“Bismarck’s objective after 1871 was to stabilize Europe around the new German Empire. France’s inevitable desire for revenge and for the return of Alsace and Lorraine was to be countered by depriving her of European allies through skillful diplomacy and by encouraging her to embark on colonial expansion in Africa and Asia which could have the added advantage of embroiling her in conflict with Great Britain”.
Problems began to arise as Germany sought out alliances to preserve peace and prevent any opposing alliances. They began in 1879 with the Dual Alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary and then in 1882 with the Triple Alliance where Italy joined the two. However, secretly, Bismarck made a Reinsurance Treaty with Russia stating that Germany would remain neutral if war were to occur, contradicting the alliance with Austria. Though Bismarck had created a difficult situation for Germany in the entangled alliances, there had been no real threat to the other powers until Kaiser Wilhelm II entered into power in 1890 with the dismissal of Bismarck. “Under Wilhelm II, Imperial Germany entered a new era in which it was thought that its newly gained position of economic might should be reflected in achieving a position of world power”. Bismarck’s development of a balanced power throughout Europe in the beginning of 1871 began to be disrupted, causing threats across Europe. The nationalism in Germany began to increase greatly as its economy began to dominate as well as the population size reflected in Wilhelm’s seek for Germany’s “place in the sun”. Other countries surrounding Europe reacted to the growth of German power by forming defensive alliances. Negotiations began in 1892 between Russia and France ending in a military alliance, giving rise to the threat to the ‘encirclement’ of Germany causing them to establish their own alliance. There were now conflicting alliances of the Triple Alliance, Franco-Russian alliance and then the Entente Cordiale between France and Britain established in 1904.
With the rival alliances formed across Europe, it would not take long for Germany to try and tear the allies apart. Germany attempted to break up allies Britain and France during the Moroccan Crisis; however, it only resulted in the strengthening of the alliance as Britain came to support France. “Some historians would argue that that it was to a large extent Germany’s aggressive posturing in the years before 1914 that poisoned the international climate and seemed to bring war closer”. Relations between nations only continued to worsen creating a warlike mood before 1914. For example, Germany was unwilling to end the construction of a strong navy threatening the area where Britain has flourished the most, creating tension between the two.
There was also the crisis in the Balkans involving the conflicting interests between Austria-Hungary and Russia. Austria was trying to prevent Serbia from taking over the area while Russia, after the war with Japan in 1905, was supporting the Serbian ambitions. “In many ways the Balkans, then as now, were areas of conflict for which no easy solutions could be found, as nationalist aspirations and the desire for territorial expansion resulted in a repeated conflict”. Russia was concerned about securing an outlet for ships entering the Black Sea, to establish political influence and eventually military control of Constantinople. There was also an increase in Serbian nationalism that caused a concern to the Austria-Hungarians. However, what the two sides had in common was the concern of the revolution in Turkey in 1908 and its outcome. They both feared a renewed strength of Turkey within the Balkans and together, agreed to call an international conference. This conference involved Russia’s agreement to accept Austrian occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Russia would receive Austrian support to open the Strait for Russian ships. However, this conference had backfired on Russia as Austria annexed the two states without the approval or discussion with Russia, who was now without any support from the allies and completely humiliated as they failed to fulfill their position as the ‘protector’ of the Slavic people and were left to back down. The conflicts within the Balkans would continue into 1912 with the fall of the Turks and the conflict between Serbia and Austria seeking access to the Adriatic, which was being refused by Austria. Serbia turned to Russia against Austria-Hungary in which they could not afford another loss. These continuous conflicts emerging at the beginning of the 20th century are essential in determining the events leading to the cause of war. The last confrontation between Serbia and Austria would be the one that would lead to war for all of Europe.
Through all of this tension and conflict spreading throughout Europe, what was needed was a final conflict to ignite. The trigger was provided with the assassination of the Austrian heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife on June 28th, 1914 in Sarajevo. This final conflict was what brought all of the Europe and eventually the entire world into war. By this point there was little doubt that a war could have been avoided. However, even after the assassination, many were trying to remain peaceful and prevent the outbreak of war by resolving conflicts through discussion while others were doing everything in hopes that a war would break out. The conflicts across Europe had become too influential in each country’s view of nationalism. With the formation of allies countries felt threatened, boosting nationalism. No country wanted to back down or be taken advantage of therefore, they all wanted to improve their country for themselves and for their own protection.
With the tension that had been building since the crises, it is inevitable that war was willing to break out; all that was needed was the push of the Black Hand, a Serbian terrorist group, to bring Europe over the top and into the Great War. The war did not start earlier because there needed to be that time of tension between the countries building the intensity to a climax that would happen in 1914 and therefore begin the war.
Bibliography
Henig, Ruth , The Origins of the First World War New York, Routledge, 1989.
Mombauer, Annikac The Origins of the First World War Great Britain, Personal Education Limited, 2002.
Schmitt, Bernadotte The Origins of the First World War, London, Humphery Milford, 1950.
Snyder, Louis, Historic Documents of World War I, Princeton, Van Nostrand, 1958.
Ruth Henig, The Origins of the First World War (New York, Routledge, 1989) (p.59).
Annika Mombauer, The Origins of the First World War (Great Britain, Personal Education Limited, 2002). (p.137).
Bernadotte Schmitt, The Origins of the First World War, (London, Humphery Milford, 1950). (p.57)
Louis Snyder Historic Documents of World War I (Princeton, Van Nostrand, 1958) (p.205).
