EUROPE IN 1900
Germans and Italians had gained national selfdetermination, but many “captive peoples” remained
After 1871 Germany had about 1.5 X the French population
William I hailed as German Kaiser, Versailles, January 18, 1871
The German victory parade down the Champs Elysées,
March 1, 1871
“France Signing the Preliminary Peace Terms” (March 1871):
Alsace & Lorraine ripped from the bosom of their mother…
THE OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
1882: Bismarck forges the “Triple Alliance” of Germany,
Austria, and Italy.
1894: France and Russia form the “Dual Alliance.”
1898: Germany launches a naval arms race with Great
Britain.
1904: Great Britain signs the Entente cordiale with
France, and the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907.
January 1913: diplomacy forges agreement among the
Great Powers in response to the First Balkan War.
July 1914: diplomacy fails after Austria accuses Serbia
of responsibility for the assassination of Archduke Franz
Ferdinand in Sarajevo.
“The Triple
Alliance”
(1883):
France and
Russia are left
out in the cold
THE DUAL ALLIANCE OF OCT. 1879
(Austria+Germany, see Joll, 54-56)
ART. 1: “Should, contrary to their hope, and against the loyal
desire of the two High Contracting Parties, one of the two
Empires be attacked by Russia, the High Contracting Parties are
bound to come to the assistance one of the other with the
whole war strength of their Empires, and accordingly only to
conclude peace together and upon mutual agreement.”
ART. 2: “Should one of the High Contracting Parties be
attacked by another Power, the other High Contracting Party
binds itself hereby, not only not to support the aggressor
against its high Ally, but to observe at least a benevolent
neutral attitude towards its fellow Contracting Party.”
ART. 3: This treaty will be kept secret, but if Russia’s
armaments prove to be menacing, “the two High Contracting
Parties would consider it their loyal obligation to let the
Emperor Alexander know, at least confidentially, that they must
consider an attack on either of them as directed against both.”
GERMAN-RUSSIAN REINSURANCE TREATY, JUNE 1887:
Did its terms conflict with those of the Dual Alliance?
ARTICLE 1: “In case one of the High Contracting Parties should
find itself at war with a third Great Power, the other would
maintain a benevolent neutrality towards it, and would devote
its efforts to the localization of the conflict. This provision would
not apply to a war against Austria or France in case this war
should result from an attack directed against one of these two
latter Powers by one of the High Contracting Parties.”
ART. 2: “Germany recognizes the rights historically acquired by
Russia in the Balkan Peninsula, and particularly the legitimacy
of her preponderant …influence in Bulgaria and Eastern
Rumelia. The two courts engage to admit no modification of
the territorial status quo of the said peninsula without a
previous agreement between them.”
ART. 3: The Bosporus & Dardanelles must be closed in wartime
ART. 5: The existence & contents of this treaty will be secret
Anton von Werner, “The Congress of Berlin, June-July 1878”
(Bismarck always sought to mediate between Austria and
Russia, and to maintain good relations with Britain)
Kaiser Wilhelm II (1888-1918)
The Pilot Leaves the Ship,
Punch, March 1890
Wilhelm II soon
cancelled Germany’s
nonaggression pact
with Russia.
Tsar Alexander III
found that his diplomats
urged friendship with
Germany, but his
generals, an alliance
with France
ARCHITECTS OF THE FRANCO-RUSSIAN ALLIANCE
General Raoul de Boisdeffre,
General Nikolai Obruchev,
Deputy Chief of Staff,
Army Chief of Staff, 1881-97
1890-94, then Chief
(who had a French wife)
Franco-Russian Military Convention of August 1892
(Joll, 56-58)
If France is attacked by Germany or by Italy supported by Germany,
Russia will employ all its available forces to attack Germany. If Russia is
attacked by Germany or by Austria supported by Germany, France will
employ all its available forces to combat Germany.
In case the forces of the Triple Alliance or of one of its members begin to
mobilize, France and Russia will immediately and simultaneously mobilize
all of their forces and deploy them as close to their borders as possible,
as soon as the enemy mobilization is announced….
The forces available for deployment against Germany will amount to
1,300,000 men on the part of France, and 700-800,000 men on the part
of Russia. These forces are dedicated to combating Germany
simultaneously from the East and West in the most effective manner
possible.
The military general staffs of the two countries will deliberate together to
prepare and execute the measures outlined above….
France and Russia will not conclude a separate peace.
This convention will have the same duration as the Triple Alliance.
In 1898 Germany
announced a plan to
build 3 battleships a
year. Wilhelm II:
“Germany must wield
Neptune’s trident as
well as Jupiter’s
scepter.”
In response Britain
launched the H.M.S.
Dreadnought in 1906:
It carried ten 12-inch
guns and 11-inch armor
plate, and cruised at
over 20 m.p.h.
The Anglo-French
Entente Cordiale of
April 1904 resolved
colonial disputes in
Africa and gradually
evolved into
something like an
alliance
(cartoon in PUNCH
to celebrate its 10th
anniversary)
Admiral Sir John Fisher (at left),
First Sea Lord (1904-10),
modernized the British fleet
Fisher converted the
young Liberal, Sir
Winston Churchill, into
a champion of naval
spending by 1911
The Anglo-Russian Entente (1907) resolved disputes in Asia
Rival nationalisms in the Balkans: The “Serbo-Croatian”
and “Macedonian” languages puzzled the linguists
The Balkan Wars, 1912/13
Serb machine gun team on maneuvers:
Serbia won the most victories in the 1st Balkan War
against Turkey and annexed much of Macedonia
At the London Ambassadors’ Conference (Dec 1912-Jan
1913), the Great Powers agreed to create an independent
Albania and leave “Constantinople” in Turkey
GERMANY’S ONLY
RELIABLE ALLY
SUFFERED FROM
GRAVE ETHNIC
TENSIONS:
Proportion of
Germans in
Austria:
33%.
Proportion of
Magyars in
Hungary: 54%.
Franz Ferdinand and his wife leave for the hospital to visit
their wounded aide, Sarajevo, June 28, 1914
The chauffeur
made a wrong
turn on the way
to the hospital
and stopped to
turn around,
next to Gavrilo
Princip
THE ARREST OF GAVRILO PRINCIP
Chancellor Theobold von
Bethmann Hollweg (1909-17)
Helmuth von Moltke the
Younger (1906-14)
Kaiser & King Franz Josef I, born
in 1830, reigned 1848-1916
Leopold von Berchtold:
Austrian foreign minister,
1912-15
Tsar Nicholas II
(1868-1918;
ruled 1894-1917)
Sergei Sazonov,
Russian foreign
minister, 1910-16
Raymond Poincaré
(1860-1934),
leader of the French
center-right,
premier in 1912/13,
President of France,
1913-1920.
President Poincaré
confers with
Foreign Minister
Sazonov in St.
Petersburg,
July 20-24, 1914
(no record of their
talks was made)
British Foreign
Secretary
Sir Edward Grey
(1905-16),
who had a largely free
hand in a Liberal
cabinet preoccupied
with domestic issues
The “Schlieffen Plan” vs. the French “Plan XVII”
THE JULY CRISIS OF 1914
June 28
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in
Sarajevo by Bosnian South Slav nationalists
July 5-7
Hoyos Mission to Berlin; Germany promises to
support Austria; Austrian cabinet agrees to
issue Serbia an ultimatum (Joll, 14-15)
July 23
Austrian ultimatum to Serbia (Joll, 15-16)
July
24/25
Reactions to the ultimatum in Belgrade, St.
Petersburg, & London (Joll, 18-21)
July 29
Austria shells Belgrade (Joll, 24-27)
July 30
Russia orders general mobilization (Joll, 27-8)
July 31
Germany issues 12-hour ultimatum to Russia
Aug 1
Schlieffen Plan implemented (Joll, 29-30)
Aug 2-6
Declarations of War
THE CENTRAL POWERS VS. THE ALLIES IN WORLD WAR I