Download 2. The Second Moroccan Crisis.

1. The First Moroccan Crisis.
● Morocco is located in North West Africa.
● The main countries involved were:
-Germany
-France
-Morocco
● What each country wanted:
-France wanted to have control over Morocco for the markets, and because of the
location of the country, in front of the ocean, provided many benefits.
-Germany were worried about French expansion in North Africa so they wanted
Morocco to reject French power in their country. The Germans also wanted to
strengthen their friendship with Morocco to have influence over the country and to
have equal trading rights like other countries.
● The crisis was solved because Germany was backed into a corner and forced to
sign a conference with France since most european powers and even the USA
backed France in the matter. Germany agreed to recognize the “special
interests” of France in Morocco and that Germany would not go against the
“legitimate interests” that France had in Morocco. In other words, Germany
let France have great trade benefits, and Germany would only have small
trade benefits.
● Germany was not particularly happy with the outcome of the situation as they
would much rather have had their interests in Morocco met, which were to
have their trade rights be equal to other countries’, as well as wanting
Morocco to remain independent.
Part 1 sources:
https://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/The_First_Moroccan_Crisis
http://historylearning.com/world-war-one/causes-of-world-war-one/moroccan-cris
is-1905/
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/causes-of-world-war-one/thefirst-moroccan-crisis/
2. The Second Moroccan Crisis.
● The main countries involved this time were:
-France
-Germany
-Great Britain
-Morocco
-Spain
● The crisis developed because: There was a rebellion against the Sultan
in Morocco, France sent troops down to help the rebellion in means of
protecting European lives and property. The problem worsened as the
Germans sent down a gunboat to protect German trade interests. Then,
since the British were worried about the German gunboat´s arrival in
Morocco, they sent down a boat of their own.
● In the end, France ended up with full control over Morocco, crushing
what was left of its previous independence.
● Germany recognized the French and Spanish spheres of influence in
Morocco, receiving instead territories in the Middle Congo and a colony
of French Equatorial Africa, which became part of German Cameroon.
Part 2 sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agadir_Crisis
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/causes-of-world-war-on
e/the-agadir-crisis-of-1911/
3. The Naval and Arms Race.
● The main countries involved in the naval race were:
-Great Britain
-Germany
-France
Examples of some of the warships used in WW1:
HMS Dreadnought, this ship caused the Anglo-German naval race to be at its point of
greatest tension ever, this is how much Britain feared it.
HMS Canopus, when it was released, Britain had no true naval rivals.
● The main countries involved in the arms race were:
-Great Britain
-Germany
● Germany’s plan for war was the Schlieffen plan. The plan was based on Germany’s
beliefs that France was much less powerful than Russia, and they would be easily
taken out, and Russia would take a long time to mobilise its army, meaning it was not
a threat. The Schlieffen plan was Germany’s only plan and it was very aggressive
and risky. Once in place, the plan did not work, as Russia mobilised their army very
quickly, and Belgium didn’t allow Germany to pass through in order to get to France,
resulting in Germany having to fight their way through. As a result of Germany’s
decision to pass through Belgium forcefully, Britain had the legal pretext it needed to
attack Germany, thanks to the treaty of London.
● France’s plan for war was plan XVII. The plan was simple, attack Germany by
divided forces, on would attack through Belgium before Germany could mobilize its
army. This would happen at the same time as Russian attack from the east, so
Germany would have to split its troops. Another group would try to recover
Alsace-Lorraine. Once in use, the plan failed, as in the first battle, Germany was able
to beat the French at the frontier, however, the French were able to push back the
Germans in the second battle. After this plan failed, they went into trench warfare.
● Most of Europe's military chiefs did not expect at all, a short war. They predicted a
war between 18 months to 2 years long. Nobody, however, expected what ended up
being a 4 year bloodbath.
Part 3 sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27641717
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-German_naval_arms_race
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/ir1/schlieffenplanrev3.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_XVII
4. ​The Balkans Crisis.
Picture of the Balkans at the beginning of the 20th century:
●
One of the reasons as to why the Balkans was a very unstable area, was because
there was a lot of tension between the countries in the area. There was tension
between Austria-Hungarians and the Serbians, due to Austria-Hungary annexing
Bosnia and Herzegovina. There was added tension when
● Another reason as to why the Balkans was considered to be a very unstable area,
was because of the amount of conflict in the area: For example; in 1908 there was a
shift in power in the area, as Austria-Hungary had almost full control in the Balkans,
successfully pushing the Ottomans out. Another example highlighting the violence in
the Balkans, were the drastic measures that were taken when a certain country did
not like the political situation, for example; Franz Ferdinand’s murder (1914). To give
you an image of the violence in the Balkans, if we look at the maps from each
decade from the late 1800s up until 1914, we can see that borders constantly
change, meaning wars were fought resulting in the loss and gain of territory.
● Variety of ethnic groups
● Both A-H and Russia wanted control of the area
Here is an animated Gif showing the geographical changes throughout the years in the
Balkans ​(if not working, please refresh page)​:
● The 1908 Balkans crisis:
The main countries involved were:
● Austria-Hungary
● Serbia
● Russia
● Germany
The crisis began when Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, in hopes of
expanding their empire further into the Balkans area. Serbia, was displeased by this, as they
wanted Bosnia and Herzegovina to join them instead of the Austro-Hungarians. Russia,
backed the Serbians’ position, however once Austria-Hungary signed the dual alliance with
Germany, Russia and Serbia both backed down as Germany was a far greater power than
both of them.
● In 1913 the Balkan countries turned on each other and fought among themselves for
power. The outcome was that serbia became the most powerful country in the
Balkans and proclaimed that Austria-Hungary was its next target.. As a result of this,
Austro-Hungary considered Serbia to be a serious threat, meaning that they wanted
to destroy Serbia using any chance they had.
●
In the last week of July 1914, after a decade of clashes and near misses, growing
tensions between the two main blocs of the European alliance finally reached a point.
Taking advantage of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand as a pretext,
Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum containing unacceptable demands to Serbia
on 23 July. European diplomats rushed to defuse the situation, but on July 25 Serbia
secured Russian support, and Austria-Hungary, also assured of German support,
rejected the Serbian response, laying the foundations for the war.
Part 4 sources:
http://quicksmartrevision.weebly.com/the-balkan-crises.html
http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/1871-1914/section9.rhtml
https://es.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/euro-hist/world-war-i-tutorial/v/assassin
ation-of-franz-ferdinand-by-gavrilo-princip
http://www.johndclare.net/causes_WWI4_AustriaandSerbia.htm
http://mentalfloss.com/article/58047/wwi-centennial-austria-hungary-declares-war-serbia
5. The Murder at Sarajevo.
A timeline of the main events:
Late 1800s:Austria-Hungary begins occupying some areas in the Balkans
1908: Austria-Hungary formally annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, meaning the end of
Ottoman rule in the Balkans.
1914: Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, and his wife Sophie, were
murdered at Sarajevo by a Yugoslav nationalist, Gavrilo Princip.
Part 5 sources:
https://es.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/euro-hist/world-war-i-tutorial/v/assassin
ation-of-franz-ferdinand-by-gavrilo-princip