The Balkan crisis led to the July crisis, which was badly mismanaged, this could be because the long standing rivalries held against countries led to the development of certain alliances that meant a wide scale war was inevitable.
In 1870 due to the Franco-Prussian war France Lost Alsace Lorraine and had to pay Germany 50 million Francs. France wanted revenge against Germany. The German Chancellor, Bismarck, decided to stop this by developing alliances with other nations Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia formed the Dreikaiserbund to isolate France and keep the peace in Austria and Russia. The Reinsurance treaty between Russia and Germany was not renewed in 1887 so the Dreikaiserbund ended which led to the Russo-French Entente and the triple alliance being developed between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.
Germany felt threatened by the Russo-French Entente because of it, if war broke out, they would have to fight a war on two fronts. Germany developed the Schlieffen Plan which meant in war Germany would attack France through Belgium. This was an aggressive act and was seen as evidence that Germany was planning war.
The situation was tense between Britain and France due to the Fashoda crisis. Britain planned to expand from South Africa into North Africa and France planned to expand from East Africa into West Africa. There was conflict that was resolved before world war one suggesting that if there had been no alliances and Germany had not wanted a war all rivalries could have been resolved.
In 1889 gold was found in South Africa and Britain wanted to claim it. Rivalries developed with the out break of the Boer war between Britain and the Boers who wanted to keep their gold. Germany became allied with the Boers that angered the British. On the defeat of Britain the German Kaiser sent the Boers a congratulatory telegram causing tension and hostility. This led to the Triple Entente between Britain, France and Russia and Europe was divided in two.
Germany and Britain also entered into a naval arms race. Germany wanted a large army and empire and to be the most powerful nation in the world with one of the strongest economies this was known as ‘Weltpolitik.’ Britain wanted to retain their position of having the largest navy in Europe and Germany believed if they expanded their navy they could gain power leading to the naval arms race that started in April 1898 and caused tension in Europe. The Dreadnought, an advanced and powerful war boat, was developed by Britain in October 1905 and deepened the tension between the two countries.
The Anglo-French Entente was felt by the Germans to be threatening and they wanted to end it and stop the chance of France getting revenge. On his visit to Morocco the Kaiser promised the sultan that the Germans would support him if France tried to expand into Morocco. France retaliated to this and war could have resulted but was avoided; however the relationship between France and Britain became closer. In 1906 there was a meeting at Algeciras and it was arranged that the French and Moroccans would trade and also that the British, French and Russians would ally themselves in support against Germany. Germany was not involved in the meeting. Tension was caused in Europe, the German policy Weltpolitik meant Germany wanted to be involved in all global decisions. By being excluded Germany felt she was being encircled and as a result of this fear developed an aggressive foreign policy. A gunboat was sent by the Kaiser to morocco in 1911 as a warning to the Triple Entente and to anger the French and the British. After all this it seemed inevitable that world war could not be avoided as Britain would not remain neutral if war broke out on the continent.
In 1912 Greece, Montenegro, Serbia and Bulgaria formed the Balkan league whose aim was to destroy the Ottoman Empire. In September 1912 Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire, this was the first Balkan war. The rest of the Balkan League joined in and the Ottoman Empire defeated. As a result of this the member states of the Balkan League gained more territory. There was tension in the Balkan area as the Austro-Hungarian Empire felt threatened by Serbia’s power and their desire to create a state to unite all Serb speaking people. Great gains were made by the member states of the Balkan League when they defeated the Ottoman Empire and divided the land between them. Less than three weeks after the peace treaty was signed, in June 19t3, the second Balkan war broke out the conflict was caused by the amount of land each state had received from the first Balkan War. Serbia won the
conflict and almost doubled in size. Tension mounted between Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the chance of a conflict increased but the global conflict was not predicted.
Tension was caused between the countries in Europe by these long standing rivalries and led to the development of alliances. It almost appeared as if a war was being planned for and Germany was implicated by what happened at the War Council at Potsdam and the development of the Schlieffen plan.
Historians are divided as to the cause of the First World War as the background causes are complicated. One German historian, Fischer, blames Germany for causing the First World War he claims that Germany had a ‘will to war’. Germany felt threatened by encirclement and had developed an aggressive foreign policy in response. Other historians feel Russia Britain and France didn’t want a war; in July 1914 Grey’s proposal suggested that Britain did not want to use military conflict to resolve the disputes. However Austria was determined to wage war against Serbia and as a result of this the rest of Europe was dragged into conflict.
The driving force behind the tensions created in Europe in the pre war period was Germany. Germany tried to cause trouble between the other great powers. With the naval arms race increasing the tension and Germany realizing that the aim of Weltpolitik could never be achieved frustration mounted. Germany therefore prepared for an international war as can be seen by the Schlieffen plan.
The origin and causes of any war is always complicated and the First World War is no exception. It is evident from what I have written that no country was completely to blame, some historians blamed Germany saying the issue of the blank cheque, with all the rivalries and tensions in Europe in the pre war period made war inevitable. The badly mismanaged Balkan crisis of the summer of 1914 was the immediate trigger but without the rivalries between the great powers, which had been going on for a long time, there wouldn’t have been a Balkan crisis.
