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To what extent would you consider that World War One resulted from a lack of statesmanship among the major European powers in the year of 1914? WRITTEN BY VENUS TSUI SIU FUNG FORMER STUDENT OF LKW IN BHSC FROM 1986 TO 1988 Prior to the year of 1890, peace was maintained in Europe vastly the effort of the great man, Bismarck, who was a brilliant statesman. Yet, his dismissal in 1890 was a misery. Since then, no able statesman appeared in Europe who could handle the international situation. Anarchy, rivalry and crises were frequent. Finally, the Sarajevo Crisis revealed the defects of lacking great statesmanship which precipitated the outbreak of World War One. There was no doubt that World War One was a result of a lack of statesmanship among the major European powers especially during the crisis in 1914. Despite the other factors, nationalism and militarism particularly played a part, too. In fact, the Sarajevo Crisis, by itself., was not sufficient to provoke a general war. It was only the miscalculation and inability of the politicians of the powers to handle the Incident in a proper way that consequently made the Great War inevitable. On 28th June 1914, when Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria visited Sarajevo, he was shot by a Bosnian youth called Principe. The Austrians felt that they were given a good chance to punish Serbia. Yet, they dared not to have immediate action. It was not until they received the lank cheque’ sent by Germany that they sent an ultimatum to Serbia. The ultimatum was drafted in a way not to be accepted. Thus, Serbia mobilized even before replying the Austrian ultimatum while to Russia, the ultimatum was a challenge on her who regarded herself as the protector of the European Slavs in the Balkans. Therefore, with the Austrian bombardment of Serbian capital precipitated the intervention of Russia. With the Russian mobilization, the Powers were compelled to mobilize. As a result, war could scarcely be prevented. Actually, none of the powers desired a general war. The outbreak of World War One could partly be claimed as fortuitous and the unwise decisions were made by the statesman among the powers. In the first place, it went without saying that the Serbian Prime Minister Pasich was aware of the point. Though he attempted to prevent it, he just sent a vague warning to the Austrian Government. He might have intended his warning to be more specific so that the July Crisis would be avoided. On the other hand, Berchtold, the Austrian Foreign Minister who was an aristocrat, had made the first decision to go to war with Serbia despite of her excuses and apologies. These 1 statesmen not only abused their task to maintain international peace, but also let their private interest dominate their decision. It was their irresponsibility and ignorance that finally led to World War One. Worse still, although Germany was not involved in the July Crisis, her decision and policy posed a threat on the international peace. Yet, the Chancellor of Germany, Bethmann Hollweg, had no experience either of politics or of foreign policy. When Kaiser William II regarded Austria Hungary must punish Serbia even at the risk of war with Russia. Bethmann approved it without any objection. There was no final council and no weighty consideration of the issues. Of course, the Germans were bluffing. They thought that Russia would let Serbia be destroyed. Yet, Russian mobilization showed that they were wrong. Again, the German line was that if there was to be war, better now than later. It was vital that Bethmann also supported such a policy which finally led to war. Hence, this worthy pacific man must bear more responsibility than any other individual. He could have stopped the war and instead, he let it happen. (quite impressive) It was an iron truth that German policy did not aim at provoking a European war in 1914. She wanted to localize a conflict in the Balkans as in 1908-1909. How/ever, the blank cheque sent to Austria encouraged her to declare war on Serbia. Thus, it was Germany that neglected to exercise a moderate influence on the Austrian policy and consequently led to the general war. All these clearly showed that Europe lacked a good statesman, particularly in Germany. They did nothing to ease the unhealthy situation among the powers but only intensified it. It was this foolishness that led to war. (gap) part from these, the Sarajevo Crisis also involved Russia. The Foreign Minister of Russia, Sazonov was ignorant of military affairs. He proposed to partial mobilization in order to exert pressure on Austria. Nevertheless, he did not understand that a partial mobilization would compel Austrian general mobilization which in turn would invoke German general mobilization. Germany would not risk such a danger. The German future relied on her speed of mobilization. While the Russians regarded mobilization as a diplomatic threat as she could still have time to bargain before the war would come, the Germans regarded mobilization as war because she had no time to waste. Everything would be determined by the speed. As Albertini commented that, here was a remendous blunder’ because practical mobilization would have led to war no less surely than general mobilization.” Furthermore, Nicholas II, an automatic ruler of Russia, was feeble and even thought that the success of war abroad could suppress the internal dissatisfaction and resentment. By no means, they all miscalculated and once war broke out, it was out of their control. 2 It could never be denied that both the British Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Grey as well as the French President R. Poincare had made an attempt to settle the July Crisis peacefully. Their efforts failed because of human folly, In fact, some historians had blamed the French for not exerting influence on the Russians through their close relation. However, the Austrians had already taken this into consideration. When the world was waiting for the Austrian response to the assassination, the President followed the proposed visit and was on his way to Russia. This would provide a good chance for mediation. The Austrians, therefore, remained silence until the President was on his was back home. This kind of calculation frustrated any attempt to settle the crisis peacefully. The Austrians were determined to punish the Serbs at any cost. Sir Edward Grey efforts also failed. In the words of D. Thomson, “....... Berchtold was bent upon war, and he lit the fuse when no one had time to extinguish it.” Obviously, the lack of great statesmanship during the July Crisis was also a factor, As J. Joll commented that, gain and with men who suddenly feel themselves trapped, caught up in a fate they are unable to control.” Practically, no one plan a general war in 1914. It was, indeed, a tragedy of miscalculation. As a matter of fact, the statesman in Europe were unable to handle the international affairs, especially the July Crisis of 1914. Also, their power was taken by the aggressive strong military General Staff who had started quick mobilization. It was crystal clear that the interference of Moltke prevented any last-minute attempt to keep peace. Thus, Berchtold commented that who rules in Berlin, Moltke or Bethmann? It implied that Germany was under the rule of the Chief of Staff rather than the statesmen. In fact, it implied that not only in Germany but also other European powers, like Austria, the Chief of Staff, Cornad who was particularly bellicose in the summer of 19l4. As L Hart stated, enceforth the statesmen nay continue to send telegrams, but they are merely waste paper. The military machine has completely taken charge.” Needless to say, the military men were in charge of everything in Europe. Meanwhile, they favored military actions and war was inevitable indeed. However, the outbreak of World War One in 1914 could not be attributed only to the lack of any statesmanship among major European powers which was due to a sequence of events before 1914. These could be originated from the factor of nationalism. Generally speaking, it referred to the showing of love and glory for one own country. Yet, it was nationalism which led to the national conflict among the Powers. For instance, the Greater Serbia Movement came into conflict with Austria in the Balkan. While France wanted to 3 take revenge on Germany for the loss of prestige in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. Moreover, nationalism arose in Germany as well as Russia. They struggled for the domination of Turkish Empire and their differential support to Austria and Serbia shaped their confrontation in the Balkans. They were hostile to each other mainly owing to Pan-Germanism against Pan-Slavism. Not only did it lead to national conflict, but also the primacy of nationalism provoked the war in several dimensions. In the first place, nationalism initiated the Alliance System. Because of national struggles between France and Germany, it led Bismarck attempting to isolate France by defensive alliances. Finally, Europe was divided into two armed camps by 1907. Because of hostility, fear and suspicion, Europe was not allowed to have two different camps. As a consequence, war was inevitable eventually. Again, nationalism led to imperialism as the powers regarded that colonies were the symbol of glory. Thus, colonial rivalry resettled such as the Scramble for concession in Asia and the partition of Africa. Furthermore, militarism was vastly and directly resulted from nationalism. In order to eliminate disputes and to gain prestige and glory, the use of arms was inevitable. The use of militarism was essential since the military men including the Chief of Staff of the European powers controlled almost all the affairs. Consequently, with these factors inter-linked, the outbreak of World War One became a matter sooner or later. In brief, in 1914, Europe though lived in an atmosphere of war preparedness, war was unthinkable. However, the Sarajevo Assassination on 28 June did introduce to Europe the possibility of war. Indeed, it was due to the inability and miscalculation of the statesman in that period which finally led to the Great War. Yet, the lack of any statesmanship could not solely contributed to general war. It was rather due to the sequence of events which originated from 1871 and the various and interlocking factors, like nationalism and militarism and so forth. (quite concise) MARKS : 20 COMMENT : ABLE TO SHOW IDEAS AND PROVIDE A BRIEF SURVEY. SHOULD RELATE MORE TO THE QUESTION ASKED. 4