Causes of World War I
Part 1
Entangling Alliances
After Napoleon’s defeat in 1815, there was a balance
of power in Europe
France was defeated by Germany in 1870-71
(Germany got Alsace-Lorraine); ended balance of
power because Germany was united
Germany was now:
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First in military, education, and scientific discovery
67 million people – 2nd to Russia
Produced much coal, iron, and steel
Were catching up to Britain
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Agricultural output doubled
Industry production quadrupled
Trade tripled
Entangling Alliances
Details of the alliances were kept secret and
were only published in full after the wars, so
parliament wasn’t consulted
 Diplomats were expected to have a private
income sufficient to maintain themselves in style
if they were to serve abroad, so most diplomats
were from the privileged classes
 Believed that the alliance system would maintain
the balance of power
 Believed that the alliance system would prevent
war – “a war of group against group would be a
measureless calamity” – The Times (April 1914)
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Entangling Alliances
In 1879, the Dual Alliance was formed
between Germany and Austria-Hungary
 Purpose - were to help each other in case
of an attack
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Why Form the Dual Alliance (1879)?
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Germany’s reasons
 Austria’s reasons
 Austria-Hungary was partly
 It meant an additional
German empire
guarantee of the
empire’s stability
 Austria-Hungary could be
more easily dominated
 The maintenance of
Austria-Hungary as a
 Their territory could be
Great Power depended
used as a path to the
on the alliance
Middle East
 Germany wanted to
maintain a balance of
power in their favor
 It would alarm the Russians
into making better relations
with Germany
Consequences
The maintenance of AustriaHungary as a Great Power became
a major foreign policy goal for
Germany because Austria was seen
as Germany’s only reliable ally
 The incorporation of BosniaHerzegovina was seen as a way to
strengthen Austria-Hungary’s
position as a Great Power, but it
was a blow to Serbia’s objective of
making a Greater Serbia
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Map of Europe
today
Triple Alliance (1882)
Italy switched from a policy of internal
improvement to nationalism/imperialism when
they united in 1866
They wanted:
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Trentino and Trieste - both held by Austria-Hungary
after their war with Italy in 1866
Nice and Savoy – had been ceded to France in
return for French help
Semi-autonomous Turkish territories of Tunisia and
Tripolis (had Italians living in them)
Corsica – French, but once a dependency of Genoa
Purpose of Triple Alliance (1882) – to come to
each other’s aid if there is a war
Why Form the Triple Alliance (1882)?
It appeared to give Italy
status as a Great Power
 It offered the prospect of
support in an attempt to
win some colonial
compensation for France’s
acquisition of Tunisia the
year before
 Italy wanted to establish
influence in the Balkans
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Dual Entente (1893)
Bismarck closed the German money markets to
Russian loans (for military and industrial development)
in 1885 in order to discourage their engaging in a war
in the Balkans, so the French replaced them
 France was very concerned about an attack from
Germany again, so they took the opportunity to form
an alliance
 In 1893, the Dual Entente was formed between
France and Russia
 Purpose - Both countries would partially mobilize in
case of an attack by Germany or Austria-Hungary
(with the support of Germany)
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Why Form the Dual Entente (1893)?
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The British threatened Russian and French spheres of
influences
Because of the closing of the German money markets
and there was a tariff war between Germany and Russia
There could be no reconciliation between France and
Germany after Germany annexed Alsace-Lorraine in the
Franco-Prussian War
France hoped to use the alliance to return Alsace and
Lorraine and be in a position to establish control of
Morocco without German influence
It was a way to counter the threat of Germany allied
with Austria-Hungary – it would be a deterrent to war
France could maintain their preeminence in Europe and
stand up to Germany
Entente Cordiale (1904)
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Anglo-French Entente (Entente Cordiale) 1904
Purpose – Settle imperial disputes with France &
Britain
 This was not a formal defense alliance
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Why the Anglo-French Entente (1904)?
France had an alliance w/Russia, while Britain had
an alliance with Japan (because of their interests
in the far east) - if Russia and Japan attacked
each other, it would mean a general war
 Both were also concerned over Germany and their
fleet
 France couldn’t maintain both a fleet equal to
Britain and an army equal to Germany
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Entangling Alliances
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Consequences
 Britain
felt that if they didn’t
maintain a close relationship
with France, they might turn to
Germany (at the expense of
the British Empire)
 Britain made a naval
agreement with France (British
navy would concentrate on the
English Channel; French navy
would concentrate on the
Mediterranean)
Anglo-Russian Entente (1907)
(Triple Entente is now formed)
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Anglo-Russian Entente - 1907
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Purpose – Settle imperial differences in the Middle East
Why the Anglo-Russian Entente (1907)?
German naval building was seen as a threat to Britain’s
imperial interests
 Britain feared Germany hegemony (dominance) on the
European continent
 It settled old differences between them and borders
between their two empires in Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet
 The Russian defeat by Japan made the Russian government
anxious to improve relations with Britain
 Britain and France could strengthen the fledgling
parliamentary system in Russia
 Gave the Russians hopes of British support for their
aspirations in the Balkans
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False Beliefs
Bethmann Hollweg, Chancellor of
Germany, believed that if Russia started
the war, then Britain would not intervene
 Franz Conrad, the Chief of Staff of AustriaHungary, believed that Russian support
for Serbia might turn out to be bluff
 Russian officials believed that if they
supported Serbia, Germany wouldn’t
intervene
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Militarism/Nationalism
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Caused by:
 Imperialism
– race to get colonies to build your
empire and get resources
 Belief in social darwinism – your race is the best
 The Influence of Sea Power in History (1905)
Thayer Mahan – no nation can maintain its great
power status without naval power
 Industrialism – countries could produce weapons
fast and that are more deadly (arms races)
 A desire by many nations to maintain a position of
preeminence or balance of power
Militarism/Nationalism - Germany
The Prussians formed the dominant
element in the army and they had a
tradition of strong military values
 This affected the whole of German
society after unification
 In addition, Germany still had
individual states (Landers), that
possessed important powers over
day-to-day life of their citizens, so
foreign policy was seen as a way to
unify the country
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Militarism/Nationalism - Germany
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Weltpolitik
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The policy sought Germany's “place in the sun”
that was fitting to its rising industrial strength,
primarily by the creation of a colonial empire to
rival those of other powers
The most dramatic element in the policy was the
construction of the High Seas Fleet, a navy which
would rival, or even exceed, the UK’s Royal Navy
in strength
This policy was sought by Admiral Alfred von
Tirpitz. He convinced the Reichstag that without
the navy, German decline was certain
Militarism/Nationalism - Germany
Arguments for the fleet:
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Because of Britain’s many worldwide commitments, a
battleship fleet only 2/3 the size would bring victory
Fleet would act as a deterrent, ensuring Britain’s
neutrality in any future conflict
Other countries would only respect and deal with
Germany fairly when Germany’s navy was built up that
much
What Were the Results of
Weltpolitik?
It led to an Anglo-German naval race where each
sought to outbuild the other in dreadnoughts
 This naval building led to increased taxes and strained
economies
 This kind of naval building turned out to be
inappropriate for the war; the war at sea was
primarily a war of submarines
 Led to Britain’s fear that they would lose the balance
of power and their empire
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Britain began a naval building program in 1889
Britain and other countries refused to end warship
construction because it would affect manufacturing and
trade
Militarism/Nationalism - Germany
Schlieffen Plan –
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Developed when Russia
had been defeated by
Japan in 1904-05 and
Russia was in their first
revolution
Dependent on quick
mobilization and defeat of
France, then defeat of
Russia
They thought it would take
Russia 40 days to mobilize
Wanted to go through
neutral Belgium
Militarism/Nationalism – Austria
Austrian Naval League (1905) – explained
that Austria-Hungary ought to follow the
path taken by Germany
 By 1912, the largest budget in AustroHungarian history was approved
 New military laws guaranteed their armed
forces an annual contingent of 181,000
men, with increases over the next 5 years
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Militarism/Nationalism - Austria
Wanted to annex Bosnia-Herzegovina
 Plan B (Balkans) - Planned a campaign to
crush Serbia quickly before Russia could
get involved
 Plan R (Russia) - Another plan developed
later that would attack Serbia, prevent
Russian assistance to Serbia, deploy
troops to Russia, and leave northern A-H
up to Germany to protect
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Militarism/Nationalism - Italy
The army was a symbol of Italy’s unity
and status as a Great Power
 Italy engaged in a military and naval arms
race, primarily against Austria-Hungary
and France
 They were to have a superiority of 2:1.6
dreadnoughts over Austria
 Throughout the 1890s, Italian generals
had planned for war with France, but also
with Austria-Hungary. Annual maneuvers
began to be held in the Alps
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Militarism/Nationalism - Russia
Knew that if they had war, they would have to face
war against Germany and Austria-Hungary
 Believed they were the overseer of the Slavs in the
Balkans
 Approved huge army and naval increases in 1913
 Plan 19 – The plan for a war against Germany and
Austria-Hungary. If Germany attacked France, Russia
would send 9 army corps against Germany and 16
army corps to attack Austria-Hungary. It was based
on the assumption that Germany would be too busy in
the west to intervene effectively on the eastern front
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Militarism/Nationalism France
Wanted to regain Alsace-Lorraine and have
colonies in Africa
 Extended compulsory military service from 2-3
years
 Increased naval expenditures
 Plan XVII – Developed by Ferdinand Foch
following the Franco-Prussian War and
continued by Joseph Joffre. Hoped that once a
German invasion through Alsace occurred, an
all-out attack on the diverted German forces
(because they would be engaged in the East by
Russia) would achieve a quick win
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Consequences
A move to increase armaments was never
isolated, but was followed by increase military
expenditure in other states
 The arms race itself contributed to the feeling
that war was inevitable
 Germany naval expansion provoked British
naval expansion, and Austria-Hungary was
inspired by Germany’s naval expansion to do
the same
 Russian military expenditure provided the
excuse for German army increases and these in
turn provoked the French 3-year law
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Domestic Issues - Germany
Kaiser Wilhelm II
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Was emperor
Was intelligent, but highly emotional and
unpredictable
Had a need to show himself equal of his British
relatives
Election of 1912
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Social Democrats, Progressives, and Center parties
formed a coalition and demanded a constitutional
monarchy responsible to the Reichstag
Conservatives, militarists, and Wilhelm became
concerned and wanted to defeat democratic
socialism
They developed an increasingly militarized court,
anger, and fear/pessimism about the future
Germany Wants War?
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1912 marks the end of the confident thinking of the
Kaiser and his top staff
Chief of Staff Ludwig Moltke believed that war was
inevitable and contributed to the warlike mood in
Germany
Their Austro-Hungarian ally was in dire straits,
weakened by the dispute among the nationalities
composed in the empire
Russia had recovered from their defeat against Japan
and was launching a huge program of military expansion
and preparedness
Russia’s protégés in the Balkans were increasing in
strength after their victory in the first Balkan war
After the elections of 1912, more Social Democrats were
in the Reichstag than ever before
Domestic Issues – Austria-Hungary
Constitutional Settlement of 1867
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Linked Austria with Hungary
Dualism was seen as a device for excluding the Slav
majority from their rightful and equal place in the
empire
By dividing the empire, the Magyars (Hungarians)
and Germans (Austrians) constituted the majority,
each in their own half. The majority of the 21
million Slavs in the empire as a whole was thus
turned into minorities