The Path to WWI

The War to End All Wars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7kp3vf1uKA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjlGoe1mnw0&feature=related

The Crimean War

• What were the main results of the Crimean War?

– New technologies were introduced to warfare…

– New civilian attitudes toward war…

– Russian and Austria's dominance of Europe

– Russia was forced to reform…

What varying roles did warfare play in 19th century national building?

• War w outsiders helped nations build nationalism and unity under one ruler…

• War abroad to build an overseas empire provided income and maintained peace and prosperity at home…

• Internal warfare preserved national unity at the expense of regionalism…

• The threat of warfare increased colonial independence…

What were the major economic changes in the west between 1850-1880?

• Governments reorganized economic superiority as a key to political superiority…

• New business laws and practices developed to raise capital and encourage investments…

• Innovative approaches to business management and production created new types of jobs…

• A new consumer economy encouraged spending…

How did nation-states expand their reach, and what resistance did they

face?• Construction, intended to make crowd control

easier and cities safer, instead encouraged rebellion based on class and economic inequality…

• Expanded bureaucracies led to embittered and distrustful citizens…

• Direct rule over colonies increased cultural influence and caused cultural backlash among the colonized…

The 19th century…The Coming of the storm…

• Nationalism Was high• It was Ultimately a solidifying force• Business practices became more organized• A more rigid hierarchy established• Civil service jobs begin to be awarded by merit• Education improved• Health and sanitation – great progress• But all of this had a price: • Nation building involved war• This costs money and lives• Social Darwinism states….survival of the fittest• So..if you were struggling, you were not fit…you lacked the essential• Increased value on education…removed midwives..who had experience, not

education• As governments improved the looks and functions of cities, the poor were

often driven out of their homes…• Creation of the “haves” v. the “have nots”…

New Imperialism

• The “new imperialism,” which brought direct rule by European nations to Africa and Asia, was closely connected with both industrial prosperity and the formation of national identity.

• However, heated competition of colonies, growing tensions among colonial powers, the rise of non-Western powers such as Japan, and the increasing resistance of colonial peoples made empire-building diplomatically and financially problematic and potentially explosive.

• With modernization, population patterns began ton change. Europe become more and ore urbanized and, due to improvements in sanitation and public health…populations soared.

• Psychology and psychoanalysis began as a field of study…

• Imperial competition, the arms race, militarism, ethic-based nationalism, a tangle of alliance, and conflicts in domestic polices all set the stage for WWI

The Real Truth:

• Europeans- facing revolutions, terrorism, violent repression, controversy in the arts and sciences, and industrial conflicts-had to feel that war might relieve them from the perils of modernity.

• But, instead of refreshment, the war that erupted opened an era of political turmoil and even greater does of modernity…

Here we gooo…• The Scramble for Africa…• Imperial Newcomers…• Growing Resistance to Colonial Domination…• Life in the “Best of Circles”…• Working People’s Strategies…• Sciences of the Modern Self…• The Birth of Mass Politics…• The Power of Labour…• Liberalism Modified…• Anti-Semitism, Nationalism, and Zionism in Mass politics…• Threats to the Russian Empire…• Competing Alliances and Clashing Ambitions…• The Race to Arms…

Time Line• 1878 ·The end of Germany's Kulturkampf campaign against Catholics.

• 1879 ·Dual Alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary.

• 1882 ·Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

• 1884 ·Berlin Conference held to regulate imperialism in Africa.

• 1885 ·Second Balkan Crisis between Bulgaria and Serbia.

• 1886 ·Gold discovered in the Transvaal territory in South Africa, heightening British interests in controlling this area.

• 1889 ·Boulanger Affair in France.

• 1890 ·Kaiser Wilhelm II dismisses Otto von Bismarck.

• 1892 ·James Kier Hardie is the first representative in the British Parliament from the Labour Party.

• 1894 ·"Dreyfus Affair" in France begins and captures the attention of the entire nation for some time.

• 1896 ·Battle of Adowa in Ethiopia, allowing Ethiopia to remain independent.

• 1899-1902 ·Boer War in South Africa between the British and the Afrikaners. – Boer War - 1899-1902; a conflict between the British and the Afrikaner population of

South Africa caused by British interests in mining gold out of Afrikaner land.– The war progressed rather poorly for the better-equipped, better-trained, and larger

British army. – Under inept leadership and harassed by effective Afrikaner guerrilla tactics, the British

were forced fight the Boer War for three years. I– n 1902, the British accepted the conditional surrender of the Afrikaners in which the

entire colony was united under British rule; however, the British promised the Afrikaners that no decision to include the black majority in government would be made before rule was returned to the Afrikaners.

• 1900 ·Boxer Rebellion in China. – Boxer Rebellion - 1900; with secret encouragement from the Chinese empress, the

Boxers, dedicated to ending foreign exploitation in north China, killed scores of European and seized the large foreign legation in Beijing.

– Reacting immediately, an international expeditionary force of Japanese, Russian, British, American, German, French, Austrian and Italian troops sacked Beijing to protect the interests of their respective countries.

– Afterward, the European powers propped up a weak central government for their own economic benefit.

• 1907 ·Triple Entente between Great Britain, France, and Russia.

• 1911 ·National Insurance Act passed in Britain.

• 1912 ·Third Balkan Crisis: Italy versus Turkey.

• 1913 ·Third Balkan Crisis: Serbia and Bulgaria go to war.

When Historians Disagree

• http://articles.cnn.com/2004-06-21/entertainment/review.wwi_1_serbia-first-world-war-great-war?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ

Europe in the Last 1/3 of the 19th century

• The last third of the nineteenth century saw the emergence of the masses as a serious political force in national politics.

• In Britain, the working classes that had given the country the greatest successes in the industrial revolution clamored to be heard by the ruling elite.

• Eventually, workers threw their support behind the Labour Party, a political party based on trade unions that advocated the creation of the government welfare state.

• A similar development took place in Germany, where the Social Democratic party emerged as a political force despite the numerous attempts by the ruling elite to destroy its power.

• In France, the modernized and centralized state that emerged in the Third Republic united the nation and allowed a mass media culture to emerge.

• The entire population, receiving the same information and the same interpretation of the news, was galvanized by various events, such as the Dreyfus Affair, which cut right to the heart of French society.

• In Austria-Hungary, the power of the bourgeoisie, who had identified their interests with those of the aristocracy, began to weaken as the entire outsider population--ethnic minorities, students, radical right-wing groups--began to emerge in Austrian politics in an atmosphere of demagoguery and fantastic politics

• The Dreyfus affair– was a political scandal

– divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s.

– It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent.

– Sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly having communicated French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris, Dreyfus was sent to the penal colony at Devil’s Island in French Guiana and placed in solitary confinement, where he was to spend almost 5 years under the most inhumane conditions.

– http://yalepress.yale.edu/book.asp?isbn=9780300125320

• Dreyfus Affair - 1894; Alfred Dreyfus, an Alsatian Jew, was tried and convicted of treason for selling French military secrets to the Germans.

• The media went on extensive investigations to discover the truth and when conclusive evidence emerged to prove his innocence, the entire French nation became caught up in the issue.

• Conservatives generally supported his conviction in the name of national unity and anti-Semitism, while liberals and supporters of the government demanded his exoneration in the name of liberty and truth; he was eventually exonerated.

• Foreign policy throughout this era was generally dominated by the imperial game.

• By 1914, nearly the entire continent of Africa was dominated by Europeans.

• The ancient states of Asia (i.e. China and southeast Asian societies) also generally succumbed to European invasion.

• Only the Japanese, after years of modernization and westernization, were able to become imperialists themselves and exert their own interests on the Chinese mainland.

• By the end of the nineteenth century, the political balance of power that had kept Europe at a moderate level of peace since 1815 began to unravel.

• With the consolidation of the German Empire, new alliances and new balances had to be formed; however, the new models would not succeed.

• The balance of power degenerated into the bipolarization of the European world--namely, the separation of alliances into two groups, the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente.

• With an arms race developing and the breakdown of peace in the Balkans, Europe was racing toward utter destruction and World War.

• In 1870 and 1871 Italy and Germany became unified nations, with Germany in particular emerging as an immediate international force.

• The years between 1871 and 1914 brought liberal progress in England, social welfare in Germany, imperial expansion throughout the world, the spread of European civilization, and economic strengthening of England, Germany, the United States, and Japan.

• Newspaper editors and cultural pundits referred to these years contemporaneously as the "dawn of a new era" in scientific development, peace, economic expansion, and cultural civilization.

• Without war or major conflict in sight, Europe set out to perfect its home and spread its perfection throughout the world.

• The order of the day was, quite simply, self-improvement, national improvement, and attainable perfection; the great successes of Europe during these years seemed to prove that such was possible.

• Unfortunately, certain paternalistic policies developed out of such a perspective.

• While we cannot apologize for brutal treatment of Africans and Asians during the imperial period, we can understand such practices as the manifestations of a European polity that thought it was implementing the true inheritance of its liberal heritage.

• Further, though no major war seemed to threaten, the forty years after 1871 erupted in World War I, a catastrophic war that tore through Europe with a brutality unanticipated by any of its combatants.

• Any study of the period between 1871 and 1914 must be made with an eye to 1914, and the massive, transformative war that year

The Balance of PowerThe European geopolitical system based on the assumption that

nations are inherently expansionist, which maintained peace by pitting various camps or alliances of equal power against each other, thereby minimizing one nation's ability to conquer and disrupt the peace.

The system originated after the defeat of Napoleon, continued throughout the nineteenth century in Europe and succeeded at promoting peace.

The balance of power collapsed in 1914 under the pressure of the arms race, a shift in the criteria of power, and the mistaken expectation of a short war rather than the World War that seized Europe.

Conservative Austria

• Though manifested somewhat differently, the domestic events in Britain, Germany, and France between 1871 and 1914 follow a similar trend: these forty years before the outbreak of World War I mark the emergence of the masses as a political force.

• In Britain and Germany, we refer to the workers; in France, we refer to the agrarian poor and non-Parisians; in Austria, we refer to everyone save the elite, Germanic bourgeoisie. Each and every group became a powerful force in politics and society during this time period.

So, what does this mean?

• So, what does this mean?

• The growth of popular power in Europe at this time suggests that the forty years before World War I can be seen as the beginning of "late modernity", setting the stage for a twentieth century in which the western democracies dedicated themselves to the expansion of democratic civil and individual rights.

• The domination of traditional aristocratic elements in European society came to its final end in this period of history and, by virtue of that fact alone, the years after 1871 should be viewed as a revolutionary time, even if it was a revolution without blood.

• So, what does this mean?

– The growth of popular power in Europe at this time suggests that the forty years before World War I can be seen as the beginning of "late modernity", setting the stage for a twentieth century in which the western democracies dedicated themselves to the expansion of democratic civil and individual rights.

– The domination of traditional aristocratic elements in European society came to its final end in this period of history and, by virtue of that fact alone, the years after 1871 should be viewed as a revolutionary time, even if it was a revolution without blood.

• The Empire of Austria-Hungary, a dominion in which the Magyars of Hungary received a modicum of autonomy under the rule of one monarch who was simultaneously emperor of Austria and king of Hungary, was a multinational empire that controlled the region of Eastern Europe to the south of Russia's Polish lands.

• In 1860, the Habsburg monarchs were forced to accept constitutional government with a parliamentary system based on a very limited suffrage.

• As a result, the bourgeoisie, who identified their interests with those of the landed and inherited aristocracy, took control of Austrian politics and society.

• As testament to their rights as inheritors of Austria's great western and cultural tradition, the Germanic bourgeois leaders in Vienna rebuilt the city as a virtual fortification of grand structures.

• However, this control led to a popular backlash that limited its longevity.

• By 1900, liberal bourgeois politicians who favored free trade and little government involvement in economic affairs were being eliminated by mass politics movements from the right that were based on charisma, fantasy, and mere appearances.

• These mass parties were formed out of any number of views: – anti- Germanic feelings (supported by most ethnic minorities in

the empire), – anti- capitalist opinions (supported by millions of

farmers, peasants, and the very small worker population), – anti-Semitic perspectives (supported by everyone from artisans to

students to the agrarian poor to the militarists), – and nationalist hopes (supported by the lower-middle class).

• These groups used demagoguery and scapegoating policies to rouse opposition to Jews (who were associated with capitalists and Germanic peoples for irrational reasons--and thus sweep themselves to political victory throughout the empire.

Crisis in the Balkans

• First Balkan Crisis - 1874-1878; Bosnia and Herzegovina rebelled against Ottoman rule, leading to Serbia declaring war on the Ottoman Empire on 30 June 1876.

• Russia, based on its foreign policy of pan-Slavism, declared war on the Ottomans in due course.

• Britain, interested in maintaining the balance of power and protecting its Mediterranean holdings that depended upon the status quo, nominally supported the Turkish sultan.

• Sultan Hamid II of Turkey sought peace in January 1878.

• Second Balkan Crisis - 1885; conflict between Bulgaria and Serbia over territory; Russia warned it was ready to occupy Bulgaria if it did not yield to Serbian claims, at which point Austria-Hungary stepped in to support Bulgaria; Germany supported Austria-Hungary and the Russians backed down; led to the breakdown of the Three Emperors' League because Russia felt betrayed by Germany.

• Third Balkan Crisis - 1912-1913; Italy in conflict with the Ottoman Empire over holdings around the Adriatic Sea; Serbia takes advantage of weakened Ottoman Empire to attack Bulgarian lands for her own sea port; Russia supports Serbia and Austria-Hungary supports Bulgaria, while Britain and Germany urged peace; this crisis enraged Serbs against Austria-Hungary for its support of Bulgaria and its continued occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina

• Through much of the nineteenth century, Great Britain avoided the kind of social upheaval that intermittently plagued the Continent between 1815 and 1870.

• Supporters of Britain claimed that this success derived from a tradition of vibrant parliamentary democracy.

• While this claim holds some truth, the Great Reform Bill of 1832, the landmark legislation that began extending the franchise to more Englishmen, still left the vote to only twenty percent of the male population.

• A second reform bill passed in 1867 vertically expanded voting rights, but power remained in the hands of a minority--property-owning elites with a common background, a common education, and an essentially common outlook on domestic and foreign policy.

• The pace of reform in England outdistanced that of the rest of Europe, but for all that remained slow.

• Though the Liberals and Conservatives did advance different philosophy on the economy and government in its most basic sense, the common brotherhood on all representatives in parliament assured a relatively stable policy-making history.

• In the 1880s, problems of unemployment, urban housing, public health, wages, working conditions, and healthcare upset this traditional balance and led the way for the advent of a new and powerful political movement in Great Britain: – the Labour Party.

• Labour Party - A British political party that first gained prominence in 1892 with the election if its first representative to the House of Commons; represented the interests of British workers and called for the beginnings of socialist platform, and generally advocated the welfare state, government intervention in the economy, protection to workers, a short work day, et cetera

• By 1900, wages were stagnating while prices continued to rise throughout the country.

• The urban centers of London and Manchester faced crumbling housing and tenements arose throughout every major industrial center.

• Workers responded to their problems by putting their faith not in the Liberal Party, the group that traditionally received the worker vote since industrialization, but in the oft-militant trade unions, organizations that advanced worker demands in Parliament, cared for disabled workers, and assisted in pension, retirement, and contract matters.

• In 1892 James Kier Hardie, an independent workingman from Scotland, became the first such man to sit in the House of Commons.

• He represented the Labour Party and built upon trade union support to craft a workers' party dedicated to advancing the cause of working Englishmen.

• For the first time in its history, the British Parliament began to represent class distinctions in English society.

• By 1906, twenty-nine seats in Parliament went to Labour.

• Pressured by the new Labour movement, Liberals and Conservatives were forced to act for fear of losing any substantial labor vote.

• The so-called New Liberals, led by Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George, supported legislation to strengthen the right of unions to picket peacefully.

• The Liberal government passed the National Insurance Act of 1911, providing payments to workers for sickness and introducing unemployment benefits.

• In addition, heeding Labour's call for a more democratic House, Lloyd George pushed the Parliament Bill of 1911 that reduced the House of Lords (the upper house of Parliament that had always been dominated by conservatives averse to worker legislation) to a position lower than the House of Commons.

• Since the Parliament Bill, the Commons could raise taxes without the Lords approval and pay for any needed worker legislation.

• Finally, in 1913, the powerful Labour movement, about to eclipse the Liberals as the Conservative's opposition, pushed through the Trade Unions Act.

• This law granted unions legal rights to settle their grievances with management directly, without the interference of a generally conservative Parliament

• The extension of the voting franchise that began in England in 1832 with the Great Reform Bill initiated, albeit slowly, a process of liberalization unseen in the history of the British Parliament.

• Previously, power rested in the hands of the few aristocrats with enough property and wealth to pass a relatively high property requirement for voting and holding office.

• Yet while the lowering of the wealth prerequisite provided an easy target for modern liberals when arguing for the democratization of Parliament, this democratization at first did not extend to the working class.

• Most representatives in the Commons came through Eton to either Cambridge or Oxford where, under the tutelage of the same professors, these future leaders developed a similar outlook on the world: – the superiority of the British system, the rightness of

imperialism, the power of industry, the benefits of trade, and the value of general isolation from the Continent.

• These views, though subject to some slight degree differences between Liberals and Conservatives, remained common through most of the House.

• Such views did not square with the new concerns of the workers who had neither received an elite education, nor, in some cases, an education at all.

• However, though it took more than half a century, the British system did gradually change to meet the problems associated with the industrial age.

• Also important to notice is that it did not require a Labour majority in Parliament--something that would not come until the interwar years--to initiate changes.

• The political system was malleable enough that pressure from a small minority party in Parliament pushed the traditionally uninterested Liberal and Conservative majority to seriously modify their political goals and actions.

• Politicians in England were farsighted, keen on capturing the awesome potential power of the worker movement before it got out of hand--namely, before it ignited a powerful party of its own.

• The year 1871 marked the beginning of the German Empire under the Prussian crown.

• An empire in name, Germany was actually administered by its chancellor Otto von Bismarck, a landed aristocrat (or, Junker) from east Prussia.

• Though Germany maintained universal manhood suffrage, the Reichstag, the house of Parliament in the German Empire, held only very restricted powers of legislation.

• Most power remained with Bismarck himself.

• Through the 1870s, Bismarck formed expedient alliances with the German center- left parties that had held the majority in German politics since the inception of the empire.

• These alliances allowed Bismarck to maintain power and thereby establish the main elements of national administration: legal codes, railroad and banking systems, a judicial apparatus, and the civil service structure.

• In addition, the liberals called on Bismarck's assistance for their anti-Papal campaign, a movement Bismarck was only too happy to lead.

• Known as the Kulturkampf, or "struggle for civilization", the anti-Church campaign aimed to eliminate Catholics who, Bismarck thought, could never maintain true loyalty to the state because of their higher loyalty to Rome.

• The legislation of the Kulturkampf removed priests from state service, restricted religious education, elevated civil marriage, and arrested and expelled defiant priests and bishops.

• Bismarck's attack on the Church was not altogether successful, since it inspired widespread concern over the social fabric of the new state, allowing the Catholic Center party to rally the Catholic vote and other supporters to oppose Bismarck's policies.

The Kulturkampf

• After his catholic adversaries gained scores of seats in the Reichstag in 1878, Bismarck saw defeat and reached out to the new Pope, Leo XIII, to negotiate a settlement between Germany and the Church.

• The Kulturkampf ended and Catholic toleration became law.

• Kulturkampf - · Literally, "struggle for civilization"; the name given to Germany's campaign against Catholics and the influence of Catholics in government in the name of loyalty to the German state; included barring priests from government office, restricting religious education, and instituting civil marriage.

• Eventually the policy caused such concern from the general population that the Catholic Center party gained a substantial showing in the Reichstag, forcing the government to back down from its repression.

• Without the opposition of the Kulturkampf the Catholic party lost some of its steam, and the powerful Social Democratic Party emerged as Bismarck's key enemy.

• Led by Eduard Bernstein, the Social Democrats were Marxists who called for a gradual development of the capitalist system into a state socialist system.

• Among other things, the Social Democrats advocated working within the system to advance the needs of the workers through welfare legislation, trade union power, economic regulation, and nationalization or regulation of industry.

• Bismarck, recognizing the appeal to Germany's growing working classes, initiated a "carrot and stick" approach of simultaneous repression and an overt effort to acquire popular support.

• To repress (the stick), Bismarck passed the Anti- Socialist Law, expanding police powers and forbidding socialist meetings, fundraising, and the distribution of printed materials.

• Police could now arrest any suspected socialist under only a minimum of suspicion. To bring popular support to the state (the carrot), Bismarck pushed extensive social welfare legislation through the Reichstag.

• The state provided accident insurance, sickness benefits, old age pensions, disability payments, etc.

• However, these moderate reforms did nothing to undermine the growing popularity of the Marxist movement under the Social Democrats.

• By 1890, the year Kaiser Wilhelm II fired Bismarck, the Social Democrats controlled over twenty percent of the electorate and thirty-five seats in the Reichstag; by 1914, the Social Democrats were the largest single party in German politics.

• To keep the Social Democrats in the minority, Wilhelm II required mass conservative support--from the traditional aristocrats to the middle classes and the agrarian poor.

• Wilhelm found that such a coalition could best be built and maintained through the manipulation of nationalist and militaristic sentiments in the name of an aggressive foreign policy that called for colonial expansion, military development, and espoused German superiority in Europe.

• Such a system characterized German politics through to the end of World War I.

• Social Democratic Party - · By 1914, the largest single party in the German Reichstag; represented the left of the political spectrum, held a Marxist political and economic philosophy, and adapted to cooperation within the democratic system.

• Socialist democrats advocated a state socialist system--welfare state, union power, unemployment insurance, worker protection, et cetera--within the government.

• Unlike the violent revolutionaries, this party supported a gradual development from capitalism to socialism by making changes beneficial to the worker within the capitalist government.

Crises in the Balkans and the Road to Destruction (1874-1912)

• The Balkan crises began in 1874.

• That year, Bosnia and Herzegovina rebelled against Ottoman rule, beginning the First Balkan Crisis.

• When Turkey refused to reform its governing structure, Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 30 June 1876.

• Russia, based on its foreign policy of pan-Slavism, or fraternal allegiance between all Slavic peoples of eastern Europe, declared war on the Ottomans in due course.

• Britain, interested in maintaining the balance of power and protecting its Mediterranean holdings that depended upon the status quo, nominally supported the Turkish sultan. On 31 January 1878, Sultan Hamid II of Turkey sought peace.

• Britain, interested in maintaining the balance of power and protecting its Mediterranean holdings that depended upon the status quo, nominally supported the Turkish sultan.

• On 31 January 1878, Sultan Hamid II of Turkey sought peace.

• Otto von Bismarck hosted the peace conference, known as the Congress of Berlin.

• Britain, concerned that growing Russian power at the expense of the Ottoman Empire would tilt the balance of power in Russia's favor, secured Constantinople and the Balkans away from Moscow's dominion.

• Bosnia and Herzegovina were turned over to Austria-Hungary and Russia pledged to abandon its support of Serbia nationalism--all in the name of the balance of power. However, with Serbian claims disregarded, continued conflict lay in the future.

• As a result of Russia's obvious political losses at the Congress of Berlin, Russia abandoned its alliance with Germany in the Three Emperors' League.

• Bismarck, in turn, recommitted Germany and Austria-Hungary together in a Dual Alliance in 1879.

• In 1882, Italy was asked to join the Dual Alliance, thus converting it into a Triple Alliance that lasted until the beginning of World War I in 1914.

• The balance of power seemed to be working.

• When, in 1885, the Second Balkan Crisis erupted between Bulgaria and Serbia, Russia threatened to occupy Bulgaria, but Austria stepped in to prevent Russian dominance of the Balkans.

• When Germany supported Austria instead of Russia, the latter removed itself from all treaty obligations with Germany and allied itself with France in 1894.

• France, previously allied with Great Britain, cemented the Triple Entente when it encouraged the signing of an Anglo-Russian understanding in 1907.

• The balance of power now pitted Britain, France, and Russia against Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

• In 1908, however, despite Russian objections, Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia- Herzegovina outright.

• Serbia, along with Russia, believed that these Slavic lands should have been incorporated into a greater Serbian state.

• Eventually, Russia was forced to back down in the face of German pressure.

• Undaunted, Serbia took advantage of a weakened Turkey after a 1912 conflict with Italy to increase its Balkan holdings, causing the eruption of a war between Serbia and Bulgaria in 1913, known as the Third Balkan Crisis.

• Russia backed Serbia; Austria-Hungary backed Bulgaria.

• Though Britain nominally supported Russia and Germany tacitly supported Austria, both urged a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

• Regardless, Serbia was livid over both Austro-Hungarian support of Bulgaria and its continued dominance in Bosnia-Herzegovina, setting the stage for the spark that ignited World War I.

• Consider two elements of European politics at the beginning of the twentieth century that made the balance of power so dangerous.

• The first is an unlikely culprit, but nevertheless important--namely, liberalism.

• If we define liberalism as Europe did in the nineteenth century, this political, economic, and philosophical doctrine referred to national self-betterment, the perfectibility of man, and the discoverability of natural rules of conduct that all men could understand and follow.

• Liberalism served to justify imperial conquest with the latter's potential to "civilize" the native populations; liberalism also recognized war, limited and quick, as a legitimate form of foreign policy.

• Throughout the nineteenth century, wars were localized, had spanned mere weeks, and were fought to preserve the balance of power.

• If that could be true of all war, the argument continued, war could serve both national and international good when fought properly.

• That is, when it was based on discoverable rules of conduct.

The Balance of Power Before WWI

• The balance that immediately preceded World War I was a balance of two armed camps--Great Britain, France, and Russia on one side and Germany, Austria-Hungary, and (nominally) Italy on the other side.

• These permanent partnerships locked policymakers into "blank- checks" of support for their allies in the name of preserving the precarious balance of power.

• This, in turn, permitted weak nations to act irresponsibly, with the certainty that they would be defended by their more powerful partners.

• This moral hazard problem explains the Balkan crises of 1874-1913.

• Combine the belligerent and arrogance of the smaller states with a philosophy of conduct that accepted war and the periphery could easily drag the center into war.

• As the imperial game raged throughout the world, the map of Europe was changing as well.

• The European power developed a system of military and political balance.

• The aptly-named balance of power in Europe was a system that aimed to maintain international order and peace by following any increase in strength of one nation-state with an increase in strength of his geographic or political enemy.

• By upholding this precarious system, the argument continued, no country would be willing to embark on a course of military expansion for fear of reprisal by an equally powerful force.

• The years 1870 and 1871 marked the consolidation of Italy and Germany, respectively, into viable and strong nation-states in the heart of Europe, changing the structure of the balance of power.

• With the creation of Germany in 1871, the old balance of power involving France, a rump Brandenburg-Prussia, Austria-Hungary, and Russia was replaced by a new system.

• Under the leadership of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Germany forged ahead in 1873 by joining the two most conservative powers in Europe--Austria-Hungary and Russia-to form the Three Emperors' League.

• The three empires pledged to consult one another on mutual interests in Europe and to remain neutral when any one member state took military action against a non-member, particularly France or the Balkan nations.

• This balance of power program is best illustrated in Europe's relations with the so-called "sick man of Europe", or the Ottoman Empire.

• At its height, the Ottomans controlled the Middle East, parts of northern Africa, and territories as far north as Bosnia-Herzegovina.

• Since the Ottomans held dominion over the Balkans, most of Europe preferred to maintain the Ottoman Empire, no matter how weak, in order to prevent any one European state from imposing its own dominion over the Balkan peninsula.

• By keeping Constantinople intact, the balance of power in Europe proper could be maintained.

• However, it was the volatile Balkan Peninsula that threatened the very foundation of the European balance of power.

• The logic behind a system of power balance dates back to Europe's reaction to the near complete domination of Europe by Napoleon's France.

• (The following explains its origins and seeks to address the validity of the logic, but digresses from the strong focus on World War I.)

• In September 1814, the great powers of Europe--then, Russia, Prussia, Austria, France, and Great Britain--met at the Congress of Vienna to redraw the map of Europe after Napoleon's defeat.

• The main goal:

– to prevent another instance of French aggression.

– To accomplish their goal, Austrian Foreign Minister Prince Klemens von Metternich and British Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh probably developed the theory of balance of power.

• The manifestation of this theory was the strengthening of all of France's neighbors in an attempt to plug up a previously porous border.

• The Congress united the Austrian Netherlands and the Dutch Republic in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Great Britain gave William I, the Netherland's new king, £2 million to fortify his frontier with France.

• The Italian province of Piedmont--bordering Switzerland and France--was joined with Sardinia into the Kingdom of Sardinia under a new monarchy to contain France to the southeast.

• The bourbon royal family was re-established in Spain to secure France's southern border, and Prussia was given control over the left bank of the River Rhine, containing France on the east.

The logic was quite simple: if the countries around France are strong enough, their strength will balance out the potential military might of Paris and prevent further French aggression.

This doctrine held sway for almost a century.

Yet it eventually collapsed into World War One for three main reasons. – 1. With all of Europe united against France, the creation of a balance against

one enemy was quite simple; however, as time passed and French aggression seemed less and less likely, a more complex Europe emerged in place of the simple All versus France.

– 2. The consolidation of Germany and Italy as strong nation-states upset the balance completely. With new players in the game of European geopolitics, the old logic did not hold: though Europe failed to react.

– 3. The advancement of technology in warfare changed the criteria of power. Whereas in Napoleonic times population and infantry forces made a great power, the dawn of the twentieth century saw the increased importance of battleships, submarines, troop mobility via trains, et cetera, that could not be balanced by the fortification of a neighbor, but rather only by a dangerous arms race.

ANIMAL

• http://www.johndclare.net/causes_WWI2_IDG_Long-term_egs.html

• http://prezi.com/jovsf2g6jtje/the-start-of-wwi/

• Historians have used the acronym ANIMAL to explain the reasons leading up to WWI

Alliances• Three Emperors' League - 1873; an alliance

coordinated by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck between the three most conservative powers in Europe--Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia.

• Each nation pledged to consult the others on matters of mutual interest and guaranteed that in case one went to war with a nation in western Europe, the other two would remain neutral.

• The league showed Bismarck's plan to eliminate the threat of a two-front war for Germany; also suggests the prevalence of the balance of power

• Triple Alliance - · 1882; the alliance as it stood after Italy was asked to join; this maintained the balance of power in Europe in the face of the Triple Entente.

• Triple Entente - · 1907; informal alliance between France, Russia, and Great Britain; France and Russia had maintained an alliance since 1895.

• Great Britain joined in reaction to ominous developments on the Continent, especially the formation of the Triple Alliance.

Alliances• As well as seeking protection in the size of their armies, the countries of Europe sought

protection by forming alliances.•

• At first, Bismarck had kept Germany friendly with Russia. Kaiser Wilhelm overturned this, and concentrated instead on the Dual Alliance of 1879 between Germany and Austria-Hungary - which became the Triple Alliance (or Central Powers Alliance) when Italy joined in 1882.

• Alarmed by this strong central bloc:• a. France in 1894 made an alliance with Russia, and • b. In 1904 France made an agreement with Britain called the Entente Cordiale(= ‘Friendly

Relationship’ – not a formal alliance, but a promise to work together).• c. In 1907, Britain made an entente with Russia, thus forming the Triple Entente (France,

Russia, Great Britain).• d. In 1902 Britain made a naval treaty with Japan.

• The Triple Entente alarmed Germany, which felt itself surrounded by the France-Russia alliance.

• The countries of Europe thought that the alliance system would act as a deterrent to war; in fact it tied the countries together so that, when one country went to war, the others felt themselves obliged to follow.

A map showing the alliances in Europe in 1914.

• Bismarck and AlliancesWorld War I was caused in part by 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 Austria-Hungary 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.

• Collapse of Bismarckian AlliancesHowever, 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 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.

• 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.

NationalismEVERYONE was nationalist in those days, and this helped cause war in two

ways:• a. It made the people of countries like Britain, Germany and France more

bellicose (warlike) – the British sang: ‘Rule Britannia’ and ‘Land of Hope and Glory’, and the Germans sang: ‘Deutschland uber alles’. French politicians like Clemenceau and Poincare (who had been around in 1870) HATED the Germans. People were enraged when someone insulted their country.

• b. It made the races ruled by Turkey (such as the Romanians and the Bulgarians) and by Austria-Hungary (such as the Serbs) want to be free to rule themselves. In the Balkans this was called ‘Panslavism’ because the people who wanted to be free were all Slav races. The most nationalistic of all were the Serbs – Serbia had became an independent country by the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878, but in 1900 many Serbs were still ruled by Turkey and Austria-Hungary, and Serbia was determined to rule over them all. This led to rebellions and terrorism which destabilized the Balkans.

• NationalismAt the settlement of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the principle of nationalism was ignored in favor of preserving the peace.

• Germany and Italy were left as divided states, but strong nationalist movements and revolutions led to the unification of Italy in 1861 and that of Germany in 1871.

• Another result of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 was that France was left seething over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany, and Revanche was a major goal of the French.

• Nationalism posed a problem for Austria-Hungary and the Balkans, areas comprised of many conflicting national groups.

• The ardent Panslavism of Serbia and Russia's willingness to support its Slavic brother conflicted with Austria-Hungary's Pan-Germanism.

ImperialismCountries who believed that they were superior thought it was

alright to conquer and rule others – particularly if they were inhabited by races they thought were inferior.

This is why countries like Britain, France, Belgium and Italy thought it was OK to colonize vast areas of Africa in the 19

thcentury.

In 1900, the British Empire covered a fifth of land-area of the earth.

– a. This led to clashes between imperialist powers. Britain was trying to conquer Africa from Cairo (in the north) to Cape Town (in South Africa). France was trying to conquer Africa from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. In 1898 their two armies met, at Fashoda in the Sudan, almost causing a war.

– b. Most of all, it led to HUGE tension when Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany decided that HE wanted some colonies too!

• ImperialismAnother factor which contributed to the increase in rivalry in Europe was imperialism.

• Great Britain, Germany and France needed foreign markets after the increase in 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.

• In the Middle East, the crumbling Ottoman Empire was alluring to Austria-Hungary, the Balkans and Russia.

What Was the Scramble For Africa?• The Scramble for Africa (1880-1900) was a period of rapid colonization of the African continent by European

powers. But it wouldn't have happened except for the particular economic, social, and military evolution Europe was going through.

• Before the Scramble for Africa -- Europeans in Africa up to the 1880sBy the beginning of the 1880s only a small part of Africa was under European rule, and that area was largely restricted to the coast and a short distance inland along major rivers such as the Niger and the Congo.

• Britain had Freetown in Sierra Leone, forts along the coast of The Gambia, a presence at Lagos, the Gold Coast protectorate, and a fairly major set of colonies in Southern Africa (Cape Colony, Natal, and the Transvaal which it had annexed in 1877).

• Southern Africa also had the independent Boer Oranje-Vrystaat (Orange Free State).

• France had settlements at Dakar and St Louis in Senegal and had penetrated a fair distance up the river Senegal, the Assinie and Grand Bassam regions of Cote d'Ivoire, a protectorate over the coastal region of Dahomey (now Benin), and had begun colonization of Algeria as early as 1830.

• Portugal had long established bases in Angola (first arriving in 1482, and subsequently retaking the port of Luanda from the Dutch in 1648) and Mozambique (first arriving in 1498 and creating trading posts by 1505).

• Spain had small enclaves in north west Africa at Ceuta and Melilla (Africa Septentrional Española or Spanish North Africa).

• And the Ottoman Turks controlled Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia (the strength of Ottoman rule varied greatly).

• France had settlements at Dakar and St Louis in Senegal and had penetrated a fair distance up the river Senegal, the Assinie and Grand Bassam regions of Cote d'Ivoire, a protectorate over the coastal region of Dahomey (now Benin), and had begun colonization of Algeria as early as 1830.

• Portugal had long established bases in Angola (first arriving in 1482, and subsequently retaking the port of Luanda from the Dutch in 1648) and Mozambique (first arriving in 1498 and creating trading posts by 1505).

• Spain had small enclaves in north west Africa at Ceuta and Melilla (Africa Septentrional Española or Spanish North Africa).

• And the Ottoman Turks controlled Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia (the strength of Ottoman rule varied greatly).

• What Caused the Scramble to Happen?There were several factors which created the impetus for the Scramble for Africa, most of these were to do with events in Europe rather than in Africa.

• At the end of the 18th century colonialism seemed to have become a thing of the past. Britain had lost its Thirteen Colonies in America, Spain and Portugal had lost most of South America and Holland was having difficulties holding onto the East Indies.

• A hundred years later, however, a second wave of colonization took place. Within twenty years, from 1880 to 1900, every corner of the Earth, from the highest mountains in the Himalayas to the most remote Pacific island and Antarctica, came to be claimed by one or other European power. Africa saw the most dramatic colonization. It was divided up as if it had been a cake split between greedy European leaders.

• This was called the "Scramble for Africa".

• Historians still debate the reasons for this "New Imperialism" and find it difficult to agree on any single cause.

• Historians generally agree that the Scramble for Africa, the rushed imperial conquest of the Africa by the major powers of Europe, began with King Leopold II of Belgium.

• After reading a report in early 1876 that the rich mineral resources of the Congo Basin (the modern-day Republic of the Congo) could return an entrepreneurial capitalist a substantial profit, the Belgian king ordered the creation of the International African Association, under his personal direction, to assume control over the Congo Basin region.

• When Leopold asked for international recognition of his personal property in the Congo, Europe gathered at the Berlin Conference, called to create policy on imperial claims.

• The conference, after much political wrangling, gave the territory to Leopold as the Congo Free State.

• The conference further decreed that for future imperialist claims to garner international recognition, "effective occupation" would be required.

• In other words, no longer did plunging a flag into the ground mean that land was occupied.

• The conference also created some definition for "effective occupation," noting that significant "economic development" was required.

• End of the Slave Trade -- Britain had had some success in halting the slave trade around the shores of Africa.

• But inland the story was different -- Muslim traders from north of the Sahara and on the East Coast still traded inland, and many local chiefs were reluctant to give up the use of slaves.

• Reports of slaving trips and markets were brought back to Europe by various explorers, such as Livingstone, and abolitionists in Britain and Europe were calling for more to be done.

• Exploration -- During the nineteenth century barely a year went by without a European expedition into Africa.

• The boom in exploration was triggered to a great extent by the creation of the African Association by wealthy Englishmen in 1788 (who wanted someone to 'find' the fabled city of Timbuktu and the course of the Niger River).

• As the century moved on, the goal of the European explorer changed, and rather than traveling out of pure curiosity they started to record details of markets, goods, and resources for the wealthy philanthropists who financed their trips.

• Henry Morton Stanley -- A naturalized American (born in Wales) who of all the explorers of Africa is the one most closely connected to the start of the Scramble for Africa.

• Stanley had crossed the continent and located the 'missing' Livingstone, but he is more infamously known for his explorations on behalf of King Leopold II of Belgium.

• Leopold hired Stanley to obtain treaties with local chieftains along the course of the River Congo with an eye to creating his own colony (Belgium was not in a financial position to fund a colony at that time).

• Stanley's work triggered a rush of European explorers, such as Carl Peters, to do the same for various European countries.

• Capitalism -- The end of European trading in slaves left a need for commerce between Europe and Africa.

• Capitalists may have seen the light over slavery, but they still wanted to exploit the continent - new 'legitimate' trade would be encouraged.

• Explorers located vast reserves of raw materials, they plotted the course of trade routes, navigated rivers, and identified population centers which could be a market for manufactured goods from Europe.

• It was a time of plantations and cash crops, dedicating the region's workforce to producing rubber, coffee, sugar, palm oil, timber, etc for Europe.

• And all the more enticing if a colony could be set up which gave the European nation a monopoly.

What Other Factors Played a Role in the Scramble to Happen?

• Steam Engines and Iron Hulled Boats

• Medical Advances -- Africa, especially the western regions, was known as the 'White Man's Grave' because of the danger of two diseases: malaria and yellow fever. In 1817 two French scientists, Pierre-Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Bienaimé Caventou, extracted quinine from the bark of the South American cinchona tree.

• It proved to be the solution to malaria; unfortunately yellow fever has no cure.

• Politics -- After the creation of a unified Germany (1871) and Italy (a longer process, but its capital relocated to Rome also in 1871) there was no room left in Europe for expansion.

• Britain, France and Germany were in an intricate political dance, trying to maintain their dominance, and an empire would secure it.

• France, which had lost two provinces to Germany in 1870 looked to Africa to gain more territory.

• Britain looked towards Egypt and the control of the Suez canal as well as pursuing territory in gold rich southern Africa.

• Germany, under the expert management of Chancellor Bismarck, had come late to the idea of overseas colonies, but was now fully convinced of their worth.

The Mad Rush Into Africa in the Early 1880s:* Within just 20 years the political face of Africa had changed - with only Liberia (a colony run by ex- African-American slaves) and Ethiopia remaining free of European control. The start of the 1880s saw a rapid increase in European nations claiming territory in Africa:– In 1880 the region to the north of the river Congo became a

French protectorate following a treaty between the King of the Bateke, Makoko, and the explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza.

– In 1881 Tunisia became a French protectorate and the Transvaal regained its independence.

– In 1882 Britain occupied Egypt (France pulled out of joint occupation), Italy begins colonization of Eritrea.

– In 1884 British and French Somaliland created.– In 1884 German South West Africa, Cameroon, German East

Africa, and Togo created, Río de Oro claimed by Spain.

• Europeans Set the Rules for Dividing Up the Continent:

The Berlin Conference of 1884-85 -and the resultant General Act of the Conference at Berlin -laid down ground rules for the further partitioning of Africa.

http://africanhistory.about.com/od/eracolonialism/l/bl-BerlinAct1885.htm

Navigation on the Niger and Congo rivers was to be free to all, and to declare a protectorate over a region the European colonizer must show effective occupancy and develop a 'sphere of influence'.

• The floodgates of European colonization had opened.

• Berlin Conference - 1884; conference held to legitimize the Belgian King Leopold II's claim to control the Congo Basin.

• The conference granted him recognition and set out formal requirements for future international recognition:

– "effective occupation" designed for economic development would be required, meaning that no longer did plunging a flag into the ground mean it was occupied.

MILITARISMThis is not just an arms race, but also a government's attitude of mind, seeing war as a valid means of foreign

policy. (This often includes the influence of government by the generals.)

All the nations of Europe were militaristic, but the governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary were especially so.

All the countries of Europe built up their armies and navies. In 1914, their armed forces stood like this:• • Germany: 2,200,000 soldiers, 97 warships• • Austria-Hungary: 810,000 soldiers, 28 warships.• • Italy: 750,000 soldiers, 36 warships• • France: 1,125,000 soldiers, 62 warships• • Russia: 1,200,000 soldiers, 30 warships• • Great Britain: 711,000 soldiers, 185 warships

As one country increased its armies, so all the others felt obliged to increase their armed forces to keep the ‘balance of power’.

•

• Germany and Britain clashed over the size of their navies -• in 1900 Kaiser Wilhelm began to build up the German navy (Tirpiz's Navy Law), announcing that he wanted

Germans to sail all over the world and take for Germany 'a place in the sun'. After 1906, he began to build numbers of the new, large 'Dreadnought' battleships, which were more powerful than any other ship.

Militarism

• Germany and Britain clashed over the size of their navies –

• in 1900 Kaiser Wilhelm began to build up the German navy (Tirpiz's Navy Law), announcing that he wanted Germans to sail all over the world and take for Germany 'a place in the sun'.

• After 1906, he began to build numbers of the new, large 'Dreadnought' battleships, which were more powerful than any other ship.

Effects of Militarism

– The British developed the idea that Germany wanted to challenge British sea power - the basis of Britain's greatness (Britannia rules the waves'.

– A strong navy would also allow Germany to threaten British colonies overseas. – Britain made an alliance with Japan in 1902, so as not to have to worry so much about the Pacific. – Britain also began to build Dreadnoughts. The British government had planned to build four

Dreadnoughts in 1909, but when Germany refused to limit the number of ships it was building, the British public protested, demanding: 'We want eight and we won't wait'. Britain and Germany thus had a naval arms race.

– By 1914, Britain had won this naval arms race and the British navy was much larger than the German navy, so it is arguable that this was NOT a major cause of World War One.

• Another thing that the countries of Europe did was to train all their young men so that if there was a war they could call, not only on the standing army, but on huge numbers of trained reservists. One historians has estimated the total number of men (including reservists) that the countries could thus call upon as:

• • Germany: 8.5 million men• • Russia: 4.4 million• • France: 3.5 million• • Austria-Hungary: 3 million

• It is important to realize that - although in 1914 the German army was the biggest and best in the world - the Russian army was growing the fastest, and German generals were worried

• Military Innovation -- at the beginning of the nineteenth century Europe was only marginally ahead of Africa in terms of available weapons as traders had long supplied them to local chiefs and many had stockpiles of guns and gunpowder.

• But two innovations gave Europe a massive advantage.

• In the late 1860s percussion caps were being incorporated into cartridges -what previously came as a separate bullet, powder and wadding, was now a single entity, easily transported and relatively weather proof.

• The second innovation was the breach loading rifle.

• Older model muskets, held by most Africans, were front loaders, slow to use (maximum of three rounds per minute) and had to be loaded whilst standing.

• Breach loading guns, in comparison, had between two to four times the rate of fire, and could be loaded even in a prone position.

• Europeans, with an eye to colonization and conquest, restricted the sale of the new weaponry to Africa maintaining military superiority.

Arms/Armament• Arms Race

The menace of the hostile division led to an arms race, another cause of 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. – 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. – This motivated the British to launch the Dreadnought, invented by Admiral Sir John Fisher, in 1906. – 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.

• Armies and navies were greatly expanded.

• The standing armies of France and Germany doubled in size between 1870 and 1914. 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.

• This motivated the British to launch the Dreadnought, invented by Admiral Sir John Fisher, in 1906.

• 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.

Or….Awful GovernmentsNot only were many of the governments of Europe autocracies (ruled

by one man), many countries had stupid and corrupt governments

• Note that very few of the countries of Europe were democracies -it is hard for a democracy to go to war because the people (not just an individual ruler or small group of ministers) need to agree to go to war.

• Remember also that in these days there was no idea of going to war for the 'right' reasons - many people in those days thought it was alright to go to war simply to win more power and territory for the ruler.

• In such a Europe, outbreak of war was less of an issue than - say - the recent war in Iraq.

•

Awful / Corrupt Governments

Germany• Germany was massively powerful, with the most up-to-date industry in the

world. Germany had become a united country for the first time in 1870-1. At first, the Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was careful not to annoy other countries, but after 1890 the slightly-mad Kaiser Wilhelm II took over the government.

Turkey• A very weak despotism, ruled by a corrupt government. Turkey was known as ‘the

sick man of Europe’. Once, Turkey had ruled all of the Balkans, but now the peoples of that area were rebelling and driving the Turks out – this created a significant area of instability in Europe: ‘the Balkan pressure-cooker’.

Austria Hungary• Had once been a strong empire, but now the government was weak and divided

(the Austrians and the Hungarians hated each other). Austria-Hungary had been built up by marriage and diplomacy during the Middle Ages, and was known as the ‘polyglot (many languages) empire’ because of all the different races in it. The Habsburg rulers were stupid and inbred, and Emperor Franz Josef was old and autocratic.

Italy• A new country formed in 1866. A weak ruler, chaotic governments and a pathetic

army. The Mafia and corruption everywhere.

Russia• Russia was huge but backward. Nicholas II was a weak and ineffectual ruler, dominated by

his wife and the ‘mad monk’ Rasputin. He kept power by setting the Cossacks on the mob, and by his Okhrana (secret police). Russia lost a war to Japan disastrously in 1904.

France• France was a democracy, but the French government was weak. In 1870-1, when Germany

was trying to become a united country, France had gone to war to try to stop it. The Germans won the war easily, and took the area of Alsace Lorraine from France. The French were desperate for revenge.

Britain• Britain was a democracy with a huge empire, but until 1900 Britain believed in ‘splendid

isolation’ – keeping out of affairs in Europe. Neither do you want to go running away with the idea that Britain had an efficient or modern government. The army was still dominated by the aristocracy, Britain in 1900 did not have state unemployment pay, sick pay or old age pensions, and women were not given the vote until 1918.

Kaiser Wilhelm had a withered arm and suffered a slight paralysis which made him unsteady on his feet. To overcome this, his teachers bullied him; historians think that this caused his unstable and aggressive character - and may have been a contributory factor to the outbreak of war.

• Social Democratic Party - · By 1914, the largest single party in the German Reichstag; represented the left of the political spectrum, held a Marxist political and economic philosophy, and adapted to cooperation within the democratic system.

• Socialist democrats advocated a state socialist system--welfare state, union power, unemployment insurance, worker protection, et cetera--within the government.

• Unlike the violent revolutionaries, this party supported a gradual development from capitalism to socialism by making changes beneficial to the worker within the capitalist government

• Germany and Austria-Hungary (the Central Powers) are seen, at the very least, as creating the conditions for conflict.

• Some go much further, blaming Germany for planning and waging a deliberate war of aggression.

ListsWorld War 1 is actually much more complicated than a simple list of causes.

While there was a chain of events that directly led to the fighting, the actual root causes are much deeper and part of continued debate and discussion.

This list is an overview of the most popular reasons that are cited as the root causes of World War 1.– 1. Mutual Defense Alliances

• Over time, countries throughout Europe made mutual defense agreements that would pull them into battle. Thus, if one country was attacked, allied countries were bound to defend them.

• Before World War 1, the following alliances existed: • Russia and Serbia • Germany and Austria-Hungary • France and Russia • Britain and France and Belgium • Japan and Britain• Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia got involved to defend Serbia. Germany

seeing Russia mobilizing, declared war on Russia. France was then drawn in against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany attacked France through Belgium pulling Britain into war. Then Japan entered the war. Later, Italy and the United States would enter on the side of the allies.

• Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia got involved to defend Serbia. Germany seeing Russia mobilizing, declared war on Russia.

• France was then drawn in against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany attacked France through Belgium pulling Britain into war.

• Then Japan entered the war. Later, Italy and the United States would enter on the side of the allies.

Immediate Causes, cont.

• 2. Imperialism• Imperialism is when a country increases their power and

wealth by bringing additional territories under their control.

• Before World War 1, Africa and parts of Asia were points of contention amongst the European countries.

• This was especially true because of the raw materials these areas could provide.

• The increasing competition and desire for greater empires led to an increase in confrontation that helped push the world into World War I.

• 3. Militarism

• As the world entered the 20th century, an arms race had begun.

• By 1914, Germany had the greatest increase in military buildup.

• Great Britain and Germany both greatly increased their navies in this time period.

• Further, in Germany and Russia particularly, the military establishment began to have a greater influence on public policy.

• This increase in militarism helped push the countries involved to war.

• 4. Nationalism– Much of the origin of the war was based on the desire of the Slavic peoples in

Bosnia and Herzegovina to no longer be part of Austria Hungary but instead be part of Serbia. In this way, nationalism led directly to the War.

– But in a more general way, the nationalism of the various countries throughout Europe contributed not only to the beginning but the extension of the war in Europe.

– Each country tried to prove their dominance and power.

• 5. Immediate Cause: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand– The immediate cause of World War I that made all the aforementioned items

come into play (alliances, imperialism, militarism, nationalism) was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferinand of Austria-Hungary.

– In June 1914, a Serbian nationalist assassinated him and his wife while they were in Sarajevo, Bosnia which was part of Austria-Hungary.

– This was in protest to Austria-Hungary having control of this region. Serbia wanted to take over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

– This assassination led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. When Russia began to mobilize due to its alliance with Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia.

– Thus began the expansion of the war to include all those involved in the mutual defense alliances.

Lists• 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 a international conference in Algeciras in 1906 which allowed France to make Morocco a French protectorate.

Bosnian Crisis of 1908Another 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 IIA second Moroccan crisis occurred in 1911 when Germany sent a warship to Agadir in protest of French supremacy in Morocco, 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 SarajevoEurope had reached its breaking point when on June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austria-Hungarian 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.

• Falling DominoesUnsatisfied, 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.

Alliances• Under Kaiser Wilhelm II, Germany moved from a policy of maintaining the

status quo to a more aggressive stance.

• He decided against renewing a treaty with Russia, effectively opting for the Austrian alliance. Germany's western and eastern neighbours, France and Russia, signed an alliance in 1894 united by fear and resentment of Berlin.

• In 1898, Germany began to build up its navy, although this could only alarm the world's most powerful maritime nation, Britain.

• Recognising a major threat to her security, Britain abandoned the policy of holding aloof from entanglements with continental powers.

• Within ten years, Britain had concluded agreements, albeit limited, with her two major colonial rivals, France and Russia.

• Europe was divided into two armed camps: – the Entente Powers and the Central Powers, and their populations began to see

war not merely as inevitable but even welcome.

Questions…

• 1. What changes occurred in Europe's relationships with the rest of the world between the early 19th and early 20th centuries?

• 2. What social changes were transforming Europe at the start of the century?

• 3. What changes inn intellectual life disrupted accepted cultural standards at the start of the 20th century?

• 4. What were the major changes in political life between 1880-1914?

• 5. What major factors made Europe prone to war by 1914?

Did you Know?• During the summer and fall of 1914, France lost as many men on the battlefield as the

U.S.Army would lose in all of the 20th century!

Russia's losses were never actually counted. It is estimated that over 6 million Russian soldiers were killed in WWI.

During World War One, 230 soldiers perished for each hour of the four and a quarter years it continued.

The world's worst train accident occurred in France, in December 1917 with the deaths of over 600 soldiers.

There were 70,000,000 men and women in uniform of that number one-half were either killed, wounded or became prisoners of war.

In Great Britain at the end of the war there were 250,000 wounded soldiers who suffered total or partial amputation.

The Spanish Influenza of 1918 killed 51 million people worldwide!

The U.S. was in the war in actual combat for only seven and a half months. During this time 116,000 were killed and 204,000 were wounded.

In 1916 in the Italian Alps a winter avalanche killed 10,000 men. In four years of conflict on the Italian Alpine Front 50,000 soldiers killed by avalanches.

• The Italian Front 1915-1918 was the site of the largest scale mountain warfare in history.

During the course of the Great War 11% of Frances's entire population was killed or wounded.

The site of the Battle of Verdun is remembered as the battlefield with the highest density of dead per square yard.

The biggest naval battle in history occurred off the coast of Jutland in the afternoon of May 31, 1916. More than 200 warships and 100,000 men of the rival navies were involved. The British "Grand Fleet" lost 14 ships. The German "High Seas Fleet" lost 11 ships.

• Half of the dead of Great War have no known grave.

The largest man made explosion occurred at Halifax Harbor, Nova Scotia, Canada 1917 with the collision of 2 ammo ships.

The 10 month Battle of Verdun, 1916 caused over a million casualties.

At the end of the war in France the 650,000 war widows became a powerful voting block .

Italian Front 60,000 Alpine troops would freeze to death in the "high mountains" (Dolomiti Adamello ranges) during 3 years of war.

WORLD WAR ONE FIRSTS

• First war to be fought on 3 continents. First industrialized conflict. First use of chlorine & mustard gas. First use of the flame thrower. First tank battle. First use of mass airplanes. First use of x-ray in the military. First use of a blood bank. First use of guide dogs by blinded soldiers. First four-star general, General John J. Pershing First use of trillion in estimating war costs. First commissioning of war art for propaganda. First use of the IQ Test given to Doughboys of 1917. First U.S. president to visit a European country while in office was Woodrow Wilson on 12/04/18.

Describe at least four general motives for empire that inspired Europe to its great imperial successes at the end of the nineteenth century.

• Motives for imperial conquest ranged from reasons of economics, geopolitics, nationalism, and liberal philosophy. In the economic arena, empires can provide markets for goods, opportunities for profitable investment, protection from the boom and bust cycle of capitalism, and sources of cheap labor for industrial development.

• Geopolitics made certain territories important for its location, such as the Suez Canal, while some countries seized regions to prevent other European states from seizing them.

• Nationalist concerns translated into the national prestige that came as a result of gaining large expanses of territory and seeing the color of your country painting regions throughout Africa and Asia.

• Liberalism, defined as a dedication to self-improvement and the belief that there were discoverable rules of general conduct everyone could follow, contributed to paternalism and arguments of racial and cultural superiority that pushed Europeans into Africa to "civilize" local populations.

Why do you think Great Britain was able to survive throughout the nineteenth century without the eruption

of serious social upheavals and worker revolt?

• The political system in Britain was malleable and (relatively) easily adaptable to changing mores in society.

• Britain's politicians maintained a generally farsighted view and a keen understanding of political change and, therefore, was able to realize that the currents of change toward the end of the nineteenth century was moving toward the worker.

• Change was able to come to Britain even without a Labour majority in Parliament, suggesting that social upheaval may have been prevented due to the relatively responsive nature of the British political system.

Now that we have discussed the domestic political developments in Great Britain, France, Germany, and Austria-Hungary, can you identify

a general similarity between the societal changes that took place in those states?

• It is easy to see that change in all the major state of Europe, save Russia, took place due to the emergence of the masses as a serious force in national politics.

• In Britain and Germany, the worker began to wield popular and legislative power; in France, the mass media allowed national figures to appeal to the agrarian poor and the workers of Paris; in Austria, every ethnic minority, student groups, radical right leagues, etc became a force as the dominance of the bourgeoisie began to fade.