Outline the Role and Effects of Alliances in WW1

The Triple Entente frightened Germany and so they began building up their Navy to match Britain. Consequently Britain also began expanding and built the HMS Dreadnought, a revolutionary ship at the time. This competition for the finest weaponry was triggered by the Alliances. It was billed the Arms race and worsened tensions between Britain and Germany. Meanwhile disputes between Germany and France in the French controlled Morocco were ongoing. Germany had sided with the Sultan of Morocco in demanding the Independence of Morocco. This angered the French and would have caused war had the French leader, Maurice Rouvier, not agreed to a conference to settle the dispute. Most of the major world countries attended this and all but Austria-Hungary supported France over Germany. Once again Germany felt embarrassed by their underwhelming support where even Italy had betrayed them. In 1911 the strength of the Entente cordiale (French-British alliance) was witnessed once more. The French quashed a Moroccan rebellion which Germany reacted to by sending a battleship to the Moroccan port of Agadir. Britain again showed support for France by deploying battleships from Gibraltar to prevent a conflict.

World War One

After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1914, Austria-Hungary sent a letter of demands to Serbia in order to provoke war. The letter stated that Serbia would need to suppress any ill-feeling towards Austria-Hungary and punish everyone associated with anti-Austria-Hungary movement including many senior ministers. They gave Serbia a deadline of 48 hours or their diplomatic relations would break down. With the backing of Russia, Serbia felt assured enough to only partially accept the demands causing Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia. As part of the Triple Alliance, Germany backed Austria-Hungary. However, due to poor communication Germany and Austria-Hungary had made different assumptions of how their forces would be split. This led to the Austria-Hungary forces having to be divided between the Russian border and Serbian border. Meanwhile Germany implemented the Schlieffen Plan and attacked France bringing about Belgium and Britain’s involvement in the war. However, this plan had not counted upon the involvement of Russia. Russia attacked Germany while they were attacking France leaving the attack as a stalemate.

Austria-Hungary and Germany were also counting on the involvement of Italy but were dismayed to find that Italy would not assist them. Italy’s reasons were that Austria-Hungary had taken the offensive in the war despite the fact that their Alliance was a defensive alliance. Italy later joined the Allies rather than the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary). Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire joined the German-Austrian alliance in 1914 and 1915 to form the Central Powers. The forces of the Allies also increased when Japan and Britain’s colonies including India, Australia and Canada joined. USA, China and Brazil also became members of the Allies later.

Allies - Contribution of smaller forces

• Australia and New Zealand had already pledged support to Britain prior to the announcement of war. They fought in Africa from 1914-16 and were then moved to the Western Front following 1916. They fought alongside each other as the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) in the battle of the Somme and also deployed naval and air forces during the war.
• India eagerly fought in the war in an effort to help their independence movement. Britain were initially worried about whether India would fight as the Indian National Congress party did not have great relationships with the British. They contributed 1.78m troops to the cause and fought on the Western Front, in Africa and against the Ottomans.
• Canada fought mainly on the Western Front and provided 620,000 troops. Most of these were in the army but they also had the Royal Canadian Navy and Air Force. They participated in the Second Ypres battle, the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Passchendale and the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
• African states mainly fought in Africa but also fought during the Battle of Delville Wood on the Western Front. Consisted of countries now known as South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Uganda.
• Brazil joined the war late in 1917 with the US due to the sinking of Brazilian merchant ships by Germany. Brazil had a large Navy that patrolled the Atlantic Ocean. The Army fought mainly alongside the French on the Western Front.
• Belgium were occupied by Germany for most of the war. They sent a small force to the Eastern Front and their African Colonies participated. The majority of their Army retreated to France and fought on the Western Front.
• Portugal joined the war in 1916. They suffered very heavy losses during the war with around 7,000 of their army soldiers killed. Portugal primarily fought in Africa and on the Western Front.
• China did not have an army yet it supported the allied cause. The Chinese government allowed people to join the Chinese Labour Corps. Over 140,000 citizens joined the corps to assist in the war. 100,000 of these aided the British and the other 40,000 helped the French. None of the corps participated in combat.

Central Powers - Contribution of smaller forces

• Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) was a depleted force from earlier wars with Italy and the Balkans. They had large fights with Russia in Georgia and Persia and fought the British and French in the Middle East.
• Bulgaria was one of the largest Balkan states and only one to fight for the Central Powers. They defected from the Balkan League during the Balkan Wars leading to their lack of allied support. They suffered heavy financial losses during the war.