Revision – Session 5
The Road to War – International
Rivalry
International Rivalry - an
introduction
 From 1871 Bismarck’s efforts were aimed
at preserving alliances
 He wanted to avoid angering Britain
 Britain in Splendid Isolation – when it
came to European affairs
 Bismarck understood that Britain was
touchy about the Empire and their Royal
Navy
International Rivalry – an
introduction
 British Empire covered 25% of the world’s
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surface
British government had adopted the ‘two power
standard’ which meant there Navy had to be at
least as big as the next two strongest navies
combined
Bismarck therefore saw no reason to challenge
Britain
In fact, Bismarck was planning to form an
alliance with Britain
He felt there was a strong connection – i.e.
Wilhelm II was the grandson of Queen Victoria
Weltpolitik
 In 1890 Bismarck was forced to resign by
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Wilhelm II
Wilhelm was 26 and Bismarck 72!
Wilhelm was impulsive and emotional – often
caricatured as a bully – he was ambitious.
Wilhelm wanted to increase Germany’s prestige
at home and abroad
Without Bismarck, the new Kaiser was free to
pursue policies that increased risk of
confrontation
Weltpolitik – Wilhelm II VS
Bismarck
 Wilhelm wanted to expand the German Empire
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in Africa
Bismarck wanted to avoid conflict with Britain
and France
Wilhelm wanted to expand the navy
Bismarck wanted to concentrate on the army so
as not to upset Britain
Wilhelm wanted to play and important role in
foreign affairs and challenge Britain and France
Bismarck had wanted to keep as many countries
on his side as possible
Weltpolitik
 In 1890 Wilhelm refused to resign the
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Reinsurance Treaty with Russia
This helped to bring about the Dual Entente
In 1896 Wilhelm started to use new terms like
Weltpolitik meaning world policy
He wanted to take a full part in international
affairs
He began to talk of Drang Nach Osten – drive to
the East and a scheme for a Berlin to Baghdad
railway was drawn up
This appeared to threaten Britain’s influence in
the Middle East and Asia
Weltpolitik
 Wilhelm also demanded a Place in the Sun
 This meant he wanted to expand the German
Empire in Africa and other parts of the world
(Togoland and the Cameroons in West Africa, German South West Africa –
now Namibia – and a number of island groups in the South Pacific)
 The significance of these changes was the
threat of what MIGHT happen rather than what
actually DID happen
 The four German colonies in Africa all bordered
with British colonies and the British grew
suspicious.
Weltpolitik
 In 1895 The British of Cape Colony in
South Africa raided a region occupied by
Boers called Transvaal – the raid was
unsuccessful and the British were
defeated. Wilhelm – sent a letter of
Congratulations to President Kruger of the
Boers and this was seen as antagonistic
by the British…
The German Navy Laws
 Serious threat came from the German Navy
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Laws
The First Navy Law 1898 announced that they
would built a fleet strong enough to combat the
largest navy in the world
Taken as a direct challenge by the British
government
The Second Navy Law 1900 – provided for a
fleet of 38 battleships to be built over a 20 year
period
Since number of battleships was how naval
power was assessed – this was a challenge to
Britain
The German Navy Laws
 The British government were suspicious – what
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were all these battleships going to be used for?
The obvious answer was – to attack the British
fleet
Because the British had the two-power standard
this meant that the British had to respond by
building more ships
Situation was made even worse when the
Germans announced that they were to link the
Baltic and the North Sea with the Kiel Canal
In fact it was too shallow for the battleships but
the British didn’t know this at the time
The German Navy Laws
 In1902 the British started building
battleships to stop Germany getting the
lead
 In 1906 the British launched the
Dreadnought – an new type of battleship which had more guns and went faster!
 The German navy responded by building
its own dreadnoughts
 The Naval Arms race began
The Naval Arms Race
 1906-1914 the British built 29 Dreadnoughts and the
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Germans built 17
BY 1914 the Dreadnoughts were massively improved
and the first Dreadnought was obsolete
The British public became very involved in the race ‘we
want eight and we won’t wait’
Navy Leagues were set up to campaign for more ships
1909 budget allowed for the building of 8 battleships
The German government failed to build the ships they
had planned for because the cost was too great
The Naval Arms Race came to nothing in the end
It had important effects on the perceived relationship
between Germany and Britain
They were seen as bitter enemies and natural rivals
The Moroccan Crises
 Wilhelm II started to interfere in parts of the
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world which weren’t under his influence…
In 1905 he visited Morocco
Morocco had been under French influence
At Tangier he made a speech in favour of an
‘open door’ policy in Morocco
This alarmed the French as they thought
Germany was trying to force its way into
Morocco
In fact, Germany wanted to test the Entente
Cordiale between Britain and France
The Moroccan Crises
 The matter was not finally settled until January
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1906.
The Great Powers of Europe met at the
Algeciras conference and it was decided that
France should have the control of Morocco
A second crisis developed in 1911 when a
German gunboat (The Panther) appeared at
Agadir
The Germans said they were there to protect
Germans and their property
In fact, it was there to frighten the French
The Morrocan Crises
 The situation was made worse by a
speech made by David Lloyd George –
Chancellor of the Exchequer (was PM
1916-1922) – at Mansion House
 He accused the Germans of stirring up
trouble
 He threatened retaliation
 Britain began to prepare for war with
Germany
Moroccan Crises
 BUT in the end it came to nothing
 After months of negotiating the French and
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German governments came to an agreement by
November 1911
The French would keep Morocco
The Germans would get some French land in
Central Africa
Relations between Britain, France and Germany
started to improve –threat of war dies down
The public in Britain still see Germany as the
enemy
July-August 1914
 Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo 28th June 1914
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sparked a series of events which led to war…
Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia on 23rd July
The Serbs rejected this ultimatum
The Austrians tried to stop Russian involvement by promising not to take
any Serb territory
Britain called for an international conference to settle the matter
Wilhelm tried to stop the Austrians from attacking Serbia
Amidst all this chaos – Russia mobilised its army on 29th July
Germany followed suit on 1st August (declaring war on Russia)
2nd August the German Army invaded Luxemburg and demanded the right
to pass through Belgium
The intention was to quickly crush France through implementation of the
Schlieffen Plan
The Belgium government refused to let them through and appealed for help
to Britain (Belgium was a neutral country and had been since gaining
independence from Holland in Treaty of Westminster – its neutrality was
guaranteed by Britain and Prussia)
On 4th August Britain declared war on Germany
Austria declared war on Russia on 6th August
On 12th August Britain and France declared war on Austria
Why was it impossible to prevent
the outbreak of war?
 There were a number of attempts to stop the
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war but they failed
The assassination released all the fears and
suspicions which had been building up for years:
The French desire for revenge (Alsace-Lorraine)
British suspicions of Germany’s motives (Navy
Laws, Naval Arms Race)
Austrian and Russian rivalry in the Balkans
Why was it impossible to prevent
the outbreak of war?
 One reason for the failure to call a halt
was the speed at which events took place
 Russia mobilised its army on 29th July – it
later specified that it was mobilised only
against Austria
 But by then the Germans had already
mobilised their army against Russia and it
was too late
Why was it impossible to prevent
the outbreak of war?
 Another reason is the the Austrians failed to
settle their dispute at an international conference
– they felt they couldn’t accept that solution and
wanted to deal with Serbia
 There was also a general belief that war would
be short and new of war was received with great
enthusiasm (all over by Christmas)
 Bismarck’s system of alliances had ensured that
one country after another would be drawn into
the war.