Diplomacy and world war, 1871 – 1919

Diplomacy and World War, 1871 – 1919

❖Diplomacy: peaceful relations between sovereign states in order to avoid war. ❖1914, European leaders were unable or unwilling to find peaceful alternatives. ❖Major concept that guided diplomatic relations before 1914 was balance of power.

Balance of Power & Alliance System

❖Congress of Vienna – no one state should dominate international affairs. ❖Until its defeat by Germany in 1871 (Franco-Prussian War), France was most important state on continent. ❖Balance of power changed. ❖France yearned for revenge.


❖Russia and Austria-Hungary wanted to expand in Balkan Peninsula. ❖Italy aspired to become major power. ❖England concentrated on expanding empire in other parts of the world. ❖1878, Bismarck called a conference. ❖Main item of business was to sort out Balkans after Russo-Turkish War.


❖Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro became independent states. ❖Russia gained territory on Black Sea. ❖Britain and Austria-Hungary were allowed to occupy and administrate Cyprus and Bosnia, respectively. ❖Ottoman Empire reduced.


❖Bismarck realized that treaties needed to replace the congress system to reflect Germany as a major power. ❖Balance of power must be preserved but with Germany having a decisive influence. ❖Ideal situation involved controlling Russia, keeping France in isolation, preventing Italy from triggering war with Austria-Hungary (for territory), and creating an alliance between Austria-Hungary and Germany.


❖As long as England was not seriously challenged, England would not oppose Germany’s domination of the continent. ❖Bismarck first negotiated Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary in 1879. ❖Became the Triple Alliance when Italy joined in 1882.


❖Defensive alliance. ❖Assured support from others in the event of enemy attack. ❖Also secret treaties. ❖1881, Bismarck created Three Emperors’ League: Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary alliance. ❖Left France without allies.


❖League broke down in 1887 because Austro-Russian hostility over the Balkans. ❖Bismarck replaced this with Reinsurance Treaty with Russia (1887), should Austria attack Russia, Germany would remain neutral and if France attacked Germany, Russia would remain neutral.


❖No major wars from 1871 to 1890. ❖Germany now great power. ❖New German emperor after Bismarck resigned, Wilhelm II (1888-1918). ❖Wanted to set policy himself, not take orders from Bismarck. ❖Rejected Bismarck’s passive satisfaction with empire’s international position.


❖Favoured weltpolitik, “world policy,” where Germany sought colonies and challenged Britain’s imperial leadership. ❖This would destabilize the balance of power. ❖Wilhelm frightened Russia, France, and Britain.

Wilhelm II and German Weltpolitik

❖Canceled Reinsurance Treaty with Russia. ❖He didn’t think Russia and France would ever ally themselves together. ❖1894, Russia and France signed a treaty against the Triple Alliance – each promising to go to war if the other were attacked by Germany.


❖Wilhelm antagonized Britain. ❖Authorized massive naval build-up – direct challenge to Britain’s naval supremacy. ❖Resulted in a naval race between the two countries. ❖Led Britain to seek allies – in France and Russia.


❖1904, Britain and France established Entente Cordiale, settled their colonial differences. ❖1907, Britain and Russia clarified their respective sphere of influence and Entente Cordiale became Triple Entente. ❖Wilhelm’s new policies changed balance of power.


❖National sentiment, religious hatred, and Russian and Austrian ambition to expand proved a lethal mix! ❖1908, war nearly broke out over Bosnia. ❖Austria occupied area since 1878 but feared Ottoman Empire would attempt to regain control.

Balkans

❖Russia turned back to the Balkans after defeat by Japan, for access to the Mediterranean Sea. ❖Austria-Hungary and Russia agreed secretly to support one another at a conference – Russia would gain access to the Mediterranean and Austria-Hungary would annex Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Balkans

❖Mix-up occurred: Austria took over Bosnia, Russia gained nothing because it had no support from allies in Triple Entente for extending power into Mediterranean. ❖War broke out in 1912 in Balkans as Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro swept Ottomans out.

Balkans

❖Albania was created as independent state. ❖Serbia gained territory.

Balkans

❖Most assumed a European war would never occur. ❖Yet, plans for large-scale armed conflict. ❖German war plans changed after Wilhelm II took control. ❖Once Russians were no longer tied to Germany, Germans assumed they would be fighting on two fronts.

Outbreak of WWI

❖General Alfred von Schlieffen devised a plan to cope with this possibility. ❖Schlieffen Plan assumed Russia would mobilize slowly and France must be defeated quickly. ❖Plan called for rapid mobilization, taking Paris in six weeks by marching through neutral Belgium, then turning east to Russia.

Outbreak of WWI

❖1914, international relations were tense. ❖Tension in the Balkans that triggered a European war. ❖June 28th, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Duchess Sophie were visiting Sarajevo.

Outbreak of WWI

❖Bosnian city annexed by Austria and claimed by Serbia. ❖Desperate act of terrorism, Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, assassinated them.

Outbreak of WWI

❖Princip’s group, Black Hand Society, later recalled:

Outbreak of WWI

We were not the only organization which plotted against Austrian rule. But we were the only one which went to the length of direct action – political crimes and demonstrations to inflame the hearts of the people. The others merely distributed nationalistic and revolutionary literature and by argument sought to prepare the ground for revolution. We were the extremists. All the organizations had a loose connection with each other, but none of them knew our plans or when we would strike… … The men who were terrorists in 1914 in Bosnia embraced all classes. Most of them were students: youth is the time for the philosophy of action. There were also teachers, tradesmen, and peasants; artisans and even men of the upper classes were ardent patriots. They were dissimilar [in] everything except hatred of the oppressor.

Outbreak of WWI

❖Austria blamed Serbia for the killing, claiming that it encouraged nationalist movements in Bosnia. ❖Before taking action, Austria-Hungary checked with German ally. ❖July 5th, 1914, Germany pledged its support, even if Russia entered on the side of the Serbs.

Outbreak of WWI

❖July 23, Austria sent Serbia a set of demands that would deprive Serbia of its independence. ❖Basically an excuse to go to war. ❖Austria declared war on Serbia on July 28th 1914. ❖Russia mobilized the next day.

Outbreak of WWI

❖July 30th, German general, Helmuth von Moltke told Austria to mobilize against Russia. ❖Germany issued an ultimatum to Russia, warning it to not interfere in the Balkans. ❖Russia did not answer and Germany declared war on Russia on August 1.

Outbreak of WWI

❖Germany immediately put the Schlieffen Plan into effect, sending troops through Belgium to defeat France. ❖War was formally declared against France on August 3, 1914.

Outbreak of WWI

❖Germany hoped that England would remain neutral. ❖Public opinion was very upset with Germany invading neutral Belgium. ❖England had little choice but to join Russia and France.

Outbreak of WWI

❖August 4, 1914, Britain declared war on Germany, using German violation of neutral Belgium to persuade public opinion.

❖Countries from Britain’s empire were automatically at war (Canada, Australia, India, and New Zealand).

Outbreak of WWI

❖Everyone in Europe thought the conflict would be over within six months. ❖War was viewed as a romantic, nationalist affair, brief heroic excursion to defeat the enemy.

Outbreak of WWI

❖It was not romantic, but brutal and ugly! ❖World War I introduced tanks, poison gas, and airplanes to the world’s military arsenal.

The War

❖German strategy failed! ❖Battle of Marne began on September 6, 1914. ❖French managed to stop German advance. ❖Gave Russians time to mobilize.

The War

❖Germany now faced a two-front war. ❖Western front was established in France in 1914 and remain the same for 2 ½ years. ❖Fighting turned into series of attempts to penetrate fixed trench positions.

The War

❖The war got bogged down in the trenches, each side confronting the deadly machine gun – best defensive weapon at the time.

The War

❖Japan entered war on Allies side in August 1914. ❖Ottoman Empire entered on Germany and Austria-Hungary side in late 1914. ❖Italy switched to Allies in 1915.

The War

❖None of these changes altered the course of the war. ❖Japan spent all its efforts on acquiring German possessions in Far East and gaining concessions from China.

The War

❖Ottoman Empire harassed Russia in Black Sea but too weak to make a difference. ❖Italy abandoned Triple Alliance in 1914 – did not want to go to war over Balkans.

The War

❖Italy claimed the alliance was a defensive one and Austria-Hungary’s actions toward Serbia were offensive. ❖Both sides bargained with Italy and Allies gained it as a friend which it promised Italy lands.

The War

❖Britain used its naval power to attempt to blockade German ports. ❖Challenge for them was the ingenious submarine, used by Germany.

The War

❖German submarine raised serious diplomatic questions about what to do about neutrals, particularly the United States. ❖United States clearly sympathized with the Allies.

The War

❖Strong sentiment in United States that it should continue traditional policy of not becoming involved in European conflicts. ❖President Woodrow Wilson tried to mediate between powers.

The War

❖1915, Germany attempted to blockade Britain and announced any shipping in the Atlantic would be fired upon. ❖Wilson was angered and public opinion supported him.

The War

❖May 1915, British passenger ship Lusitania was destroyed by German submarines. ❖1200 death, including over 100 Americans. ❖Outcry in United States that Germany felt it wiser to retreat.

The War

❖By 1917, English blockade became more effective and Germany began to feel shortage of resources. ❖January 1917, Germany adopted policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.

The War

❖Germany sunk tons of Allied ships, but still lost the gamble. ❖April 6, 1917, United States declared war against Germany. ❖Vast productive power of Allies, introduction of the tank against the machine gun, control of the seas and gradual wearing down of German and Austrian forces, as well as American support, meant that Germany and its allies could not win.

The War

❖Russia withdrew from the war because of internal problems in 1917. ❖Germany made one last push in 1918, without success. ❖Allies broke through the German lines in the summer 1918.

The War

❖November 3, 1918 Austria surrendered. ❖Wilhelm II abdicated on November 9 and fled to Holland. ❖November 11, 1918 Germans requested an armistice and the war was over.

The War

❖Peace conference in Paris. ❖United States took its place among the great powers and hopes of the world rested on its president. ❖January 1918, Wilson issued a public statement known as the Fourteen Points.

Peace of Versailles

❖Set out broad principles for shaping international relations: the end to secret treaties; the rights of colonial peoples; a League of Nations to protect the rights of all states; and establishing the principle of nationality for redrawing the map of Europe.

Peace of Versailles

❖Wilson was idealistic; other key figures were not. ❖British Prime Minister David Lloyd George wanted to avoid his country committed to action on the continent, French Premier Georges Clemenceau sought guarantees against German resurgence.

Peace of Versailles

❖Nations represented at the Paris Peace Conference included: new states of Poland and Czechoslovakia, many Latin American states, Japan, China, Siam, and Liberia.

Peace of Versailles

❖Russia withdrew from the war following the Bolshevik Revolution and was not invited. ❖Nor were the defeated states: Germany, Austria, Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.

Peace of Versailles

❖No one on the winning side doubted that Germany and Austria were responsible for the war. ❖Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France, which was also given the right to use the rich coal mines of the Saar for 15 years.

Peace of Versailles

❖Recreated state of Poland. ❖Germany lost all colonies, which were divided among France, Britain, Belgium, South Africa, and Japan. ❖Fair? Too harsh?

Peace of Versailles

❖Many resented the German invasion of Belgium, submarine warfare, and losses at the front. ❖Germany was permitted to retain only a small military force and German troops were banned from Rhineland.

Peace of Versailles

❖Finally, the treaty included a “war guilt” clause, stating that the war had been caused by “the aggression of Germany and her allies.” ❖Clause included a large reparations bill.

Peace of Versailles

❖Treaty did not live up to Wilson’s idealism, and it was deeply resented by the losers. ❖Japan counted on more concession in the East. ❖France wanted Germany weakened even further.

Peace of Versailles

❖Italy did not receive all the territory it wanted.

❖Many new states in eastern Europe were not really based on the principle of nationality: three million Germans lived in the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia and half a million Magyars remained in Romania.

Peace of Versailles

❖Treaty was to be signed in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, where France surrendered to Germany in 1871. ❖German representatives refused to accept it, asserting it was too harsh.

Peace of Versailles

❖Finally, in May 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed. ❖Other treaties followed with German allies – Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Ottoman Empire. ❖All based on Treaty of Versailles.

Peace of Versailles

❖New states were created based on nationality. ❖In addition to Poland, map of Europe now included Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland.

Peace of Versailles

Diplomacy and world war, 1871 – 1919

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