International Conflicts
and Threats to Peace
in the 20th Century
The First World War (WWI)
(1914-1918)
 We will take a test on
5th October (MON)
 Please revise:
 The background of the First World
War
 The four causes of the War
Background of the War
 The war took place during
1914-1918. It was an international
one since countries from Europe,
Asia and America fought in this war.
Background of the War
 To understand why the war happened, we have to read about the
relations of the Western powers during 1871-1914:
 The Industrial Revolution had started in the
West, so the Western states and to compete
for colonies in Asia and Africa to find
overseas markets for their manufactured
goods;
 They also competed the land in the Balkan
peninsula in south-eastern Europe.
Background of the War
 The spread of nationalism had led to the
rise of Germany and Italy, but their relations
with other great European powers were not
too friendly in this period.
The European situation before the
War in the late 19th century
Isolated: Britain~
1. She was the strongest colonial power at
that time. The colonies included India,
South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Burma and
Malaysia.
2. She was not so interested in European
affairs. She wanted to maintain trade
with her colonies. Thus, Britain adopted
a policy of splendid isolation.
The European situation before the
War in the late 19th century
 Britain~
3. However, with rising military and
economic threats from Germany, Britain
gradually formed alliances with other
countries to maintain (keep) her position
in Europe, and even in the world.
The European situation before the
War in the late 19th century
 Revengeful: France
1. She was defeated by Prussia in the
Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) and
had to cede land and pay reparations to
Prussia. Later, Germany united Prussia
as the new Germany.
2. France wanted to take revenge on
Germany.
The European situation before the
War in the late 19th century
 Declining: Austria-Hungary~
1. It was a multi-national empire. So that it
was gradually weakened by the national
groups fighting for independence.
2. It expanded into the Balkans after 1870,
and came into conflicts with Serbia and
Russia.
The European situation before
the War in the late 19th century
 Weak: Italy~
1. Italy was the weakest of the European
powers. She had colonial conflicts with
France in Africa.
2. She formed an alliance with Germany and
Austria- Hungary.
The European situation before
the War in the late 19th century
 Expanding: Germany~
1. She was a new industrial power that
actively set up colonies and aimed to
surpass Britain.
2. The military aggression of Germany
threatened other European powers.
3. Germany wanted to isolate France to
prevent France from attacking.
The European situation before
the War in the late 19th century
 Ambitious: Russia~
1. She had the biggest state with the largest
army in Europe, but her economy was
weaker than most other powers.
2. She hoped to expand into Asia and the
Balkans, and this led to conflict with
Austria-Hungary.
Table of relations
Britain
France
Hostile
nations
(敵對的)
Germany
AustriaHungary
Germany Britain and
France
Reasons
Germany threatened its
military and economic
status
Defeated by Germany in
war
Challenged Britain’s
economic
Causes of the War
 The main factors that caused the mistrust
among the European powers are :
1) The Alliance System
2) The armaments race
3) Colonial rivalries
4) The rise of extreme nationalism
Causes of the War
 Starting the Alliance System:
1) In order to isolate France and prevent her
from taking revenge, in 1873, German
Chancellor Bismarck formed the Three
Emperors’ League with Russia and AustriaHungary, which marked the start of Alliance
System.
Causes of the War
 The Triple Alliance
 Formed by Germany, Austria-Hungary
and Italy in 1882.
 The Triple Entente
 Formed by Britain, Russia and France
in 1907.
Causes of the War
 Effects of the Alliance System
1) These two groups of powers opposed to
each other. If there was a conflict
between any of them, no power was left
to bring peace or to stop the war.
2) When war broke out between members of
an opposite camp, other members would
also join the war.
Causes of the War—the
armaments race
 Armaments were symbols of strength of a
nation. The European powers wanted to
protect their own countries, they also
wanted to protect their overseas colonies
and trade.
Causes of the War—the
armaments race
 Took place during 1871-1914
 They raced to:
 Expand their armies through conscription
(called more young men to join the army) and
modern training methods
 Build dreadnoughts: a larger and more
powerful type of warship
 Develop new weapons: cannons, machine
guns.
Causes of the War—the
armaments race

Two disarmament conferences were held in 1899
and 1907 respectively at the Hague in Holland,
but failed in the end.
Effects of the armaments race
1) It increased tensions in Europe.
2) Every power from each camp had to keep up the
military power with one another, they would
increase their armaments.
3) Each power had large stores of weapons for
preparations of war in the case of a conflict.
Causes of the War—the
colonial rivalries
 The European powers fought for colonies for
economic and political reasons
Economic reasons:
Began setting up colonies to obtain more
raw materials and overseas markets in
Asia and Africa.
Causes of the War—the
colonial rivalries
 Political reasons:
Britain— having many colonies to keep
her powerful position in European.
Germany and Italy— setting up more
colonies to show their status and power.
France— setting up more colonies to reestablished its power status after having
defeated in the Franco- Prussian War.
Causes of the War—
the colonial rivalries
Several incidents occurred due to the colonial
rivalries during 1871-1914:
Conflict over
The Moroccan
Tunisia
Crises
Year took
1881
1905-06; 1911
place
Powers
France vs Italy France vs Germany
involved
Places to be
Tunisia
Morocco (northern
colonized
(northern
Africa)
Africa)
Causes of the War—the colonial rivalries
Conflicts over Tunisia
The Moroccan
Crises
Develop- Both France and Italy
France and
ments
wanted to invade
Germany fought
Tunisia as their colony, for Morocco as
but Italy failed in the
their colony, but
end.
Germany failed
in the end.
Results/
effects
Italy joined the alliance Their relations
with Germany and
became
Austria-Hungary, and
worsened.
turned it into the Triple
Alliance
Causes of the War—
Extreme Nationalism
 Nationalism–
It is a belief that people within one nation
and with the same customs, language,
religion and history should have the right to
self-government.
Causes of the War—
Extreme Nationalism
 Before 1871, the nationalism helped many
European states (such as Belgium and
Germany) win independence or unite to
form single nations.
 It turned extreme after 1871.
Causes of the War—
Extreme Nationalism