Download Causes of WWI

Nationalism is a Political or Social philosophy in which the welfare of
the nation-state as a whole is considered supreme. Nationalism is
basically a collective state of mind in which people believe their
primary duty and loyalty is to the nation-state. Often nationalism
implies national superiority and glorifies various national virtues.
Modern nationalism was born out of the liberal revolutions brought on
by Napoleon’s European conquests (1799-1815) soon after the French
Revolution, spreading the ideals of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity
everywhere his armies went. The result of Napoleon’s conquering was
that people desired to free themselves from foreign influence, and from
his conquering armies.
In Germany, Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck used war and
industrialization to forge a German Empire. Bismarck’s policy of
“Blood and Iron” convinced many German speaking peoples that they
could be united not through democratic traditions but through common sacrifice against common enemies,
particularly the French.
When the Franco-Prussian War (France and the German states) ended after only a few weeks in 1870, the
German states had united, and the German Empire became a reality. The French provinces of Alsace-Lorraine
were absorbed into the German empire. Because the French wanted their land back, French resentment spread,
and French nationalism grew. German and French Nationalism would grow into hatred and eventually war.
Also in Europe, the forces of nationalism worked to dismantle old established empires (Ottoman Empire –
Austro-Hungarian Empire) as people living under these rulers clamored to break away and set up their own
nations.
The Balkan Peninsula, with pockets of ethnic groups such as Serbs, Croats, Czechs, Slovaks, Muslims, and
others, became known as the Balkan Powder Keg due to the explosive emotions of nationalism that ran high in
these various groups. The passionate Pan-Slavism of Serbia, and Russia's willingness to support its Slavic
brother conflicted with Austria-Hungary's Pan-Germanism.
Militarism is the ideology that military strength is the source of all security. Total War began in that all
resources a country possessed were put toward the war effort. Militarism stands for a rise in military spending,
an increase in military and naval forces, more influence of the military on the policies of the civilian
government, and a preference for force as a solution to problems. The arms race ensued: building massive
amounts of war machines, drafting large numbers of soldiers, and creating extensive war plans before war even
broke out. Women became an increasingly important part of Militarism because they could work in factories
while the men fought in battle. Naval expansion was also extremely competitive, particularly between Germany
and Great Britain. By 1889, the British had established the principle that in order to maintain naval superiority
in the event of war, they would have to have a navy two and a half times as large as the second-largest navy. In
a country that believes in Militarism, everything that they do in their country is based on the military. In
Germany, before WWI, everything they did was for the military. The students were taught about how brave it
was to fight. Parents worked in plants that produced military goods.
Comparative figures on army increase, 1870-1914:
1870
1914
1870
Russia
700,000
1,300,000
France
380,000
Germany
403,000
812,000
Austria-Hungary 247,000
Britain
302,000
381,000
Italy
334,000
Japan
70,000
250,000
U.S.A.
37,000
1914
846,000
424,000
305,000
98,000
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Militarism /Arms Race
Another aspect of Militarism, the Arms Race, added to the fuel that caused World War I. Acknowledging that
Germany was the leader in military organization and efficiency, the great powers of Europe copied the universal
conscription, large reserves and detailed planning of the Prussian system. Technological and organizational
developments led to the formation of general staffs with precise plans for mobilization and attack that often
could not be reversed once they were begun. The German von Schlieffen Plan to attack France before Russia in
the event of war with Russia was one such complicated plan that drew more countries into war than necessary.
Armies and navies were greatly expanded. The standing armies of France and Germany doubled in size between
1870 and 1914. Because of Navel completion between Britain and Germany, the British Navy launched the
Dreadnought in 1906. The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship of the 20th century. The
revolutionary HMS Dreadnought of 1906 adopted an 'all-big-gun' armament and steam turbine propulsion; her
impact was so great that battleships built after her were referred to as 'dreadnoughts' and earlier battleships
became known as pre-dreadnoughts. The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 had demonstrated how effective
these battleships were. As Britain increased their output of battleships, Germany correspondingly stepped up
their naval production, including the dreadnought. Although efforts for worldwide disarmament were made at
the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907, international rivalry caused the arms race to continue to feed on
itself.
Imperialism is defined as the domination by one country of the political, economic, and/or cultural life of
another. Despite the resistance by those in the areas that were being colonized, the European colonizers
managed to get most of the world under their control between 1870 and 1914. Great Britain, Germany and
France needed foreign markets after they increased manufacturing caused by the Industrial Revolution. These
countries competed for economic expansion in Africa. Although Britain and France resolved their differences in
Africa, several crises foreshadowing the war involved the clash of Germany against Britain and France in North
Africa (see Morocco below). This competition caused major tensions between Germany, France, and England.
The Alliance System was started by Bismarck, the German Chancellor from 1871 to 1890. After the FrancoPrussian War, Bismarck wanted to surround Germany with friends to expand its economy. Thus Bismarck
organized a system of alliances designed to maintain Germany's domination on the European continent. France
was determined to challenge the dominance of Germany because France had been defeated by Germany in 1871
and had been forced to give up two provinces (Alsace-Lorraine) to Germany. Germany tried to isolate France
by making alliances with Russia, Austria, and Italy. Germany supported the Austro-Hungarian empire’s claims
on the Balkans, a region in South Eastern Europe that Russia felt tied to because of their Slavism. The Balkans
were Slavic, and expected the largest Slav country, Russia, to protect them against Austria. Two Balkan wars
drew the major alliances into conflict. Serbia wanted to attack Austria to create a Slavic empire. Because
Germany allied with Austria, and Russia allied with Serbia WWI was set to explode. The spark that set off
World War I was struck on June 28, 1914 with the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke
Francis Ferdinand by a Bosnian national supported by the Serbian government. Each country looked to its
allies for support in case war broke out. These alliances helped cause WWI, especially the two opposing
alliances developed by Bismarckian diplomacy after the Franco-Prussian War. In order to diplomatically isolate
France, Bismarck formed the Three Emperor's League in 1872, an alliance between Germany, Russia and
Austria-Hungary. When the French occupied Tunisia, Bismarck took advantage of Italian resentment towards
France and created the Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy and Austria- Hungary in 1882. In exchange for
Italy's agreement to stay neutral if war broke out between Austria-Hungary and Russia, Germany and AustriaHungary would protect Italy from France. Russia and Austria-Hungary grew suspicious of each other over
conflicts in the Balkans in 1887, but Bismarck repaired the damage to his alliances with a Reinsurance Treaty
with Russia, allowing both powers to stay neutral if the other was at war. What a tangle of alliances and
competing interests.
After Bismarck was fired by Kaiser William II in 1890, the traditional dislike of Slavs kept Bismarck's
successors from renewing the understanding with Russia. France took advantage of this opportunity to get an
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ally, and the Franco- Russian Entente was formed in 1891, which became a formal alliance in 1894. The Kruger
telegram William II sent to congratulate the leader of the Boers for defeating the British in 1896, his
instructions to the German soldiers to behave like Huns in China during the Boxer Rebellion, and particularly
the large-scale navy he was building all contributed to British distrust of Germany. Yep, no alliances there.
As a result, Britain and France overlooked all major imperialistic conflict between them and formed the Entente
Cordiale in 1904. Russia formed an Entente with Britain in 1907 after they had reached an understanding with
Britain's ally Japan and William II had further alienated Russia by supporting Austrian ambitions in the
Balkans. The Triple Entente, an informal coalition between Great Britain, France and Russia, now countered the
Triple Alliance. International tension was greatly increased by the division of Europe into two armed camps.
Two Front War: During WWI, Germany had to fight on two fronts. The Western Front was located on the
French and German border. It was about 920 miles long and stretched from the English Channel to the Alps. It
then picked up on the south side of the Alps in Italy and ended at the Adriatic Sea. The Eastern Front went from
the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea along the Russian border. The two front war significantly impaired the German
war effort due to the necessity of splitting their forces on two fronts.
Trench Warfare was a strategy that led to a stalemate during the war. Each side had dug into their respective
trenches separated by a 100 yards of earth called ‘no man’s land’. When the soldiers in one trench heard a
whistle, they would “go over the top” of the trench and run across this barren wasteland and attack the enemy’s
trench. The enemy fired machine guns at the advancing soldiers, effectively mowing the down. Attack and
counter attack ensued for more than four years, moving the battle lines a whopping 50 miles. (in toto)
WWI Has Many Names: The Great War, The War to End All Wars, The Modern War. Militarism conceived
and gave birth to countless new weapons. These new weapons included grenades, howitzers, airplanes, machine
guns, tanks, and chemical weapons. Gas was the most inhumane weapon used during the war. Mustard gas
would burn the mucus membranes it came in contact with, notably the eyes and lungs. This weapon was so
horrifying that countries have agreed to its ban.
Russian Revolution: During WWI, Russia was having severe problems at home. People were starving, and
troops were poorly equipped at the front. Some were fighting the war with pitch forks and broom handles.
Suffering from a lack of industrialization, Russia was the last major power to experience militarism on the scale
of the other European powers. Citizens rebelled and fought against the Czar’s army. These uprisings would lead
to the 1917 Russian Revolution. Because of this revolution, Russia was forced to pull out of the war. This
allowed Germany to pull their troops off of the eastern front and move them to the western front. The
immediate benefit to the German war effort is obvious.
U.S. Enters: During WWI the U.S. was very isolationist, and had no desire to involve itself in Europe’s affairs.
While the war was going on, the U.S. was selling weapons to the British side. Germany saw this as an act of
aggression and sent notice to the U.S. stating that any ships heading for Britain or France would be destroyed by
German submarines. This unrestricted submarine warfare drew heavy criticism from the U.S. government, and
probably tipped the scales toward U.S. entering the war on the British side. On May 1st a British passenger liner
the ‘Lusitania’ set sail from New York, and on May 7th was sunk by a German U-Boat off the shore of Ireland.
Out of the 1,959 passengers, 128 Americans were killed. The United States population was outraged. Germany
further outraged the American people with the Zimmerman Note. The Zimmerman Note was a communiqué
authored by German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmerman and intercepted by American Intelligence. The note
had been designed to entice Mexico into declaring war against the United States should the U.S. declare war on
Germany. As a reward, Mexico would then receive Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas after the war.
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Crises in Africa
The friction of an armed and divided Europe escalated into several crises in Morocco and the Balkans which
nearly ended in war. In 1905, Germany announced its support of independence for Morocco, the African colony
which Britain had given France in 1904. The British defended the French, and war was avoided by an
international conference in Algeciras, Spain in 1906 which allowed France to make Morocco a French
protectorate. Remember what a protectorate is?
Bosnian Crisis of 1908
Another conflict was incited by the Austria-Hungarian annexation of the former Turkish province of Bosnia in
1908. The Greater Serbian movement had as an object the acquisition of Slavic Bosnia, so Serbia threatened
war on Austria-Hungary. Russia had pledged their support to Serbia, so they began to mobilize, which caused
Germany, allied with Austria-Hungary, to threaten war on Russia. The beginning of World War I was
postponed when Russia backed down, but relations between Austria- Hungary and Serbia were greatly strained.
Morocco II
A second Moroccan crisis occurred in 1911 when Germany sent a warship to Agadir (a sea port in Morocco) in
protest of French supremacy in there, claiming the French had violated the agreement at Algeciras. Britain again
rose to France's defense and gave the Germans stern warnings. Germany agreed to allow France a free hand in
Morocco in exchange for part of the French Congo.
In the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, the Balkan States drove the Turks back to Constantinople and fought among
themselves over territory. Tensions between Serbia and Austria-Hungary increased when Austria-Hungary
forced Serbia to abandon some of its gains.
Assassination in Sarajevo
Europe had reached its breaking point when on June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the AustriaHungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, by a Serbian nationalist belonging to an organization
known as the Black Hand(Narodna Obrana). Immediately following the assassination Germany pledged its full
support (blank check) to Austria-Hungary, pressuring them to declare war on Serbia, while France strengthened
its backing of Russia. Convinced that the Serbian government had conspired against them, Austria-Hungary
issued Serbia an unacceptable ultimatum, to which Serbia consented almost entirely. Almost.
Falling Dominoes
Unsatisfied, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914. On July 29, Russia ordered a partial
mobilization only against Austria-Hungary in support of Serbia, which escalated into a general mobilization.
The Germans threatened war on July 31 if the Russians did not demobilize. Upon being asked by Germany
what it would do in the event of a Russo-German War, France responded that it would act in its own interests
and mobilized. On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia, and two days later, on France. The German
invasion of Belgium to attack France, which violated Belgium's official neutrality, prompted Britain to declare
war on Germany. World War I had begun.
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The Schlieffen Plan
In 1904 France and Britain
signed the Entente Cordiale
(friendly understanding). The
objective of the alliance was to
encourage co-operation against the
perceived threat of Germany.
Negotiations also began to add
Russia to this alliance. As a result
of these moves the German
military began to fear the
possibility of a combined attack
from France, Britain and Russia.
Alfred von Schlieffen, German
Army Chief of Staff, was given
instructions to devise a strategy
that would be able to counter a
joint attack. In December, 1905,
August, 1914
he began circulating what later
became known as the Schlieffen
Plan. Schlieffen argued that if war took place it was vital that France was speedily defeated. If this happened,
Britain and Russia would be unwilling to carry on fighting. Schlieffen calculated that it would take Russia six
weeks to organize its large army for an attack on Germany. Therefore, it was vitally important to force France
to surrender before Russia was ready to use all its forces.
Schlieffen's plan involved using 90% of Germany's armed forces to attack France. Fearing the French forts on
the border with Germany, Schlieffen suggested a scythe-like attack through Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg.
The rest of the German Army would be sent to defensive positions in the east to stop the expected Russian
advance.
When Helmuth von Moltke replaced Alfred von Schlieffen as German Army Chief of Staff in 1906, he
modified the plan by proposing that Holland was not invaded. The main route would now be through the flat
plains of Flanders, Belgium. Moltke argued that Belgium's small army would be unable to stop German forces
from quickly entering France. Moltke suggested that 34 divisions should invade Belgium whereas 8 divisions
would be enough to stop Russia advancing in the east.
On August 2nd 1914, the Schlieffen Plan was put into operation when the German Army invaded Luxembourg
and Belgium. However, the Germans were held up by the Belgian Army and were shocked by the Russian
Army's advance into East Prussia. The Germans were also surprised by how quickly the British Expeditionary
Force reached France and Belgium.
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On September 3rd, Joseph
Joffre, the Commander-in-Chief
of the French forces, ordered his
men to retreat to a line along the
River Seine, south-east of Paris
and over 60km south of the
Marne. Sir John French,
commander of the British
Expeditionary Force agreed to
join the French in attacking the
German forces.
The French 6th Army attacked
the German Ist Army at the
Marne on the morning of 6th
September. General Alexander
September, 1914
von Kluck wheeled his entire
force to meet the attack, opening
a 50km gap between his own
forces and the German 2nd Army
led by General Karl von Bulow.
The British forces and the French
5th Army now advanced into the gap that had been created splitting the two German armies.
For the next three days the German forces were unable to break through the Allied lines. At one stage the
French 6th Army came close to defeat and were only saved by the use of Paris taxis to rush 6,000 reserve troops
to the front line. On 9th September, General Helmuth von Moltke, the German Commander in Chief, ordered
General Karl von Bulow and General Alexander von Kluck to retreat. The British and French forces were now
able to cross the Marne.
The Schlieffen Plan had not succeeded. The German hopes of a swift and decisive victory had been frustrated.
However, the German Army had not been beaten and its successful retreat and the building of trenches between
the North Sea to the Swiss Frontier ended all hope of a short war.
Assumptions
Reality
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Extreme
Nationalism
1905
Imperialism
Alliance
System
Militarism
Arms Race
1913
The Moroccan
Crisis
The Bosnian
Crisis
The Balkan
Wars
The Sarajevo Assassination
1914
The First World War
The
Moroccan
Crisis
The Bosnian
Wars
Major Events
Leading to
Outbreak the
War
The
Balkan
Wars
Outbreak
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Causes of WWI
(M.A.I.N.)
Use Facts Taken From Your Book and Packet, And Explain Each Of The Causes Of WWI
Militarism
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Alliance System
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Imperialism
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Nationalism
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