THE FIRST WORLD WAR1914 - 1918

In 1914 the world was plunged into a war of a magnitude never seen before in the history of mankind.

The war had long term underlying causes and then the incident which sparked it.

CAUSES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

The condition in Europe by 1914 was ripe for the outbreak of some form of confrontation as is shown by the following factors:- The long term causes of the First World War

THE ARMS RACE By 1914 most European countries had amassed a lot of

weaponry and built large armies beyond their domestic security requirements.

For example after 1897 Germany started building up a big navy strong enough to challenge the British navy. The argument was that if Germany was going to build a world wide empire it had to be supported by a world wide navy.

In 1900 Germany passed a law ordering the building of a huge new fleet of 41 battleships and 60 cruisers.

Britain responded energetically by increasing the size of its navy, they introduced the powerful ‘Dreadnought’ in 1906 and Germans responded by building similar ships.

In response Britain ordered the building of the ‘Super Dreadnoughts’.

Other countries also took part in this race. The French increased their forces and by 1914 had an army of nearly 4million soldiers.

The Russians spent a fortune on military railways that were clearly designed to take troops to fight Germany and Austria-Hungary.

In Germany the people were even scared that its mighty army would one day flatten Berlin.

BUSINESS RACE Europe had undergone industrialization in the 18th

century. Production was now done in factories, which were

producing a lot of goods and needed markets in other parts of the world.

At the same time the industries needed raw materials. As a result Europeans competed to secure such markets

for example the British established trading companies such as the British East India Company and the British East Africa Company to spearhead British business interests in the respective parts of the world.

This competition resulted in conflicts in some instances as the European countries sought to protect the business interests of their citizens.

COLONIAL RACE

By the 19th century the European countries embarked on territorial expansion as a means of securing markets, sources of raw materials for their factories and building their empires.

This resulted in conflicts which almost resulted in confrontation between the countries for example the Agadir crisis of 1905 and 1911 between France and Morocco.

Germany had sent a warship to Morocco in order to stop France from occupying this country.

This conflict was only resolved by a conference of European countries at which a compromise was reached that France would remain in Morocco while Germany was to get some land in Central Africa.

THE ALLIANCE SYSTEM

The alliance system refers to the process by which European countries entered into some form of agreements to assist each other in the event of facing aggression.

By the 19th century Europe had been divided into two camps namely the Triple alliance and the Triple entente.

The Triple alliance was made up of Germany and Austria-Hungary it was signed in 1897 and they remained allies in the following decades.

At first the only likely enemy of the Triple alliance was France. However because of the Kaiser Wilhelm 11’s clumsy policy encouraged Russia to join forces with France.

In 1892 France and Russia agreed to an alliance in which if either country was attacked by Germany, the other state would go to war against the Germans.

By the turn of the century Britain began to look around for allies. Britain then established friendly relations with France in 1904 and Russia in 1907.

The link was not an official alliance but an ‘entente’ or understanding that the countries would try to work together. It became known as the Triple entente it was an anti-German grouping of France, Russia and Britain.

NATIONALISM AND THE RISE OF GERMANY There was an increase in the rise of a feeling of belonging

amongst people who had some common elements such as the people in the numerous states found in what is now Germany.

By the mid 19th century Germany was divided into many separate states.

Prussia was the most important of these states and it was a Kingdom.

In the 1860s the leaders of Prussia wanted to unite all the German speaking states into one empire.

France was unhappy about this and went to war with Germany from 1860 to 1871 in what is known as the Franco-Prussian war.

France was defeated in this war and it lost the region of Alsaace and Lorraine.

Germany proceeded to set up an empire under the Emperor or Kaiser Wilhem1 who was the King of Prussia at the time.

THE RETIREMENT OF CHANCELLOR BISMARCK

A man called Bismarck was the chief minister or prime minister of Prussia and subsequently became the Chancellor of the new Germany.

Between 1871 and 1914 Germany underwent an industrial revolution which led to its growth from strength to strength.

As a result by 1914 the industrial output of Germany had overtaken that of British industries.

Chancellor Bismarck was a skillful and strategic administrator after 1871 he stopped Germany’s participation in any more wars.

Whilst France remained Germany’s enemy Bismarck used his diplomatic skills to ensure that France remained isolated.

While Bismarck was in charge of Germany’s foreign policy he ensured that Germany had good relations with Britain and Russia so that France would not have a powerful ally.

In 1880 Germany had a new Kaiser Wilhem11 who retired Bismarck and Germany’s foreign policy changed.

KAISER WILHEM 11 In 1888, Kaiser Wilhem 11 became the new ruler of

Germany. The new ruler of Germany like many Germans believed

that Germany was now an equal of Britain in terms of wealth and industry.

Kaiser Wilhem11 believed that it was now time for Germany to have a worldwide empire.

In 1890 the new Kaiser made Bismarck to retire. Kaiser Wilhem11 wanted a new, more aggressive

approach to the rest of the world contrary to Bismarck’s smart diplomacy.

Kaiser Wilhem 11 ended the friendly relationship that Bismarck had encouraged between Germany and Russia.

As a result of this shift in diplomatic position other countries began to see Germany as a threat to them.

THE SCHLIEFFEN PLAN Alfred Von Schlieffen was a Germany General who in 1905

had designed a plan that would be used by Germany as it attacked other European countries as part of expanding its empire.

This shows that some European countries had been anticipating war for some years before 1914.

The same plan was to be used by Germany in 1914 which to an extend helps to prove that they had long been preparing for a war.

According to the Schlieffen plan Germany was to keep a small army in the east frontier.

The rest of Germany’s armies were to smash through Belgium defeat France and Britain and knock them out of the war on the western frontier.

After defeating France and Britain then Germany would return east to defeat the Russians.

THE SHORT TERM CAUSES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR.

The Rise of Slav Nationalism

By the 19th century many people around the world did not like to be ruled by people who spoke a different language or had a different culture.

Many people living in the then Ottoman Empire came from Europe, the Middle East and Asia and were ruled by the Turks.

During this time people believed that people who had the same culture should have their own country and rulers who shared the same culture.

This kind of thinking is called nationalism. Nationalism was the reason why in 1871 German-

speaking people decided to unite. It was also the same reason why the Slavs living in the

Ottoman empire decided to breakaway and form their own nation states leading to the independence of Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia.

Serbian nationalism aimed at creating a larger Serbian state to include Serbia and Bosnia.

Austria-Hungary was threatened by the idea of a large Serbian state as a neighbour.

As a result Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia in 1908 and this angered many Slavs.

The Slavs had the sympathies and support of the Russians since Russians are also Slavs and felt had a duty to protect fellow Slavs.

The Slavs formed many secret societies whose aim was to force Austria-Hungary out of Bosnia.

It is the activities of such secret societies which led to the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary.

This event sparked a series of events which eventually drew all the European powers in to a war.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinard. On June 28, 1914 the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of

Austria-Hungary visited Sarajevo in Bosnia. Bosnia was part of Austria- Hungary but many of

its people were Serbs who wanted to be ruled by neighbouring state of Serbia.

The Archduke symbolized the detested Austria- Hungarian empire.

The Archduke was the heir apparent to the throne therefore he further symbolized a perpetuation of the disliked rule.

As the Archduke was visiting he and his wife were shot and killed by a Serb called Gavrillo Princip.

However, it must always be mentioned that it is not this incident which caused the war.

Instead the assassination of Franz Ferdinand precipitated or ignited what was already a volatile situation.

The consequences of the Archduke’s assassination:- The assassination of the archduke was linked to

the bitter dispute between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.

Austria-Hungary got the excuse for a war against Serbia and it blamed Serbia for the murder of the Archduke and was ready to attack.

As a result of the alliance system many European countries were soon involved in this dispute.

While Austria-Hungary was allied to Germany, Serbia was closely linked to Russia because of the presence of the Slav community in Russia.

Russia also expected help from France and Britain in this way the killing in Sarajevo began to involve all the powerful countries of Europe.

GERMANY’S DECISION FOR WAR In 1913 there was an argument between Austria-Hungary,

Serbia and Russia over the takeover of land from the crumpling Ottoman empire.

The two alliance almost went to war however this was avoided because Germany did not support Austria-Hungary.

However by 1914 Germany’s position changed on 5 July 1914 the Germany Kaiser gave his full backing for an Austria-Hungary attack on Serbia.

The Germans expected Russia to join in the war to support Serbia and result in a general war.

In the weeks following the crisis Germany not only supported but urged Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia.

As a result when Britain and France attempted to get Austria- Hungary and Serbia to negotiate, Germany discouraged Austria-Hungary from any negotiations.

For Germany this crisis fitted in very well with the Schlieffen Plan.

CONFUSION ABOUT BRITAIN’S POSITION The Germans were not sure whether the British would fight,

they would have otherwise thought twice about their decision. According to the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edwards Grey,

though Britain had links with France and Russia there was no official alliance.

As a result, legally Britain was not bound to go to war on the side of Russia or France.

Grey even disagreed with senior advisors who encouraged him to announce that Britain would support France and Russia as a means to frighten the Germans.

Grey believed the war could be avoided by negotiations. As a result talks continued until 3 August when Germany

attacked France via Belgium. At this point Britain moved into defend Belgium. This was in line with the neutrality treaty it signed with

Belgium in 1839 in which Britain had pledged to defend Belgium against aggression as long as it remained neutral.