The Balkans were the perfect chance for Germany to prove its strength, it had been in encirclement in Europe for too long and was in need of a diplomatic victory against the triple entente and had to keep a close link with Austria, because she had three strong powers against her and therefore Austria was vital. When the Balkan Crisis broke out Germany supported Austria and she couldn’t afford to loose them. The situation in the Balkans was obviously well thought out by Germany and the decision of the ‘Blank Cheque’ provoked war, and can definitely been seen as the trigger cause for the outbreak. In light of this it is clear that the crisis was not in any way mismanaged but in fact was very carefully handled to the advantage of Germany and Austria. The Balkan crisis was seen as an excuse by Austria to declare war on Serbia, this had been an ongoing problem for many years and the assassination was the trigger cause, which provoked the outbreak of war. Another factor proving that the crisis was the seventeen days after the assassination were the most vital when the decision was made. Another factor proving that the crisis was dealt with accordingly was the five days that it took Austria to contact Serbia. This was an unnecessarily long period to wait and marked deep thought, especially when the final ultimatum was presented. Of course it included preposterous demands therefore when Serbia denied the last point it did not come as a surprise at all. This crisis could have been solved by another Balkan war however Germany and Russia interfered influencing a world war to take place.
It was due to the fear of Russia that led Germany to draw up its plans for fighting a war on two fronts called the ‘Schlieffen Plan’ at the time Russia was not industrially developed and it would take them at least eight days to reach France, if Germany were to attack. Time was a vital issue, they couldn’t leave it too long since Russia’s army were constantly improving.
Russia really had no choice but to support Serbia, since it had already suffered a defeat in the Russo-Japanese war previously and they could not be seen to back down yet again if they wanted to remain a strong power. Russia and Serbia did have Pan-Slavism in common as well so by supporting Serbia, allowed Serbia to refuse the Ultimatum.
A world war had been on the cards for years just waiting to happen, all of the countries had problems and conflicts, and when it came down to it they were all looking for an excuse to settle these issues. Bound by alliances and prearranged agreements all of the main powers were at war within a matter of days. The Kaiser wanted the war to happen sooner rather than later, because the longer he left it the less chance Germany had of winning, which is why he practically persuaded Austria to declare war on Serbia.
Russia wanted Constantinople, which was the main city of the Ottoman Empire hence the Eastern Question proved a problem in the Balkan wars, they wanted a warm water port for their navy and therefore went to war. Russia’s defeat caused serious repercussions for international relations, and it had lost all prestige. Russia’s ambitions moved back from the Far East to the near east, bringing the Balkan crisis back on the agenda of international affairs.
Austria had been interested in the Balkans since as far back as 1871, having lost two wars to Prussia and France she wanted to start rebuilding her influence.
France had lost territory in the Franco-Prussian war and had held a grudge against Germany and ever since wanted revenge. It had a large Empire and had Spheres of influence in Morocco; Germany had attempted to interfere with this as well.
Imperialism didn’t only occur in Morocco, but also in Asia and Africa as well. This occurred for many reasons including financial, competition, to increase trade and overseas investments. Diplomatic reasons may also explain the reasoning for it; Bismarck started the ‘scramble for Africa’ with the intention of distracting France from trying to recover the land they had lost to Germany in 1871 and to provoke Britain and France into quarrelling over imperial matters. Germany wanted to weaken the Triple Entente as much as possible to give them a better chance in the war. Britain was only involved in imperialism so that she could defend her interests in Egypt and South Africa and so was forced into conquests. Weltpolitik influenced imperialism, Bismarck was clearly a firm believer in social Darwinism which was the idea of natural selection or survival of the fittest, as he felt that Germany was the strongest power in Europe and thought he could take over other less powerful countries.
The Dual Alliance can be seen to have been a bigger cause of the outbreak of war since it was due to this treaty that the Balkan war expanded to involve all powers in Europe. This treaty was aimed at Russia, (Bismarck’s enemy) and also ensured that Austria-Hungary wouldn’t side with France.
The anti-Ottoman Balkan League of 1912 consisted of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro, Bulgaria went to war with the other three countries and this was the point where Russia and Austria-Hungary agreed that they were not happy with developments and they wanted to keep the status quo. They were unable to control Balkan nationalism and nor could they benefit from Turkish decay. The French fleet moved to the Mediterranean and the British stayed in home waters, the Franco-Russian alliance was renewed and extended to cover war with Austria and Germany and Austria also renewed the Triple Alliance and received Germany’s full support. War was eventually avoided as powers cooperated with settlement, war resumed again in February 1913 until May, however everyone was still fully prepared and ready for one. This greatly increased tension between Austria and Serbia. Austria at this point wanted land in the Balkans, they had just formed Albania to causing immense annoyance to the Serbs, and Austria also wanted to crush Serbia once and for all- a war to end all wars.
The outbreak of war in 1914 was not purely due to the Balkan crisis or long standing rivalries. The long-term causes were just as important as the short term causes, both played a vital part in the build up to war. It was due to established problems and disagreements that
