After the dismissal of Bismarck, Wilhelm II came to power as Kaiser. He believed in World Policy (Weltpolitik), which meant that Germany should have a right to a colonial Empire. He spoke of achieving ‘a sort of Napoleonic supremacy’ in Europe and beyond. Wilhelm made two significant appointments in 1897- Admiral von Tirpitz new Secretary of State for the Navy, and the new Foreign Secretary in 1897, Bernhard von Bulow. They acted as the Kaiser’s principal agents in the promotion of German Weltpolitik. This ‘New Course’, where Weltpolitik was the main thread, led to Germany involving them in other countries business, e.g. Kruger Telegram- this was when the Kaiser sent a telegram to the Boer leader congratulating him on resisting the British assault, this resulted in the British considering that as a threat because it disrupted the peace and they are encouraging the Boer Rebels to go against the British.
The Schlieffen Plan, which was to conquer France in six week’s to prevent a war on two fronts, was by the German military chief General Schlieffen. But the German army wasn’t big enough to do that, so they failed.
To keep Britain away from any alliance Germany started expanding their navy and this is when the arms race began. The rivalry between Britain and Germany began when the British saw the underground work of Admiral Tirpitz of the fleet of ships. This indicates that the Balkan crisis was not the only factor that resulted in the First World War.
Another long-term cause of the First World War was the development of Alliance systems. Each country had an alliance with another country and also had their own enemies, for example, Russia’s ally was France and then later on France had Britain as allies. There were two Alliance systems: one was the Triple Entente, which was made up of Britain, France and Russia. The second one was called the Triple Alliance, which was made up of Germany, Italy and Austria. After the dismissal of Bismarck Germany broke all its relations with France and Russia and this made France and Russia more against Germany. The Dual Alliance Treaty held France, Russia and Germany together, but Wilhelm destroyed the treaty and he thought that he could face a war on two fronts. Therefore he lost the support of France and Russia. So now he needed even more arms and power if he wanted to defeat it’s enemies.
Another long-term cause of the First World War was the Moroccan crisis. In 1904 Britain and France signed the Entente Cordiale. France was to be the dominant power in Morocco and Britain to be the rulers of Egypt. The signing of the Entente alarmed Germany as they had counted on Britain and France remaining enemies. The Kaiser decided to intervene personally in this situation because he had for some years been following a policy designed to scare Britain into a closer relationship with the Central Powers, also because in 1905 France began to extend greater control over Morocco as had been agreed by the Entente Cordiale. Finally, Kaiser Wilhelm II’s ministers, Bulow and Holstein persuaded him to make a dramatic intervention in the Moroccan issue by visiting the Moroccan Sultan in person. He told the Sultan, that Germany was his friend and that Morocco was an independent country that should not let the French walk over them. The other countries thought that Germany was trying to take control of Morocco themselves and they also would have wanted some of it. Wilhelm expected the Entente Cordiale to collapse but it did not. In 1906 the Algeciras Conference was held to sort out the Moroccan crisis. The result of the conference was that France was given control over the Moroccan state bank and police and Germany only managed to secure an agreement that she could still trade in Morocco. Germany’s plan backfired as Britain was pushed closer to France.
The second Moroccan crisis was when France sent in troops to Morocco in July 1911 because there was disorder and an opportunity for the French to send in troops. Germany sent a gunboat, the ‘Panther’, to put pressure on France and demanded the French Congo as compensation. Britain reacted more strongly to their threats because it raised fears that Germany might try to claim Agadir as a naval Base.
Wilhelm used Austria as an ally and gave Austria unconditional support by offering the ‘Blank Cheque’ so Austria could fill it in with however much support they need (militarily). Austria couldn’t have declared war without Germany’s support because they were just too weak.
On the 28th June Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife was murdered on a state visit to Sarajevo in Bosnia. Austria blamed Serbia for the murders because the assassins were mostly Serbs. The attitude of the international committee was sympathetic and it was expected that Austria would make legitimate demand. Russia and France knew Austria would use this as an issue to wage a war. Austria intended to use the murder as a key to war; they only needed the support of Germany. Germany had two things on mind, Chancellor Bethmann-Hollwegg was ready to negotiate peace, whilst Germany’s military Chief, General Moltke was ready to give full support for war. On 28th July 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. The British still said it is a European affair but told Germany that they must respect Belgium’s neutrality and use another way to attack France. On 4th August Germany invaded Belgium and at midnight Britain declared war on Germany. Britain wasn’t to blame for not saying they would get involved earlier because Germany should have known that they would attack if they took a wrong step. If Germany had known this, they would have supported the Austria to be on their side.
The major powers didn’t have many conferences to solve the problems and so decisions weren’t made and deadlines weren’t met. This could have been a key factor leading to war. Countries didn’t want conferences because they knew they wouldn’t get what they want.
The First World War didn’t breakout because of the badly managed Balkan crisis in the summer of 1914 but rather the product of long standing rivalries between the Great Powers. The long and short-term factors/causes given show that the Balkan crisis was not the only reason why war broke out. Problems like communication between the Great Powers, the rivalries between them and the naval and arms race could have been the causes of the First World War.