Causes for World War I: With Focus on Imperialism

2) Austria-Hungary and Serbia

Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908. This led to the conflict with Serbia. The Serbs were not able, without the help of Russia, to resist Austria-Hungary. However, the Serb government allowed organizations, which had a clear anti Austria-Hungary attitude. Therefore, the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, an imperialistic act, led to the conflict between those countries and later on was one of the triggers for World War I (assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary blaming Serb government, etc.)

3) The ‘Schlieffen Plan’ as imperialistic plan

The idea of the ‘Schlieffen Plan’ was to conquer France through Belgium, and than to turn to the Eastern front to fight Russia, thus the whole idea of the ‘Schlieffen Plan’ is to actually conquer those countries and therefore it is imperialistic. When Russia mobilized in 1914, Germany feared that they would not be able to defeat France before the Russian mobilization was complete, and therefore they immediately declared war on both. The fact that the Germans chose this plan, might also say something about their attitude towards the other countries. Evidence for this might be, that the ‘Schlieffen Plan’ was developed in 1905, after Britain, France and Russia signed the Triple Entente in 1904.

Supporting views of others

• Paul Kennedy – ‘economic strength is woven into the fabric of great power struggles.’ And, ‘economic’ interests are a key ‘reality behind diplomacy.’

Other causes

• The Alliance System was somehow a trigger for a chain reaction in 1914. Austria-Hungary’s, supported by Germany, declaration of war on Serbia led Russia to mobilize. Germany, due to the Schlieffen Plan, declared war on Russia and France, and its invasion of Belgium got Britain involved. However, the Alliance System was quite weak. For example Italy, an ally of Austria-Hungary and Germany remained neutral at the start of the war. One can argue, that Russia and Britain only entered the war to defend only their own interests. Somehow both facts are true, because the countries agreed to the allies for their own, so they thought, benefit anyway. So the Alliance System itself was a cause, but not the major one.
• The Arms Race did not just lead to an increase of military, what led to tension (e.g. Germans navy expansion and Britain’s concerns) but as a result also to the development of mobilization plans. Once war was close, all military leaders relied on those plans, and troops were recruited according to those plans in order to be able to conduct the strategic plans in time. When Russia mobilized, Germany, as a result of the Schlieffen Plan, had to declare war on Russia and France. Otherwise, the Schlieffen Plan, so they thought, would not work. Thus, the Arms Race certainly played a major role.
• In 1912 the German left wing parties made large gains in the elections. The German government at that time feared the rise of these left wing parties. Some historians argue, that the government sought a war to distract the population and to raise patriotic support for the government. This certainly was reason; for example the empire of Austria-Hungary was already breaking down. Lenin, as communist, certainly would agree to this theory too.

Arguments against opponents

Orthodox View

• France was only involved when Germany declared war on them, and Britain when Germany attacked Belgium. Therefore France and Britain only acted because of Germanys offensive actions.
• Russia had not intention to go war when they mobilized against Austria-Hungary, they only wanted to threat. Therefore Russia cannot be directly blamed; Germany misinterpreted the Russian mobilization.

German Responsibility

• Germany agreed to Austria-Hungary’s plan to declare war on Serbia only, because Germany and Austria-Hungary were an ally; and Austria-Hungary only felt that its empire was in danger, what certainly was true.
• Germany felt threatened by Russia’s mobilization, thus Russia achieved what it actually planned, and therefore Germany had to mobilize in order to be ready in time. Imagine if Russia actually would have planned to go to war to Germany, therefore the German mobilization is comprehensible.

Question of German Responsibility

• Germany’s ‘Schlieffen Plan’ is evidence for their attitude towards France and Russia; Germany had the intention to take over France and clearly tried it. Otherwise they would have taken a defensive position or relied on diplomacy.
• The German ‘Weltpolitik’ states that Germany sought an increase in international power, further in their navy, what former already led to conflict with Britain. Thus they clearly wanted to expand their influence.

Mobilization, War Plans & Timetables  

• If one agrees on the German guilt, than one can argue that Germany would have mobilized against Russia anyway and that the fact that Russia started before Germany, only accelerated the whole process. Thus Germany also would have mobilized if Russia wouldn’t have.
• Germany didn’t know that Russia’s mobilization was only meant to threat, thus it is a logical consequence for Germany to also start preparing. Otherwise, it could have been to late for Germany to start preparing a defense. Certainly they had no intention if solely defending, but that is another issue.

Nationalism

• Nationalism probably was only a plea of the governments to win the support of the public in case of war, thus the only intention was to invoke patriotism. Without the public support for war, it might have impossible for the governments to start it. In the beginning the public was strongly in favor of war, and Britain, for example, was able to recruit thousands of voluntary men.
• Germany was not interested in the Austro-Serb conflict; they were more concerned about Russia. Already in the July crisis the Kaiser insisted that Austria-Hungary should deploy the major part of its troops against Russia, thus probably knowing that Russia would support Serbia.