The Causes of World War I.

GCSE History

Jason C. Faulkner

History 335

Europe, 1900-1945

June 29, 2004

Lesson I: The Causes of World War I

Identify

Triple Entante: The Triple Entante began as a dual alliance between Russia and France in 1894. The Triple Entante was formed with the addition of Britain in 1907. The Anglo-Russian Entente was an agreement between France, Russian, and Great Britain to become the Triple Entante. This alliance was formed to keep the peace between all of the countries of Europe and it, also, would provide support for each of the three countries that were represented within the Triple Entente because each country agreed that if one of the other countries were to be attacked, then the other two remaining countries would provide aid as their ally.
Triple Alliance: After Otto von Bismark, the German Chancellor, conquered the French in an impressive victory during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871; France was forced to most of Lorraine. This was beneficial to Bismark because of its strategic location along the Rhine River. He believed that this would provide as a barrier in the event that the French would eventually attack. By taking this soil from the French, Bismark believed that a French retaliation would be very likely, so he developed a way to deprive them of all of their allies. He wanted to bring together the greatest powers of Europe. This led to the German partnership with Austria during the Dual Alliance agreement of 1879. This would eventually be spread to a Triple Alliance with the addition of Italy in 1882. Bismark also created close ties with Russia in the League of Three Emperors.
Moroccan Crises: The Moroccan Crises involved two incidents. Both of these historically significant incidents included a German attempt avoid Frances control of the country of Morocco. The first of the two incidents occurred during 1905 with the German emperor, William II, and his support of Moroccan independence. This set Morocco and France in an uproar because France had already claimed political interest within Morocco. This dispute was eventually settled during the Algeciras Conference in 1906. The second incident occurred when a German gunboat arrived in Morocco in 1911. The reason that the Germans gave for sending this gunboat was in order to protect German economical interest during an uprising. The French did not believe this and prepared for war. This also included Great Britain due to their alliance. This was eventually put to rest and stipulations were negotiated to restore political hold over Morocco. These tries to break the French hold of Morocco only strengthened the alliance between France and Germany.
Anglo-German Naval Race: The Anglo German Naval Race began when the Germans began to strengthen their navy in order to make them as incredible as their army. The new sudden interest with naval affairs came with the institution of a policy called Westpolitik. Westpolitik is the intention to strengthen German power and extend it throughout the world. The British began to develop their own methods of strengthening their navy in order to compete with the Germans. Their first action was to resolve their differences with Japan. In 1902 Britain signed an agreement with Japan, this enabled them to greatly reduce their naval strength in the Far East. Two years later they resolved their differences with France by concluding their involvement with the Entante Cordiale. This allowed them to bring the bulk of their navy back to Britain. The British also began constructing “super battleships.” The first of these battleships was the H.M.S. Dreadnought. By completing this battleship in 1905, the British hoped to send a warning to the Germans. This did not threaten the Germans. They began developing their own version of the Dreadnought. Soon other countries began strengthening their navy as well. This arms race eventually included much more than the navy. Countries began strengthening their armies and replenishing their weapons.
Serbian Nationalism: Serbian Nationalism became a major factor in the beginnings of World War I. Serbian Nationalism during this period in history is mostly focused upon the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austria-Hungary throne, in 1914. Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sofie Chotek visited the Bosnian city of Sarajevo and were assassinated. A member of a Serbian Nationalist group known as the Black Hand carried out the assassination. Immediately after the assassination Germany pledged its full support to Austria-Hungary and urged them to declare war on Serbia.
“Blank Check”: After the incident in Sarajevo, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister developed a letter to give to Francis Joseph, the emperor of Austria-Hungary, and Wilhelm II in order to give enough evidence that Serbia was responsible for the assassination. Germany replied to this letter and promised to give their complete support and aid in whatever decision that they made to deal with Serbia. This like offering them a “blank check” thus the statement was derived from this.
Austrian Ultimation to Serbia: Due to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the Austrian government comprised a list of demands in order to settle the criminal injustice that they encountered while in Sarajevo. This ultimatum was comprised of a list of specific demands that dealt with the elimination of all anti-Austrian agitation from the Serbian Kingdom. Austrian demanded a response to this ultimatum within 48 hours. Germany made it very clear that they fully supported the actions taken by Austria and they even made a threat that any foreign intervention would result in inestimable consequences. Great Britain, France and Russia, all agreed that Austria was entitled to some sort of compensation. All of the Austrian demands were hesitantly met except for one. Austria demanded that Austrian officials were to be allowed to participate in the proceedings against the persons whom were involved in the Sarajevo incident. Austria charged them with noncompliance. The Austrians would have found any answer that was given to them unacceptable in order to declare war, and this is what they did. Austria began to mobilize their army and war was declared on August 12.
Sarajevo Incident: The Sarajevo incident was the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria while visiting in 1914. This incident escaladed into a great spectacle when Austria demanded reparations for the loss of their leader. Serbia, who was a much weaker country conceded to most of the demands that were made by the Austrians but it eventually was not enough and Austria declared war on Serbia. This is the mark of the beginning of the First World War.

Discuss in detail the crisis that caused the outbreak of hostilities in 1914.

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Discuss in detail the crisis that caused the outbreak of hostilities in 1914.

The outbreak in hostilities that occurred in 1914, in Europe can be attributed to many underlying forces. The continent of Europe became divided into two acting forces, which attributed to the friction that the landscape of Europe faced in the early twentieth century. The two acting forces that divided this country were the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entante. The Triple Alliance began as a dual alliance with Germany and Austria during 1879. The German Chancellor, Otto von Bismark, spearheaded this idea. He believed that if he could unit the superpowers of Europe, he would become very superior if he were ever to have to confront the notion of war. He spread this idea further when he added Italy into this Alliance, thus creating the Triple Alliance. The main idea of this Triple Alliance was that if one of the three countries within this alliance were ever attacked the other two would support them with aid. This aid could be military aid or moral backing. This became a major factor into the beginning of the hostilities in 1914 because a big portion of Europe had united. In fear of this Russia and France united as allies in 1894 and later Britain was added to create the Triple Entante in 1907. This Entante was formed in response to the German alliance with Italy and Austria. The formation of these two groups of allies set the stage for the hostilities of 1914.

The next factor that caused the outbreak of these hostilities was the Moroccan Crises. This incident involved two events. The first of these events began with Germany’s attempt to involve itself with Frances control over the country of Morocco in 1905 and next with the arrival of a German gunboat in Morocco in 1911. Germany’s intrusion with Frances affairs in Morocco created much friction between the two countries.

Another factor that caused friction in Europe was the armament of German and British navies that occurred in the early 1900’s. Around 1902 Germany began to put much emphasis into its navy. To combat this the British began creating a “super battleship” called H.M.S. Dreadnought. Germany began copying these ideas and created their own “super battleships.” Thus began the arms race. This put even more friction upon the countries because now both powers were arming their troops.

Perhaps the most influential event, which sparked the hostilities in 1914, was the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne. This event occurred during his visit to Sarajevo Yugoslavia. Ferdinand had been previously warned of the possibility of an assassination attempt but decided to tour the capital during the anniversary of the 1389 battle of Kosovo. While parading in his motorcade he was shot by a member of a Serbian nationalist group called the Black Hand. Ferdinand was chosen as a target for assassination due to the fact that many Serbians feared that after he took the throne he would continue to persecute the Serbs who were living in Austria Hungary. This single event is given most of the credit for starting the First World War.

Evaluate the role that each of the following factors played in the beginning of World War I. (The Alliance System, militarism, nationalism, Imperialism, the newspaper press, the series of crises and the failure of leadership). Relate each to the Sarajevo crisis and evaluate them in order of importance.

Throughout the beginnings of World War I there were many influential factors that played important roles in the development of this Great War. The first, and most influential of these factors that led to the beginning of World War I has to be the series of crisis that led to the outbreak of hostilities in 1914. The order in which all of these events played out was very influential in the outbreak of war because the occurrence of each event led to an ever-present antagonism toward other powers. The formation of the Alliance System, the crises in Morocco, the Anglo-German naval race along with the development of H.M.S. Dreadnought, all led to the single event that sparked the war and this was assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo. This integral order of events led to a great imbalance of attitudes in Europe and this was the most influential in starting this War.

Militarism was also an important event that caused the outbreak of this war. Germany and the British began equipping their armies and readying them for battle for more than ten years before the first shot of this war was fired. The Anglo-German naval race along with the armament of many European countries armies created great unrest for all of Europe. This proved to be a very influential factor because it put much of the entire continent in a state of fear. This institution of Militarization also set the mood for unmerciful resilience throughout Europe. This was especially obvious during the Sarajevo incident with Ferdinand’s assassination. The first step used was the use of weaponry by the assassin of the Black Hand. This can be attributed to the mood of militarism throughout Europe during this time.

Many historians also agree that even though the Alliance System was definitely an important factor of the war, it was not the soul cause. The Alliance System helped to promote allies for each unified group in Europe but was never an acting body. It never caused a major event that pushed the cause for war forward. It did however cause unrest between many of the countries of Europe when Germany formed an alliance with Austria and Italy. This led to the formation of the British alliance with France and Russia thus dividing the continent. Although this was not the major factor that led to the war, it was an important detail. The implementation of the Alliance system really proved to be beneficial during the Sarajevo incident when Germany influenced Austria to declare war upon Serbia after the assassination of Ferdinand. This alliance proved to be beneficial because of Austria’s alliance with Germany and Italy. Since Austria had declared war the Austrians would receive aid from the other two countries.

Imperialism also became in important factor. This was evident throughout the Moroccan crises. France had much influence over the country of Morocco but Germany interfered with much of the dealings in two separate events. This was one of the important factors because it heightened the tensions that were shared by France and Germany. Since France controlled much of Morocco Germany overstepped many boundaries by interfering.

The failure of leadership became important to the beginnings of the war because it seemed as though the idea of war was never actually looked upon as being avoided especially within the German government. Otto von Bismark displayed much enthusiasm with this war and tried to push this war into beginning. Bismark instituted the idea of the Triple Alliance, which was played an important role in starting this war. Another event, which portrayed a lack of leadership, was when Austria gave Serbia an ultimatum after the assassination of Ferdinand. The demands which were issued to Serbia were preposterous Serbia could never concede to the demands which were issued to them. The Austrian government understood this thus pushing them into war. This leadership, or lack there of, was an important factor of the war.

The newspaper press was also a major factor in the beginnings of war. The newspapers throughout Europe had a huge amount of readership and influence many people across the landscape of Europe. With the writings of many of the events in Europe during this time came more public response to the ideas of the war occurring. This was especially evident during the incident in Sarajevo. Newspapers caused much public unrest during the assassination of Ferdinand and thus putting people into a rage and causing more public approval for the war.