The Causes of World War 1

*Austria-Hungary = AH
Franco Prussian War (1870-71)39 Separate German States after the Napoleonic war of
1815
Austria and Prussia were the Largest
Prussian Leader - Otto von Bismarck
Prussia Defeated
1. Denmark and Austria - 1864
2. France - January 1871
France was under siege since mid september of 1870
France lost the territory of Alsace-Lorraine
had to pay 5,000 million marks
King of Prussia became the German Emperor in Hall of Mirrors on January 1871
Germany was a new power in Europe
Modern Warfare had to be rapid mobilisation and fast deployment
Armies had to be well trained and well equipped
Key Characteristics of Great European Powers
Germany
Germany was a democratic monarchy
authoritarian system - power held by Kaiser and Chancellor
German Parliament - The Reichstag
By 1900 Germany overtook Britain in Industrial output
France
France was a democratic republic
Agriculture based economy
France was a wealthy nation
Large Empire and Sizeable Gold reserves
Nation was divided between
Pacifist Left Wing
Revanchist Right Wing
Great Britain
Britain was a parliamentary democracy with monarchy retaining limited power
First nation undergo Industrial Revolution
Vast overseas Empire
Britain had dropped since the 1800s
In 19th Century Britain followed Splendid Isolation - Not wanting to be drawn into
conflicts
Britain Navy was strong and depended on it to defend its colonies and attackers
Austria Hungary
Austria-Hungary was a dual monarchy
An emperor presided over AH and with Austria and Hungary having own parliaments
Slow Economic growth
Empire lacked military strength
Russia
Russia was a autocratic divine monarchy
Tsar was believed to be appointed by the God
State was heavily bureaucratic and ineffective
1905 Russia defeated bib Japan and Revolution
Defeat in
Crimean War (1853 - 1856)
Russia - Japanese War (1904 - 1905)
Turkey
Turkey was in decline
Government was ineffective and corrupt
Sultan was overthrown
Long Term Causes of WW1
Bismarcks web of Alliances
The Dreikaiserbund or Three Emperors League (1873)
Germany
Russia
Austria - Hungary
The Dual Alliance (1879)
Austria - Hungary and Russia came in Conflict
Bismark made separate treaty with Austria - Hungary
The Three Emperors Alliance(1881)
If Russia, Germany & Austria were at war the others would remain neutral
The Triple Alliance (1882)
Germany
Austria - Hungary
Italy
Other would lend assistance in case of war
The Reinsurance Treaty
Germany
Russia
Avoid war on 2 Fronts
New Course and Weltpolitik
In 1888, Kaiser Wilhelm II
Bismark replaced by Leo von Caprivi in 1890
New course of German foreign policy
Treaties were allowed to lapse
Weltpolitik - Make empire overseas
Imperialism
Europeans had increased their dominate over Africa and the Far East
Economic motives - Raw materials, new market, Cheap labour
Later they believed that it was gods work
The emergence of the alliance system
1897 Admiral von Tirpitz was appointed as secretary of Navy.
he passed a law thorough The Reichstag to build 17 new ships over 7 years
In 1900 another law came
Britain was threatened by the law, their policy of Splendid Isolation was not useful
Clash with France in Sudan
Clash Russia in Far east China
in 1902 Britain made alliance with Japan
followed by entente with France
In 1907 Britain and Russia cooled tension in Afghanistan
Britain, France, Russia made the Triple Entente
Europe was divided by 2 alliances
Triple Alliance
Triple Entente
The Naval Race
Germany challenged Britain for naval supremacy
In 1906, Britain made a new class of Battleships - Dreadnought
The ships speed, range and firepower were better than most at that time
With the new ship, Britain took the race back to zero.
Germany added dreadnoughts to their fleets
Britain made 9 more in 1909
The Situation in Balkans
Unstable situation before 1914
3 Empires had interest in Balkans - Russia, Austria - Hungary, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey had once ruled the Balkans
The Serbs, Greeks and Bulgars revolted and set up their own government
Turkey was struggling to hold its remaining territories
Austria Hungary
By 1900, AH was losing its multi ethnic empire
The Serbs, Croats and Slovens were forceful to gain independence
They asked Serbia for help.
Serbia was seen as threat
Russia
Russia sympathised with their fellow Slavs.
The Balkans was strategically important for Russia
Straits of Constantinople had to be kept open for Russian Ships
Access to warm water ports was important. - North ports of Russia were frozen
Both Russia and AH hoped to benefit from the declining Turkey
Growing Tension in the Balkans in the 1900s
In June 1903, Pro Austrian King Alexander of Serbia was murdered and replaced by
Russophile King Peter who was ready to reduce AH influence
Serbia turned to France for arms and finance
Baron von Aehrenthal became Austrian Foreign minister
he believed that aggressive foreign policy would show AH as a power
Short-term causes: the crisis years (1905 - 1913)
The Moroccan Crisis (1905)
Germany was worried by the relationships between France and Great Britain
Germany tried to break the entente by attacking France in Morocco
Britain supported a French takeover in Morocco if France recognised British position in
Egypt
Germany supported the Moroccan Sultan to maintain his independence
France attended the Conference at Algeciras, Spain, in 1906
Britain supported France to the German surprise
Results of the first Moroccan Crisis
Germany did not gain anything
Germany undermined the Entente
They helped strengthen it.
Britain foreign policy was to support France
Talks of military support initiated in the 1906 January
Germany was a threat to British interest
The Bosnian Crisis (1908)
In 1907 the Anglo-Russian Entente was signed
Germans thought they were being contained
Caused a closer relation with Triple Alliance
In 1908 a Turk Revolution happened.
AH decided to annex province of Bosnia and Herzegovina
This caused an outrage in Serbia
Russia gave acceptance for this move by AH in the understanding that AH would
support revision of the treatise
AH went head with the move before Russia could gather any international support
Russian PM and the Tsar were unhappy with the agreement
This increased Tensions between Russia and AH
Germany stood Shoulder to Shoulder with AH
Russia gained no support from Britain and France
Russia overwhelmed were forced to recognise the AH annexation
Serbia backed down from being overpowered by AH and Germany
Results of the Bosnian Crisis
Russia suffered international humiliation. It could not afford to back down from
another crisis. Russia embarked on another massive rearmament programme
Serbia was enraged and led to nationalist feelings
Alliance between Germany and AH appeared stronger than that of Triple Entente
Germany encouraged the AH expansion rather than restrain
Ended an era of cooperation between Russia,AH and Serbia
The Second Moroccan Crisis (1911)
In May 1911 France sent troops to Fez,Morocco on the request of the Sultan to
suppress a revolution
Germans thought of it as a French takeover of Morocco
Germans sent a gunboat, the Panther, to Adagir, a small port in Morocco
Britain worried that Adagir would become a German Naval Base and cause disruption in
its trade routes
David Llyod George gave a speech - allied the Mansion House of Speech - to warn off
Germany
The speech turned Franco - German Crisis in to an Anglo - German Crisis
German got 2 strips of land in the French Congo as compensation
Results of Second Moroccan Crisis
German public opinion was hostile to the settlement and critical of their
governments handling of the crisis, which was another failure for the policy of
Weltpolitik.
Entente between France and Britain strengthened
Increased tension between Germany and Britain
Helped increase suspicion and hostility
First Balkan War (1912)
In 1912, encouraged by the Russians, the Balkan states of Serbia, Greece and
Montenegro formed a Balkan alliance
Their key objective was to force Turkey from the Balkans by taking Macedonia
Turkey was already weakened by a war with Italy over Tripolitania the year before
They were almost completely driven out of the Balkans in seven weeks
British Foreign Secretary called a peace conference in London
the land was divided amongst the Balkan states
AH contained Serbia with creation of a new state of Albania.
The Second Balkan War (1913)
In 1913 Bulgaria went to war with Serbia and Greece over occupied territory
Germany urged AH to restrain.
Bulgaria went to war with Serbia, Greece and Turkey and lost all most all its land
Treaty of Bucharest August 1913
Results of the Second Balkan War
Serbian success brought nationalist feelings
Serbia had doubled in size
Serbia proved its military might
Encouraged Russia to stand by stronger Serbia
The International situation by 1913
The crises of 1905 - 1913 had seen a deterioration in international relations
Increase division in Alliances
Increased armament race/naval race
Rising tension
Other Developments, 1900-1913
The will to make war
War portrayed as short and heroic
Nationalism was encouraged by press and media
The Arms and Militarism
Naval race was part of a general arms race
Between 1870 and 1914
Increased military spending - 300%
Large Armies and Conscription
War Plans
Every European power had made a plan of attack in case of war
German war plan - made by Field marshal Count Alfred von Schlieffen
Intended to deal with implications of Triple Entente
Difficulty of fighting a 2 front war
6 weeks for Russia to mobilise
Crush France first
Invade France through Belgium, Holland and Luxembourgh. (bypassing the
French defences on the Franco-German Border)
Move down to encircle Paris
Move to Eastern Front to fight Russian Troops
Helmuth von Moltke (modified plan)
Changing number of neutral territory Germany would pass through
Contained Miscalculations on impact of passing through Belgium
Time taken for Russia to mobilise
Britain help for France
All other countries had their own plans
Frances Plan 17 involved a high-speed mobilisation of troops
Capture Alsace and Lorraine
Cross Rhine into Germany
Russia had plans to invade AH and Germany
AH had 2 plans - Plan A & Plan B
The Immediate causes of War: July Crisis (1914)
Starting was a calm period between European states
Shooting dead of heir to the AH throne, and his wife, on 28 June 1914.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was on a visit to Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia
19 year old terrorist - Gavrilo Princip
Armed by the Serbian Black Hand movement
AH decided to attack Serbia but were hesitant to bring Russia in the war
AH needed backing from the Germans
On 5 July 1914 the Kaiser and his chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-
Hollewed, issued AH a blank cheque - meaning unconditional
AH declared war on Serbia
Russia mobilise troops
Germany declare war on Russia
Germany demanded French neutrality
Germany declared war on France on 3 August (French would follow their own interest)
Germany following Schiffen Plan
Britain and Belgium treaty - Britain declares war on Germany
The Great War had begun
What was the contribution of each of the European Powers during the July Crisis
to the outbreak of war?
Germany
Kaiser encouraged the AH to attack Serbia in blank cheque
Motives behind the risking a war
It had to support its ally, AH
It had to prevent itself and AH being crushed by the Entente Powers
Russia Military modernisation could threaten the Schlieffen Plan
Generals believed it was a great time to go to war
Create a unifying effect for the German people
War could improve the popularity of the Kaiser
Germany responsibility for the war
Urging AH on with the blank cheque
Declaring war on Russia (1 Aug)
Violating Belgian neutrality
Invading France
Bringing Britain into the conflict
Austria-Hungary
AH contribution towards the war
Exaggerated the potential threat of Serbia
Delayed in responding to the assassination - contributed to the July Crisis
Declared war on Serbia (28th July)
Refused to stop military action
Russia
Determined to take a firm stand after previous weak standing
Contribution of Russia
Did not try to restrain Serb nationalism
Supported the Serbians causing them to refuse the ultimatum
Mobilised troops causing the war
France
Hesitant about getting involved in the war
Russia mobilised without consulting the French
Germany declares war on France
France is swept in (they had not decided)
Britain
Violation of the neutrality of Belgium led to popular belief of war
Foreign Secretary wanted to declare war