THE CAUSES OF WORLD WAR 1

THE ALLIANCE SYSTEM AND THE ARMS RACE

Europe towards the end of the nineteenth century was a complicated place
where countries were trying to improve their own position and standing whilst
also worrying about the similar development of other countries.

In 1870 Germany had become a united country and had ambitions of

becoming a great power in Europe. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870
(France v Germany), Germany gained the area of Alsace and Lorraine (see
map) and France resented this. Germany felt threatened by its very large
eastern neighbour, Russia. In this period many European countries started
seeking to make friends with other countries to strengthen their position in a
rapidly changing Europe.

The once powerful, now doddering Empire of Austria-Hungary was in danger of

falling apart. Some areas of the Empire were trying to become independent
with Russian support therefore Austria-Hungary needed a strong ally which
they found in Germany, forming the Dual Alliance in 1879 where each promised
to help the other if attacked. Italy joined in 1882 forming the Triple Alliance.

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Similarly France and Russia had formed an alliance together in 1894. France
wanted an ally because it was worried about another German invasion, and
Russia was disappointed with Germany who always supported Austria in its
disputes with Russia.

Britain, which traditionally remained separate from Europe with their policy of
splendid isolation finally entered the alliance arena by signing the Entente
Cordiale (friendly understanding) with France in 1904. Three years later in
1907, Britain reached an agreement with Russia thereby creating a Triple
Entente between Britain, Russia and France to counterbalance the rival alliance
between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.

As well as forming alliances the European countries concentrated on building up

their military might. Every major European power had a very big conscript
army (except for Britain which had a relatively small and professional/voluntary
army) and stockpiled masses of guns, shells and bullets. This arms race did
not mean that these countries wanted war but they hoped that the threat of
war would help in their foreign policies. However, the fact that these countries
did have an ever increasing amount of weapons made the prospect of war
more, rather than less likely because generals on both sides were keen to test
and try out their armies and weapons.

The German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, realised that to compete equally with major
European countries like Britain and France, she too would have to have a
colonial empire to rival theirs. An essential aspect of colonial power was a
strong navy and therefore, in 1898, the Kaiser announced that he intended to
develop the German navy. This news worried Britain and France who thought
that the Kaiser wanted a navy so that Germany could acquire colonies which
could be a threat to their own colonies.

In 1906 Britain developed the Dreadnought battleship which was by far the
most advanced and powerful warship at the time. The Germans did not want to
be left behind and started to build their own Dreadnoughts. This worried the
British. In 1909, Britain had 8 Dreadnoughts whilst the Germans had 7 and by
1914 this had escalated to 29 for Britain and 17 for Germany.

THE MOROCCAN CRISES 1905 AND 1911

Between 1905 and 1911 Germany deliberately provoked quarrels with France
about Morocco. The Kaiser wanted to test out the recently signed Entente
Cordiale between France and Britain believing he could shatter the agreement
by showing that Britain would not support France.

Background
In 1904, after years of being hostile and suspicious towards each other, Britain
and France signed the Anglo-French Entente (the Entente Cordiale the
friendly understanding). In this agreement, the two countries patched up their
main colonial differences. While Britain accepted that France would have
supremacy in Morocco, France accepted that Britain would have supremacy in
Egypt. It was only a friendly agreement but the actions of the Kaiser forged it
into something stronger.

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The Tangiers Crisis of1905
Kaiser Wilhelm II felt humiliated that Britain and France were deciding the future of
African colonies without consulting Germany and he complained that German
interests in Morocco were being flouted by French control. In 1905, he made a
speech in Tangiers in Morocco saying that the Sultan of Morocco was a free and
independent leader (implying that the French had no influence there). Germany
then demanded an international conference to settle the problem.

How the crisis was resolved

In January 1906 an international conference was held in Algeciras in Spain but
Germanys hopes of splitting up the relationship between Britain and France were
dashed as Britain totally supported her ally. In actual fact only Austria-Hungary
voted with Germany, showing how isolated Germany had become in Europe. The
Kaiser had to climb down and accept French control of Morocco. He was not happy!

Results of the 1905 Crisis

1. Relations between Britain/ France and Germany worsened. France was
antagonised by the Kaisers interference in Morocco and Britain became more
suspicious of the Kaisers colonial plans.
2. Britain and France drew closer together and agreed to secret military talks in
which they made plans for a possible war with Germany.

The Agadir Crisis of 1911

In 1911 a far worse crisis developed. The Sultan of Morocco was having problems
with rebels in Fez and the French troops had been sent in to help out. Germany
protested at this invasion of Morocco. This time the Germans decided not to take
the matter to the international court. Instead they sent a warship (the Panther)
to Agadir on the Moroccan coast.

How the crisis was resolved

1. Britains reaction was a strong one. The Prime Minister Lloyd George said
that Britains interests were vitally affected and, to show he meant business,
he put the naval fleet on a war footing.
2. Kaiser Wilhelm II now found himself facing a possible war due to his actions
and he quickly backed down, officially accepting French control in Morocco in
exchange for a small piece of territory in the French Congo.

Results of the 1911 Crisis

1. The Germans became even more isolated in Europe
2. The Kaiser was furious that he had to back down again. He was determined
not to do so a third time.
3. Britain and France were concerned about the threat of the growing German
navy and signed the Anglo-French Naval Agreement in 1912. They agreed
that France would guard British interests in the Mediterranean whilst Britain
would protect French interests in the Channel and North Sea.
The results of the two Moroccan incidents were that
Britain and France became convinced that Germany wanted war
Britain and France drew closer together in the face of German aggression
(secret military arrangements after 1906 and naval treaty of 1912)
The Kaisers reputation was damaged he was determined this should not
happen again and speeded up German military preparations.

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THE BALKANS AND THE BOSNIAN CRISIS 1908-9

The area of south-eastern Europe, shown above, is known as the Balkans and it
has always been a problematic region of Europe being made up of different
nationalities, most notably Slavs as well as Bulgarians, Magyars, Croats, Slovenes,
Czechs etc., and being controlled by/united under different empires throughout
history.

By 1900, the old Turkish Empire was disintegrating and was struggling to keep
control over the Balkans. In a sense, the area was up for grabs and Austria-
Hungary and Russia, like two vultures hovering over the dying body of the Turkish
Empire, were both keen to extend their influence and control over the region.

Serbia was a predominantly Slav country and wanted to create a Pan-Slav state in
the Balkans, in other words, a country which included all of the areas inhabited by
Slav people. Austria-Hungary was very worried by this increase in Slav
nationalism because it had many Slavs living within her empire who might be
attracted to these ideas and who ultimately might want to leave the Austrian
Empire to join a united Slav state.

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Russia, on the other hand, supported Serbia, partly because Russia itself was
largely Slav and partly because Russia knew that success for Serbia would weaken
Austria.

THE BOSNIAN CRISIS 1908-9

In 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed (officially took control) of Bosnia-Herzegovina

which was part of the Turkish Empire but which they had been administering for 30
years. Russia was very angry with this because they had made a secret deal with
Austria-Hungary whereby Russia would agree to Austrian control of Bosnia if
Austria supported Russias campaign to force the Turks to open up the Dardanelles
to Russian warships. The Austrians had gone it alone however, so the Russians
felt cheated. Russia protested strongly but there was little she could do as France
and Britain were not prepared to give strong support on the matter (Britain was
quite happy to keep Russian warships out of the Dardanelles!)

Germany eventually gave Austria-Hungary its full backing which gave Austria-
Hungary the confidence to send an ultimatum to Russia threatening war if they did
not back down. Without the backing of France and Britain, Russia had no choice
but to back down.

RESULTS OF THE BOSNIAN CRISIS 1908-9

1. Russia was humiliated but determined not to lose face again she built up
her army (with French financial support) so that she would not have to give
in to an ultimatum again. The next time she received an ultimatum was in
1914!
2. The Triple Entente was weakened in the short run but strengthened in the
long run. The Bosnian Crisis showed the Tsar (Nicholas II) that it was
dangerous to stand alone, that he must do more to ensure the support of
France and Britain.
3. Serbia had wanted to unite with the Bosnian Serbs and was very angry with
Austria-Hungary. They became even closer allies of Russia and did little to
control anti-Austrian terrorist groups operating within their borders. These
groups wanted Bosnia to be united with Serbia and it was one of them which
carried out the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in the Bosnian
capital Sarajevo in 1914.

So the Bosnian Crisis had a big effect on the events leading to war in 1914.

THE SCHLIEFFEN PLAN - AND HOW IT HELPED TO CAUSE WAR IN 1914?

1. What was the Schlieffen plan?

It was the German war plan before 1914. The Germans believed that this plan
would enable them to defeat both France and Russia if war broke out.

2. Why did the Germans devise the plan devised?

Since France and Russia had become allies in 1894, the German government
had claimed they were being encircled, in other words hemmed in by France
and Russia. The main German worry was that if they were at war with both
France and Russia, half their army would have to fight the whole French army
while the other half fought the Russian army. This greatly reduced their chances
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 of winning. Count Von Schlieffen therefore devised a plan to overcome this
problem.

3. How would the plan work?

The main idea behind the plan was for Germany to avoid having to fight France
and Russia at the same time. Schlieffen thought that Germany could defeat
France quickly while Russia was still getting her forces ready for war
(mobilising). Germany had defeated France in less than 6 weeks in 1870 and
Schlieffen believed they could do this again if they took them by surprise. The
Germans could not defeat France quickly by attacking straight across the
Franco-German border because this was where the French were waiting for
them. However, the French would not expect the Germans to go through
Holland, Belgium and Luxemburg to the North because they were neutral
countries. So this was where the main German attack would come!

Schlieffen believed that Russian mobilisation would be slow for several reasons:

I. Russia was a massive country men and supplies would have to

travel huge distances.
II. Communications in Russia (road and rail) were very slow.
III. Russian organisation was not very efficient.

Schlieffen reckoned it would take Russia about 6 weeks before Russia attacked
Germany. This would give Germany enough time to defeat France.

4. How did the Schlieffen Plan help to cause World War 1?

According to the Schlieffen Plan, Germany would defeat France in the 6 weeks it
would take Russia to mobilise. This meant that Germany would have to move
against France as soon as Russia started mobilising!!

Russia started mobilising, in order to help Serbia, on 29th July 1914. Because of
the long-term situation in Europe, Germany was convinced that if she went to
war with Russia, France would join in on Russias side. However, Germanys
plan was to defeat France first so avoiding a war on two fronts (i.e. a war with
both France and Russia at the same time). This meant that, as soon as Russia
started mobilising, Germany would have to go to war with France. This brought
France into the war. And because Germany attacked France through Belgium,
this brought Britain into the war because Britain was

a) determined to protect Belgian neutrality

b) concerned at the prospect of German naval bases in Belgium and France
c) concerned that a German victory would leave Britain isolated and vulnerable
d) concerned at her reputation if she did not stand by her friends.

So it was Germanys Schlieffen Plan which turned a local conflict between Austria-
Hungary and Serbia into a war involving all of the great powers of Europe

SARAJEVO, AUTRIA-HUNGARY AND THE SERBS

The situation in Europe in 1914 was extremely fragile:

Serbia was bitter towards Austria-Hungary and determined to create a Pan-
Slav state.
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 Austria-Hungary was aware of this and was determined to destroy Serbia.

Germany realised that their only strong ally was Austria-Hungary and that
they must stand by them.
Russia was determined not to give in to further ultimatums and to support
Serbia
France was convinced the Kaiser had warlike intentions and that the only
safety lay in sticking by their allies.
Britain was equally concerned about the Kaisers plans and feared the
possibility of a Europe dominated by Germany.
All the major powers had generals and admirals who were pressing their
government to apply a military solution

This situation was a result of the alliance systems, the arms race and the crises in
Morocco and the Balkans.

All these things had been building up but this did not necessarily mean that war
was inevitable. It was like the building of a massive bonfire; all the wood was in
place, even petrol had been poured on but you still need a spark to set it alight.

The spark came with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the
Austrian throne, on the 28th June 1914. He was killed in Sarajevo, the capital city
of Bosnia, by Gavrilo Princip, a young Bosnian Serb student who was a member of
the Black Hand Gang, a terrorist organisation that had been set up mainly due to
the previous Serbian/Austrian problems, most notably the Bosnian crisis.

Although the Archduke was not greatly loved in Austria-Hungary and although
there was very little public mourning, Austria was determined to destroy Serbia.
One month after the assassination, 28th July, Austria declared war on Serbia. Just
over a week later Europe was at war. (See p.8)

SUMMARY

A-H v Russia (Balkans)

France v Germany (Als-Lorr) Tensions between
Br. V Germany (navy/colonies) great powers
Germ v Russia (G support for A-H)

Franco-Russian alliance of 1894 Countries made

Triple Entente of 1904 and 1907 alliances Triple Alliance of 1882

Arms Race countries Germany v Fr/Ru (armies)

Anglo-German naval race built up armaments

Moroccan Crises of International crises - Bosnian crisis of 1908-9

increased tension and
1905 and 1911 cemented alliances

Everyone determined to A-H determined to crush Serbia

stand by their allies
Events
of 1914 Russia not prepared to climb down
again
Schlieffen Plan meant
Germany had to act quickly

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 Date Step to war Comment
28 June Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the This was the opportunity A-
Austrian throne, by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb H had been waiting for to
who was a member of the Black Hand Gang crush the threat from
Serbia
5 July Austria-Hungary approached the Germans and got a This gave A-H the
promise (the so-called 'blank cheque') that they could confidence to threaten
rely on Germany's support Serbia without worrying
about the Russian reaction
23 July The Austro-Hungarian government sent Serbia an This shows A-H were
ultimatum containing ten really tough demands. simply determined to use
Failure to meet all of these demands, they said, would the assassination as an
result in war. (They expected Serbia to reject the excuse to crush Serbia.
ultimatum, which would give Austria-Hungary an
excuse to invade.) But the Serb government did not
reject the ultimatum. Instead they agreed to
everything EXCEPT part of one demand.
28 July Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia anyway! This was bound to lead to
Russian involvement,
especially after what had
happened in the Bosnian
Crisis
29 July Nicholas II of Russia decided to mobilise (call up) his Nicholas knew he had to
army. At first, Nicholas hoped to mobilise only against give the order to mobilise
Austria-Hungary, but - when his generals told him that quickly because it would
this was impossible - he was forced to order a general take so long for the Russian
mobilisation (against Germany as well as Austria- army to get ready for war.
Hungary). However, he sent a telegram to the Kaiser
assuring him that the mobilisation was NOT against
Germany.
1 August The Kaiser gave the order to mobilise and Germany The Schlieffen Plan really
declared war on Russia. speeded things up here. As
The Kaiser demanded that France promise to remain soon as Russia started
neutral but France said they would act in their own mobilising, the plan meant
interests that Germany had to move
against France.
3 August Germany declared war on France when the French The French believed they
refused to remain neutral. had to stand by their ally,
Russia, against German
aggression.
3 August The Schlieffen Plan planned for the German army, So the Schlieffen Plan not
when it attacked France, to go through Belgium so, only led to Germany going
when the Belgians refused permission for the German to war with France, but also
army to pass through Belgium, Germany invaded their with Belgium and
country
4 August Britain was obliged by a treaty of 1839 to help Belgium Britain did not just go to
in the event of an invasion. Therefore, Britain sent war for the sake of
Germany an ultimatum demanding, by midnight, a Belgium. They did not feel
German promise to withdraw from Belgium. The they could let France down
Germans were amazed: 'For a scrap of paper, Great given their friendship and
Britain is going to make war?' asked Bethmann- the military/naval plans.
Hollweg, the German Foreign Minister. Britain declared And, most importantly,
war!
Britain feared a German
victory!