia would reject the remarkably severe terms of the ultimatum, thereby giving her a pretext for launching a limited war against Serbia.
However, Serbia had long had Slavic ties with Russia, an altogether different proposition for Austria-Hungary.  Whilst not really expecting that Russia would be drawn into the dispute to any great extent other than through words of diplomatic protest, the Austro-Hungarian government sought assurances from her ally, Germany, that she would come to her aid should the unthinkable happen and Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary.
Germany readily agreed, even encouraged Austria-Hungary's warlike stance.  Quite why we'll come back to later.

One Thing Led to Another

So then, we have the following remarkable sequence of events that led inexorably to the 'Great War' - a name that had been touted even before the coming of the conflict.

• Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with Serbia's response to her ultimatum (which in the event was almost entirely placatory: however her jibbing over a couple of minor clauses gave Austria-Hungary her sought-after cue) declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.
• Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilisation of its vast army in her defence, a slow process that would take around six weeks to complete.
• Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, viewed the Russian mobilisation as an act of war against Austria-Hungary, and after scant warning declared war on Russia on 1 August.
• France, bound by treaty to Russia, found itself at war against Germany and, by extension, on Austria-Hungary following a German declaration on 3 August.  Germany was swift in invading neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the shortest possible route.
• Britain, allied to France by a more loosely worded treaty which placed a "moral obligation" upon her to defend France, declared war against Germany on 4 August.  Her reason for entering the conflict lay in another direction: she was obligated to defend neutral Belgium by the terms of a 75-year old treaty.  With Germany's invasion of Belgium on 4 August, and the Belgian King's appeal to Britain for assistance, Britain committed herself to Belgium's defence later that day.  Like France, she was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary.
• With Britain's entry into the war, her colonies and dominions abroad variously offered military and financial assistance, and included Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.
• United States President Woodrow Wilson declared a U.S. policy of absolute neutrality, an official stance that would last until 1917 when Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare - which seriously threatened America's commercial shipping (which was in any event almost entirely directed towards the Allies led by Britain and France) - forced the U.S. to finally enter the war on 6 April 1917.
• Japan, honouring a military agreement with Britain, declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914.  Two days later Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war on Japan.
• Italy, although allied to both Germany and Austria-Hungary, was able to avoid entering the fray by citing a clause enabling it to evade its obligations to both.  In short, Italy was committed to defend Germany and Austria-Hungary only in the event of a 'defensive' war; arguing that their actions were 'offensive' she declared instead a policy of neutrality.  The following year, in May 1915, she finally joined the conflict by siding with the Allies against her two former allies.
• Click here for more extensive information detailing who entered the war - and when.

The Tangle of Alliances

Such were the mechanics that brought the world's major nations into the war at one time or another.  It's clear from the summary above that the alliance system was as much at fault as anything in bringing about the scale of the conflict.
What was intended as a strictly limited war - a brief war - between accuser and accused, Austria-Hungary and Serbia, rapidly escalated into something that was beyond the expectations of even the most warlike ministers in Berlin (and certainly Vienna, which quickly became alarmed at spiralling events in late July and sought German reassurances).
It's possible to delve deeply into European history in the quest to unearth the roots of the various alliances that were at play in 1914.  However, for our purposes it serves to date the origins of the core alliances back to Bismarck's renowned intrigues, as he set about creating a unified Germany from the loose assembly of German confederated states in the 1860s.

Bismarck's Greater Germany

Bismarck, first Prime Minister of Prussia and then Chancellor of the German Empire (once he had assembled it), set about the construction of Germany through high politics judiciously assisted by war against Austria and France.
Appointed Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Prussia by Kaiser Wilhelm I in 1862, Bismarck was consumed with a desire to achieve the creation of a German Empire out of the collection of smaller German states largely led by Austria's influence (another German-speaking nation).
His first step was to oust Austria as the prime influence among these German states.  He achieved this by engineering war with Austria in 1866 over disputed territory in the duchy of Holstein (much against the wishes of his own Kaiser).
The resulting war lasted just seven weeks - hence its common title 'The Seven Weeks War' - and ended with the complete dominance of the supremely efficient Prussian military.
In a peace mediated by the French Emperor, Napoleon III, Bismarck extracted from Austria not only Schleswig and Holstein, but also Hanover, Hesse, Nassau and Frankfurt, creating the North German Federation.  As importantly, Bismarck had successfully displaced Austria in the spheres of influence over the many small German states.
Having assembled a united assembly in the north Bismarck determined to achieve the same in the south - and so unite all of the German states under the Prussian banner.
How to achieve this?  Bismarck resolved that war with the French, a common enemy, would attain his aims.
First, he needed to engineer a credible reason for war.  Thus, in 1870, Bismarck attempted to place a Hohenzollern prince on the throne in Spain.  Napoleon III, fearful of the prospect of theoretical war on two fronts - for the Hohenzollern prince was a relative of Kaiser Wilhelm I - objected.
Bismarck turned up the diplomatic heat by releasing, on 14 July 1870, a doctored version of a telegram ostensibly from the Kaiser to Bismarck himself, called the Ems Telegram.  The effect of the telegram was to simultaneously insult both France and Prussia over their inability to resolve the dispute over the Spanish throne.
Napoleon III, facing civil revolt at home over quite unrelated matters, and receiving encouraging noises from his military commanders, responded by declaring war against Prussia five days later, on 19 July 1870.
Once again, as was the case against Austria, the Prussian military machine demolished the French forces.  Napoleon III, who personally led his forces at the lost Battle of Sedan, surrendered and was deposed in the civil war that boiled over in France, resulting in the Third French Republic.
Meantime the Prussian forces laid siege to Paris between September 1870 and January 1871, starving the city into surrender.
The consequences of the war were numerous.  Aside from the usual territorial gains - France ceded both Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia and was forced to pay swingeing reparations (equivalent to around $1 billion today) - the southern German states agreed to an alliance with their northern counterparts, resulting in the creation of Bismarck's cherished German Empire.

Bismarck's Need for Alliances

Bismarck's creation of a unified Germany was of direct relevance to the outbreak of war some 43 years later, since it resulted in the assembly of the key alliances that later came into play.
For, having achieved his life's aim, Bismarck's expansionary plans were at an end.  He had secured what he wanted, and his chief desire now was to maintain its stability.  He therefore set about building European alliances aimed at protecting Germany from potentially threatening quarters.
He was acutely aware that the French were itching to revenge their defeat at the earliest opportunity - and the loss of Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia would prove to be a lasting sore.  Indeed, the French plan for war in 1914, Plan XVII, was largely based around the recapture of Alsace and Lorraine in the shortest possible time - with disastrous consequences.

Britain's Splendid Isolation

Bismarck did not initially fear an alliance between France and Britain, for the latter was at that time in the midst of a self-declared 1870s policy of "splendid isolation", choosing to stay above continental European politics.
If not Britain then, how about Russia and, conceivably, beaten foe Austria-Hungary?

The Three Emperors League & Dual Alliance

He began by negotiating, in 1873, the Three Emperors League, which tied Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia to each other's aid in time of war.  This however only lasted until Russia's withdrawal five years later in 1878, leaving Bismarck with a new Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary in 1879.
This latter treaty promised aid to each other in the event of an attack by Russia, or if Russia aided another power at war with either Germany or Austria-Hungary.  Should either nation be attacked by another power, e.g. France, they were to remain - at the very least - benevolently neutral.
This alliance, unlike others, endured until war in 1914.  It was this clause that Austria-Hungary invoked in calling Germany to her aid against Russian support for Serbia (who in turn was protected by treaty with Russia).

The Triple Alliance

Two years after Germany and Austria-Hungary concluded their agreement, Italy was brought into the fold with the signing of the Triple Alliance in 1881.  Under the provisions of this treaty, Germany and Austria-Hungary promised to assist Italy if she were attacked by France, and vice versa: Italy was bound to lend aid to Germany or Austria-Hungary if France declared war against either.
Additionally, should any signatory find itself at war with two powers (or more), the other two were to provide military assistance.  Finally, should any of the three determine to launch a 'preventative' war (a euphemism if ever there was one), the others would remain neutral.
One of the chief aims of the Triple Alliance was to prevent Italy from declaring war against Austria-Hungary, towards whom the Italians were in dispute over territorial matters.

A Secret Franco-Italian Alliance

In the event the Triple Alliance was essentially meaningless, for Italy subsequently negotiated a secret treaty with France, under which Italy would remain neutral should Germany attack France - which in the event transpired.
In 1914 Italy declared that Germany's war against France was an 'aggressive' one and so entitled Italy to claim neutrality.  A year later, in 1915, Italy did enter the First World War, as an ally of Britain, France and Russia.
Austria-Hungary signed an alliance with Romania in 1883, negotiated by Germany, although in the event Romania - after starting World War One as a neutral - eventually joined in with the Allies; as such Austria-Hungary's treaty with Romania was of no actual significance.

The Reinsurance Treaty

Potentially of greater importance - although it was allowed to lapse three years after its signature - Bismarck, in 1887, agreed to a so-called Reinsurance Treaty with Russia.
This document stated that both powers would remain neutral if either were involved in a war with a third (be it offensive or defensive).
However, should that third power transpire to be France, Russia would not be obliged to provide assistance to Germany (as was the case of Germany if Russia found itself at war with Austria-Hungary).
Bismarck's intention was to avoid the possibility of a two-front war against both France and Russia.
A decidedly tangled mesh of alliances; but the Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, allowed the Reinsurance Treaty to lapse in 1890 (the same year the new German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, brought about the dismissal of his veteran Chancellor, Bismarck).

Franco-Russian Agreements

The year after the Reinsurance Treaty lapsed Russia allied itself with France.  Both powers agreed to consult with the other should either find itself at war with any other nation, or if indeed the stability of Europe was threatened.
This rather loosely worded agreement was solidified in 1892 with the Franco-Russian Military Convention, aimed specifically at counteracting the potential threat posed by the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.
In short, should France or Russia be attacked by one of the Triple Alliance signatories - or even should a Triple Alliance power mobilise against either (where to mobilise meant simply placing a nation on a war footing preparatory to the declaration of hostilities), the other power would provide military assistance.

British Emergence From Splendid Isolation

Meanwhile, Britain was awaking to the emergence of Germany as a great European power - and a colonial power at that.  Kaiser Wilhelm's successor, Wilhelm II, proved far more ambitious in establishing "a place in the sun" for Germany.  With the effective dismissal of Bismarck the new Kaiser was determined to establish Germany as a great colonial power in the pacific and, most notably, in Africa.
Wilhelm, encouraged by naval minister Tirpitz, embarked upon a massive shipbuilding exercise intended to produce a naval fleet the equal of Britain's, unarguably by far and away the world's largest.
Britain, at that time the greatest power of all, took note.  In the early years of the twentieth century, in 1902, she agreed a military alliance with Japan, aimed squarely at limiting German colonial gains in the east.
She also responded by commissioning a build-up in her own naval strength, determined to outstrip Germany.  In this she succeeded, building in just 14 months - a record - the enormous Dreadnought battleship, completed in December 1906.  By the time war was declared in 1914 Germany could muster 29 battleships, Britain 49.
Despite her success in the naval race, Germany's ambitions succeeded at the very least in pulling Britain into the European alliance system - and, it has been argued, brought war that much closer.

Cordial Agreements: Britain, France - and Russia

Two years later Britain signed the Entente Cordiale with France.  This 1904 agreement finally resolved numerous leftover colonial squabbles.  More significantly, although it did not commit either to the other's military aid in time of war, it did offer closer diplomatic co-operation generally.
Three years on, in 1907, Russia formed what became known as the Triple Entente (which lasted until World War One) by signing an agreement with Britain, the Anglo-Russian Entente.
Together the two agreements formed the three-fold alliance that lasted and effectively bound each to the other right up till the outbreak of world war just seven years later.
Again, although the two Entente agreements were not militarily binding in any way, they did place a "moral obligation" upon the signatories to aid each other in time of war.
It was chiefly this moral obligation that drew Britain into the war in defence of France, although the British pretext was actually the terms of the largely forgotten 1839 Treaty of London that committed the British to defend Belgian neutrality (discarded by the Germans as "a scrap of paper" in 1914, when they asked Britain to ignore it).
In 1912 Britain and France did however conclude a military agreement, the Anglo-French Naval Convention, which promised British protection of France's coastline from German naval attack, and French defence of the Suez Canal.

Agreements Set, The Occasional Minor War...

Such were the alliances between the major continental players.  There were other, smaller alliances too - such as Russia's pledge to protect Serbia, and Britain's agreement to defend Belgian neutrality - and each served its part in drawing each nation into the coming great war.
In the interim however, there were a number of 'minor' conflicts that helped to stir emotions in the years immediately preceding 1914, and which gave certain nations more stake than others in entering the world war.

Russian War With Japan: Shock Japanese Victory

Ever since Russia declined Japan's offer in 1903 for each to recognise the other's interests in Manchuria and Korea, trouble was looming.
The Japanese launched a successful attack upon Russian warships in Korea, at Inchon, and in Port Arthur, China.  This was followed by a land invasion of both disputed territories of Korea and Manchuria in 1904.
Among other set-pieces, the Japanese astonished the western powers by destroying the entire Russian fleet at the Battle of Tsushima (27-28 May 1905) for the loss of two torpedo boats - a humiliating Russian defeat.
The U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt, mediated a peace agreement between Japan and Russia, one that resulted in material gains for Japan and with note being taken in Berlin of the fallacy of the myth of Russian "invincibility".
The scale of Russia's defeat in part contributed to the attempted Russian Revolution of 1905, and the battered and shaken Tsar, Nicholas II, was determined to restore Russian prestige (not least in the Romanov dynasty itself): and what better way to achieve this than through military conquest?

The Balkans, 1912: Italy Versus Turkey

Strife in the Balkans was nothing new.  In 1912 it continued with war between Italy and Turkey, over the latter's African possessions.  Turkey lost and was forced to hand over Libya, Rhodes and the Dodecanese Islands to the Italians.

The Balkans, 1912 (Part II): The First Balkan War

Turkey's troubles were not yet over.  Having concluded peace with the Italians it found itself engulfed in war with no fewer than four small nations over the possession of Balkan territories: Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria - and later Montenegro.
The intervention of the larger European powers brought about an end to this the First Balkan War of 1912-13.  Again Turkey lost out, shedding Crete and all of its European possessions.

The Balkans, 1913: The Second Balkan War

Later in the 1913, conflict erupted again in the Balkans, as Bulgaria, unsatisfied with its earlier spoils, fought with its recent allies in an attempt to control a greater part of Macedonia; and when the so-named "Young Turks" - Turkish army officers - denounced the earlier peace as unfair.
Between May and July 1913 Bulgaria's former allies beat back the new aggressor, Bulgaria, and Romania captured the Bulgarian capital Sofia in August.  Beaten and having surrendered on 10 August 1913, Bulgaria also lost Adrianople back to Turkey.

Troubled Peace in the Balkans

Despite the re-establishment of peace in the Balkans, nothing had really been settled and tensions remained high.  The numerous small nations that had found themselves under Turkish or Austro-Hungarian rule for many years stirred themselves in nationalistic fervour.
Yet while these Balkan nations sought their own individual voice and self-determination, they were nevertheless united in identifying themselves as pan-Slavic peoples, with Russia as their chief ally.
The latter was keen to encourage this belief in the Russian people as the Slav's natural protectors, for aside from a genuine emotional attachment, it was a means by which Russia could regain a degree of lost prestige.

Unsettled Empires

Come 1914, trouble was not restricted to the smaller nations outlined above.  The Austro-Hungarian empire was directly impacted by troubles in the Balkans and, under the ageing Emperor Franz Josef, was patently struggling to maintain coherence of the various diametrically opposed ethnic groups which fell under the Austro-Hungarian umbrella.
As such, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand by the Serbian nationalist secret society, the Black Hand, provided the Austro-Hungarian government with a golden opportunity to stamp its authority over the region.
Russia, ally of the Slavs - and therefore of Serbia - had been struggling to hold back full-scale revolution ever since the Japanese military disaster of 1905.  In 1914, while the Tsar himself was reluctant, his government saw war with Austria-Hungary as an opportunity to restore social order - which indeed it did, at least until the continuation of repeated Russian military setbacks, Rasputin's intrigue at court and food shortages combined to bring about the long-threatened total revolution (which, encouraged by Germany, brought about Russia's withdrawal from the war in 1917).
Then there is France.  Almost immediately following her defeat by Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, together with the humiliating annexation by the newly unified Germany of the coal-rich territories of Alsace and Lorraine, the French government and military alike were united in thirsting for revenge.
To this end the French devised a strategy for a vengeful war upon Germany, Plan XVII, whose chief aim was the defeat of Germany and the restoration of Alsace and Lorraine.  The plan was fatally flawed, and relied to an untenable extent upon the "élan" which was believed to form an integral part of the French army - an irresistible force that would sweep over its enemies.

Germany's Path to War

As for Germany, she was unsettled socially and militarily.  The 1912 Reichstag elections had resulted in the election of no fewer than 110 socialist deputies, making Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg's task in liaising between the Reichstag and the autocratic Wilhelm, not to mention the rigidly right-wing military high command, next to impossible.
Bethmann Hollweg, who became most despondent, came to believe that Germany's only hope of avoiding civil unrest sooner rather than later lay in war: preferably a short, sharp war, although he did not rule out a European-wide conflict if it resolved Germany's social and political woes.
This outlook on life fuelled his decision of 6 July 1914 - whilst the Austro-Hungarian government was weighing its options with regard to Serbia - to offer the former what has been commonly referred to as "a blank cheque"; that is, an unconditional guarantee of support for Austria-Hungary no matter what she decided.
Germany's military unsettlement arose in the sense that Kaiser Wilhelm II was finding himself largely frustrated in his desire to carve out a grand imperial role for Germany.  Whilst he desired "a place in the sun", he found that all of the bright areas had been already snapped up by the other colonial powers, leaving him only with a place in the shade.
Not that Wilhelm II was keen upon a grand war.  Rather, he failed to foresee the consequences of his military posturing, his determination to construct both land and naval forces the equivalent - and better - than those of Britain and France (with varying success).
However his government and his military commanders assuredly did anticipate what was to come.  A plan to take on both Russia and France, a war on two fronts, had long been expected and taken into account.
The so-called Schlieffen Plan, devised by former Army Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen, had been carefully crafted to deal with a two-front war scenario.  The plan, which very nearly succeeded, outlined a plan to conquer France, to knock her out of the war, on a 'Western Front', within five weeks - before, the Germans calculated, Russia could effectively mobilise for war on the 'Eastern Front' (which they estimated would take six weeks).
It is often speculated - and argued - that the plan would have succeeded but for the decision of the then-German Chief of Staff in 1914, Helmuth von Moltke, to authorise a critical deviation from the plan that, it is believed, stemmed from a lack of nerve, and crucially slowed the path towards Paris - with fatal consequences (and which ended in static trench warfare).
Still, the German plan took no real account of Britain's entry into the war.  The German government gave no credence to the possibility that Britain would ignore her own commercial interests (which were presumably best served by staying aloof from the conflict and maintaining her all-important commercial trading routes), and would instead uphold her ancient treaty of obligation to recover violated Belgian neutrality.
For a fuller explanation of the powers' war plans, and of their upshot, click here.

British Dithering

It is also suggested that Germany would have backed away from war had Britain declared her intentions sooner.  Believing that Britain would stay out of the coming conflict, and would limit herself to diplomatic protests - after all, Britain was under no strict military obligation to France - Germany, and Austria-Hungary, proceeded under the belief that war would be fought solely with France and Russia.
The British Government, and its Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Grey, attempted to mediate throughout July, reserving at all times its right to remain aloof from the dispute.  It was only as the war began that the British position solidified into support for, ostensibly, Belgium.
Hence the oft-levelled criticism that had Britain come out clearly on the side of Belgium and France earlier in July, war would have been avoided: Germany would have effectively instructed Austria-Hungary to settle with Serbia, especially given the latter's willingness to co-operate with Austria-Hungary.
Whether this would have transpired given the German war machine's determination for war is of course unknown.

A Family Affair

The First World War has sometimes been labelled, with reason, "a family affair".  This is derived from the reality that many of the European monarchies - many of which fell during the war (including those of Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary) - were inter-related.
The British monarch George V's predecessor, Edward VII, was the German Kaiser's uncle and, via his wife's sister, uncle of the Russian Tsar as well.  His niece, Alexandra, was the Tsar's wife.  Edward's daughter, Maud, was the Norwegian Queen, and his niece, Ena, Queen of Spain; Marie, a further niece, was to become Queen of Romania.
Despite these familial relations - nine Kings attended Edward's funeral - European politics was all about power and influence, of protection and encirclement.  Thus the tangled web of alliances which sprung up in the wake of the rise of the newly united German Empire in 1871.

Conclusion

This article has not by any means encompassed all of the suggested contributory factors that led inexorably to world war.
It has however attempted to pull together the main strands: Austro-Hungarian determination to impose its will upon the Balkans; a German desire for greater power and international influence, which sparked a naval arms race with Britain, who responded by building new and greater warships, the Dreadnought; a French desire for revenge against Germany following disastrous defeat in 1871; Russia's anxiety to restore some semblance of national prestige after almost a decade of civil strife and a battering at the hands of the Japanese military in 1905.
Having dealt with these topics, however briefly, feel free to further explore the First World War.com site to gain a wider perspective of what happened, when, and to whom.  The How It Began section is probably as good a place as any to start.  Click here to view a map of pre-war Europe.

Wright brothers REAL NAME

One day, when Orville and Wilbur Wright were boys, their father returned from a trip with a gift that would help change their lives--and history--forever. The toy was a helicopter, made of cork, bamboo, and paper. It was powered by a rubber band.

At that time, in the year 1878, flight was still a dream. Helicopters and airplanes that could lift a man into the air had not yet been invented. But the toy helicopter thrilled Orville, age 7, and Wilbur, age 11. They began to build and fly copies of it. And although their attempts to build much larger models failed, their interest in flight had begun.

Years later, in 1899, Orville and Wilbur Wright began the work that would lead to the first airplane. Now adults, the brothers owned a bicycle shop in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio. In their spare time, they researched the subject of flight and began testing different types of wings that could lift a craft into the air.

The Wright brothers divided flight into three problems: The aircraft needed wings that could lift it into the air. It needed an engine that could propel it. And finally, it needed a means of controlling it in flight.

Otto Lilienthal and others had already proven that wings could lift a man so that he could glide in the air. And Samuel Langley, an American, had designed a craft that could be propelled into the air with a steam engine. But until then, the problem of taking off, turning, and descending in an aircraft had eluded them all.

The problem of control was a tough one. The solution came from pigeons. While watching pigeons flying, Wilbur and Orville Wright noticed that the birds kept adjusting the positions of their wings. When a bird wanted to turn, it lifted the front edge of one wing while tilting the edge of the other wing down. By reversing the process, the bird could turn the opposite way.

The brothers began working to make an aircraft wing that could twist and turn like a bird's. One day, after Wilbur took a bicycle inner tube out of a long cardboard box, he noticed that by twisting the ends of the box in opposite directions he could make the edges of the box twist like the pigeons' wings. If only the brothers could make a flexible wing that could operate like this, they just might solve the problem.

Wilbur and Orville immediately began designing a glider to test the idea. It had two parallel wings and would be flown like a kite. But to fly their glider, the brothers needed to find an open place with strong, steady winds. They wrote to the U.S. Weather Bureau and were sent a list of possible sites. One of these was Kitty Hawk, North Carolina--a virtually uninhabited beach on Carolina's Outer Banks.

The Wrights traveled first to Kitty Hawk in the fall of 1900, where they tested their glider. They first tried to fly the glider with a pilot, but when they realized how dangerous this was, they abandoned this idea. Instead, they flew the glider like a kite, controlling it using long cords attached to the wings. They carefully measured the performance of the glider and used this information to design another one.

In the summer of 1901, Wilbur and Orville returned to Kitty Hawk. There they assembled and tested a new glider. The first day they flew the glider, Wilbur, the pilot, made seventeen glides. His best glides lasted between 15 and 20 seconds and covered 300 to 400 feet. Even though the glides were brief, the control system worked.

Still, the Wrights' gliders failed to fly as well as the brothers had calculated they would. In the winter of 1901, the Wrights used a wind tunnel to study the problem. The tunnel was a wooden box equipped with a fan. When the fan was in operation, it blew air through the tunnel at a steady 27 miles per hour. The Wrights put models of airplane wings in the tunnel. By carefully measuring the performance of these models, they were able to build better wings for their glider. The 1902 Wright glider performed better than earlier ones, producing glides of over 500 feet. Now the brothers were ready for the next step.

Back in Dayton, the Wrights worked to build propellers and a lightweight engine that could propel their aircraft skyward. In the fall of 1903, they returned to Kitty Hawk, where they practiced flying on the latest model of their glider as they assembled their new engine-powered craft.

Progress was slow, and cold weather came early, but soon the Wrights were ready. Several local men helped them roll the 700 pound Wright Flyer to its starting place. They started the engine and Wilbur and Orville tossed a coin to choose the pilot. Wilbur won. He lay down on the lower wing and took the controls. Orville held one of the wing tips to help balance the airplane as it roared down the starting track.

After about thirty-five feet the Flyer lifted off the ground. But after just 3 1/2 seconds, it smashed back to earth. It took two days to repair the damages. But on December 17, 1903, the Wrights were ready to try again.

Now it was Orville's turn to be the pilot. He set up a camera, focusing it at the point where the Flyer would lift off. Then he took the controls. With Wilbur running alongside it, the Flyer picked up speed, then rose into the air.

At that moment, one of the local men snapped the camera shutter, taking the photograph that would preserve the moment forever. The first flight lasted only twelve seconds, and covered only 120 feet. But the brothers flew the plane three more times that day. The last flight, with Wilbur piloting, covered 852 feet in 59 seconds, proving conclusively that sustained, controlled flight was possible. The Wright brothers had changed the world. The Age of Flight had begun.
   

Wright brothers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Celebrating 40 years, 1969-2009

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WWF-India at a glance

One family for a living planet

• In 1969 the Indian National Appeal was launched by Mrs. Indira Gandhi
  “Conservation succeeds only when the people adopt the movement as their own encouraging and supporting government action. Voluntary organization can and should do much more to stimulate public awareness.”
  


• In the early 70’s WWF- India led a very successful campaign to save the Great Indian Bustard




• WWF- India provided the seed grant for establishing the Madras Snake Park in 1971


• In 1980, the Sea Turtle Conservation Project was launched by WWF- India.  

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• In 1984, its recommendation to notify Buxa in north Bengal as a Tiger Reserve was accepted.


• WWF- India has been involved in an advisory capacity right from the inception of Project Tiger with several of its trustees- eminent conservationists in their own right being on the Project Tiger Steering Committee, the Indian Board for Wildlife, and other national apex bodies for wildlife conservation.


• Other campaigns have led to the establishment of the Delhi Wildlife Sanctuary, Mansarovar Lake and Dodai Lake Sanctuaries, Balpakhram Sanctuary in Meghalaya.  

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• TRAFFIC- India made notable contributions in the field of live bird trade, ivory, edible swiftlet nests, sandalwood, shahtoosh, pangolin, musk, bear bile, tiger parts, and rhino horn.


• In the year 1987, the name changed to World Wide Fund for Nature- India.
• In 1989, the eminent scientist Dr. M. S. Swaminathan took over as the President.


• Community Biodiversity Conservation Movement was launched.

© WWF-India

© WWF-India

• In 1989-90, the new Secretariat building- Pirojsha Godrej National Conservation Centre was completed and the headquarters were shifted to Delhi.


• In 1991, WWF- India adopted a New Mission Statement.


• The Hot Spots Programme began in the Western Ghats in 1992.


• In 1993, the Hot Spots Conservation Programme began in the Eastern Himalayas.


• The National Environmental Law Centre was established in 1993.

© WWF-India

• WWF- India completed 25 Years in 1994.


• The Indira Gandhi Conservation and Monitoring Centre was dedicated to the nation.


• In the year 1995, the Tiger Conservation Fund was launched.


• The Hot Spots Conservation Programme began in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.


• Over 30 million people in India participated in the “Earth Hour 60” campaign by switching off their lights and joining a billion people worldwide to raise their voice against climate change.


• WWF- India re-introduced Gharials into the River Ganges.


• WWF- India got the corporates to disclose their carbon emissions with the Carbon Disclosure Report.

© WWF-India

© A. Christy Williams/WWF

• The Indus Dolphin was rediscovered.


• WWF- India was instrumental in the first ever Rhino translocation in Assam…Vision 2020.


• WWF- India has been instrumental in the notification of Ramsar Sites in India Critical wetlands went up from 6 to 25


• WWF- India facilitated the setting up of the first Community Conservation Areas in Arunachal Pradesh.


• It has also worked for the promotion of sustainable agriculture and reducing water and pesticide inputs for Thirsty Crops.

© Sujoy Banerjee/WWF-India

WWF-India: 40 years of Nature Conservation

History

WWF-India: 40 years of Nature Conservation

WWF-India started life as a wildlife conservation organization. It was founded in 1969 as a Charitable Public Trust, with the express objective of ensuring the conservation of the country's wildlife and wild habitats. The official launch of the Indian National Appeal (name given for National offices by WWF-International) was done by the then PM Indira Gandhi on 27th Nov 1969 at the India International Centre, New Delhi Aptly, it was then known as the World Wildlife Fund-India. This was much before the terms "wildlife" and "environment" had caught government or public attention. Even the Wildlife (Protection) Act came into being three years later, in 1972.

WWF-India's beginnings were modest. Operating out of a limited office space at the Horn Bill house in Mumbai and with very few full-time staff, it relied largely on the goodwill of the close-knit group of its founders, and other associates who voluntarily contributed their time and resources to the work of the organization.

WWF-India took on and supported field projects aimed at protecting endangered species of flora and fauna; initiated the country's first large-scale education and awareness programme (through Nature Clubs) public awareness of wildlife and nature conservation; and raised conservation funds through appeals, campaigns, educational product sales, and so on.
Throughout the seventies and eighties, WWF-India kept its focus on wildlife and nature conservation. It would be near impossible to list out all its projects and other activities in the field of wildlife, but just to cite a few pioneering examples.In the early seventies, WWF-India led a very successful campaign to save the Great Indian Bustard, in the face of the hunting forays of some invited guests.

The protest led to the Government reversing its permission for the hunting expedition.It provided the seed grant for establishing the Madras Snake Park in 1971, and again in 1975, helped establish the country's first Crocodile Bank in collaboration with the Snake Park Trust.

In 1976, it sent an expedition led by Dr. Salim Ali, to Ladakh, to establish the status of the rare Blacknecked Crane. In 1980, the Sea Turtle Conservation Project was launched.

A whole host of other Indian species have received attention from time to time. Among these are the Wolf, the Andaman Teal, the Hispid Hare, the Pygmy Hog, the Flamingoes of Kachchh, the lesser Cats, the Greater Adjutant Stork in Assam, the Hangul in Kashmir, and the Lion-tailed Macaque, to name just a few.

More recently, there have been projects relating to the Asiatic Lion, the highly endangered Himalayan Newt, the Red Panda, the Mountain Quail, the Pheasants, the Great Indian Bustard, and several other species. Of course, conservation of the tiger and its habitats has been high on the agenda right from the beginning.

Right from the inception of Project Tiger, WWF-India has been involved with the project in an advisory capacity. Several of WWF-India's Trustees - eminent conservationists in their own right - have been on the Project Tiger Steering Committee, the Indian Board for Wildlife, and other national apex bodies for wildlife conservation.

The organization was also instrumental in securing the future of several tiger habitats and other wilderness areas, through lobbying at the highest levels. Among the significant ones are: the Dalma Hills (1976) and the Gautama Buddha Sanctuaries (1978) in Bihar, the Eravikulam-Rajamalai in Kerala to protect the Nilgiri Tahr, and the country's first Marine National Park in the Gulf of Kachchh. It was also in the forefront of the campaigns to save the world-famous Silent valley from a proposed hydroelectric project and have it established as a National Park.

In 1984, its recommendation to notify Buxa in north Bengal as a Tiger Reserve was accepted. The Government of Assam acted on a similar proposal and in 1986, established the Dibru-Saikhowa Sanctuary. Other campaigns have led to the establishment of the Delhi Wildlife Sanctuary, Mansarovar Lake and Dodai Lake Sanctuaries, Balpakhram Sanctuary in Meghalaya. WWF-India has also been engaged in legal activism to secure the future of a number of sensitive wildlife areas, including Bhittarkanika in Orissa, Narayan Sarovar in Gujarat, and the Delhi Ridge forest.

Another notable area of the organization's work is the monitoring of wildlife trade through the TRAFFIC-division. It has ably assisted the enforcement agencies over a number of years, in the work of field investigations, raids and seizures, enforcement training, and field studies. It has made notable contributions in the field of live bird trade, ivory, edible swiftlet nests, sandalwood, shahtoosh, pangolin, musk, bear bile, tiger parts, and rhino horn. One of the recent successful campaigns using both print and electronic media is captioned "Don't Buy Trouble" and targets potential customers of illegal wildlife products.

Today, WWF-India is not only the country's largest voluntary body in the field of conservation, it has also grown into a network with a countrywide presence, It has taken on diverse activities in the field of nature protection - ranging from education and capacity building, to field projects in biodiversity, to enviro-legal action, to policy studies and advocacy, to even areas such as religion and conservation.

Make your city the Earth Hour Champion!

Make your city the Earth Hour Champion! 

For the first time in human history, most people live in cities, and our urban lifestyle is taking a huge toll on our planet. But through collective action from local citizens, our cities can make a huge difference in reducing their impact on the environment.

So this Earth Hour, take action for your city by switching off lights on Saturday, 31st March 8:30 – 9:30 PM and make your city an Earth Hour Champion!

6 mega cities- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore- have registered in the race to become the Earth Hour 2012 Champion City! These cities are taking meaningful steps to encourage participation for Earth Hour and build a green community within their city. Is your city gearing up to participate?

Lead the way for your entire city, making sure you and your fellow citizens collectively participate in Earth Hour to make your city the Earth Hour Champion!

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan With Her Baby Aaradhya – Face Revealed

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Born Baby Girl (Pictures & Video)

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Born Baby Girl: This latest news about Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan’s baby open her Eyes in the Bollywood world. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan gave birth a pretty angel you can see the pictures ofher baby. The Name for her not yet announce on media by BIG B. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Born Baby (Girl Picturesand Video)

Information Of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Baby

Date/Time of Born: Wednesday 16th Nov 2011, 10:30 am.
Weight: Six and Seven Pounds
Doctor Name: Dr Vinita Salve
Hospital Name: Seven Hills hospital which is situated in western Mumbai
Mother Name/Age: 38 year old Aishwarya Rai
Father Name/Age: 35 year old Abhishek Bachchan
Grand Father: Amitabh Bachchan
Grand Mother: Jaya Bachchan

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Born Baby Girl (Pictures & Video)

Amitabh Bachchan Tweeted on Wednesday:

“I AM DADA [Grandpa] to the cutest baby girl !! Ecstatic! Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. Both Aishwarya and the baby are doing great and taking some much needed rest . And I’m trying my level best to get rid of this caffeine high and get some sleep too. Don’t think it’ll work . TOO EXCITED !!!!”

Amitabh Bachchan Further Added on Twitter:

“As I travel back from the hospital I need to thank the media for keeping their word of not intruding our privacy. Deeply obliged !”

Abhishek Bachchan Tweeted:

“Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. Both Aishwarya Rai and the baby are doing great and taking some much needed rest.”

Bachchan’s Family Tree.

Check out the complete Bachchan family tree and where will Ash Rai baby be!

Congrats Aish… 

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan with her baby Aaradhya

So the wait is finally over! After months of laying in hiding, we finally got a glimpse of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan’s baby Aaradhya.

Seems the grandfather Amitabh Bachchan was not very keen on showing his grand daughter to the public so soon. Despite numerous requests by many the baby’s face never came out in public. You might remember even the name was made public after quite some time of wait.

However, Aishwarya was snapped with her baby sometime back and look what we found.

Whether it was mere superstition or something else we know hot.

GOOGLE BIRTHDAY

Google turned 14 on Thursday and celebrated its birthday with a doodle of a rich chocolate cake.

“Google” was inscribed across the cake and seconds after opening the site, the 14 candles atop the delicacy get extinguished.

A click on the doodle displayed a list of Google products.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in September 1998. Since then, the company has grown to more than 30,000 employees worldwide.

Page and Brin met at Stanford University in 1995. By 1996, they had built a search engine (initially called BackRub) that used links to determine the importance of individual web pages. And the rest is history.