History

Dual Alliance- A defensive alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary, which was created by treaty on October 7, 1879 Triple Alliance - In 1882 it was expanded to include Italy. The three countries agreed to support each other if attacked by either France or Russia.  Entente Cordiale- 1904 Britain and France signed the Entente Cordiale (friendly understanding). The idea of the alliance was to encourage co-operation against the perceived threat of Germany.  Triple Entente- 1907 Three years later, Russia, who feared the growth in the German Army, joined Britain and France to form the Triple Entente. The Russian government was also concerned about the possibility of Austria-Hungary increasing the size of its empire. It therefore made promises to help Serbia if it was attacked by members of the Triple Alliance.  Colonialism: the building and maintaining of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. Imperialism: The policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations. Nationalism: There were two kinds of nationalism in 19th Century Europe: (i) The desire of subject peoples for independence - It led to a series of national struggles for independence among the Balkan peoples. Other powers got involved and caused much instability. (ii) The desire of independent nations for dominance and prestige - As the powers try to dominate each other in Europe, their rivalries may be regarded as one of the causes of the First World War. Militarism: Militarism denoted a rise in military expenditure, an increase in military and naval forces, more influence of the military men upon the policies of the civilian government, and a preference for force as a solution to problems. Militarism was one of the main causes of the First World War. Arms Race: After 1871, the war atmosphere engendered by the secret alliances led to an armaments race among the powers. The race was particularly serious between 1900 and 1914, as the international situation became much worse than before. There was a significant rise in the army and naval estimates of the European powers in these years. Nationalism in Germany Germany was united in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War, and she rapidly became the strongest economic and military power in Europe. From 1871 to 1890, Germany wanted to preserve her hegemony in Europe by forming a series of peaceful alliances with other powers. After 1890, Germany was more aggressive. She wanted to build up her influence in every part of the world. German foreign policy in these years was best expressed by the term 'Weltpolitik' (World Politics). Because German ambitions were extended to many parts of the globe, Germany came into serious conflicts with all other major powers of Europe (except Austria-Hungary) from 1890 to 1914. Nationalism in Britain In 1870 Britain was the most industrially advanced country in Europe. She also possessed the largest overseas empire and the largest navy in the world. She did not want to trouble herself with the continental affairs of Europe. Her main concern was to preserve her overseas empire and her overseas trade by maintaining a large navy. Before 1890, her chief enemies were France and Russia. The colonial interests of France often clashed with those of Britain . (Britain and France had colonial rivalries in Asia and Africa--for example, India, Burma, Thailand, Egypt.) Russia's interest in the Balkan area also alarmed Britain, as British naval interests in the Mediterranean Sea would be immediately threatened. After 1890, as Germany went on increasing her naval strength and threatened British naval supremacy and the British overseas interests, she became Britain's chief enemy. Alliance System as a cause of the War The alliance systems were a cause of the First World War. Firstly, the alliances were made in secret and so produced much distrust and suspicion among the European powers. Their general suspicion prevented their diplomats to devise a suitable solution to many of the crises preceding the war. Secondly, the alliances were always made on a war-footing and so heightened the war tension and led to an arms race among the European powers. For example, within four years after the formation of the Triple Entente in 1907, Germany built nine dreadnoughts (battleships) and consequently Britain built eighteen. Thus all the European powers were ready for war in 1914. Thirdly, since the European powers had made alliances with one another, a small dispute concerning one power might lead to a war involving all powers. Fourthly, the alliances were originally strictly defensive but by 1910, many alliances had changed their character. The Austro-German alliance of 1879 was so modified that it had become an aggressive alliance after the Bosnian crisis in 1909, the German government promised to give military aid to Austria-Hungary, if Austria invaded Serbia and Russia intervened on behalf of the latter. As alliances had become instruments of national aggression, the chances of war doubled. Fifthly, after the formation of the Triple Entente, Germany began to feel the threat to her security. The German press loudly talked about "encirclement", i.e. being surrounded by enemies on all sides. This induced the aggressive William II to pursue a more vigorous foreign policy in an attempt to break the unity of the Entente powers. This resulted in a series of international crises from 1905 to 1914. Franco-German rivalry Morocco on the northern coast of Africa was rich in mineral and agricultural wealth. Both Germany and France coveted the place. By her entente with Britain in 1904, France was given a free hand in Morocco. Kaiser William II, angry at France's influence and at Germany’s exclusion, decided to intervene. In March 1905, the Kaiser landed at Tangier where he made a speech greeting the Sultan of Morocco as an independent sovereign and promising him German protection if France attempted to colonize his state. The German government followed this up by demanding an international conference to clarify the status of Morocco. Germany's aim of calling a conference was to humiliate France and to split the Entente because from the point of view of international law, Morocco was an independent state and the French claim to Morocco was illegal. France was prepared to fight but at last she agreed to settle her conflict with Germany at a conference. The Algeciras Conference At the conference at Algeciras in 1906, Germany was supported by Austria while France was supported by Britain, Russia and the United States. In name Morocco was preserved as an independent state whose trade was to be open to all nations; but in fact France was given two special privileges: (i) she, in conjunction with Spain, was given control over the Moroccan police and (ii) she was to control the customs and arms supply of Morocco. Thus the Entente powers scored a diplomatic victory over the Dual Alliance of Germany and Austria. Consequence The Algeciras Conference could only offer a temporary solution to the Franco-German conflict. Germany was dissatisfied with the resolutions of the Conference because they would benefit France more. France also bore ill feeling towards Germany. She remembered that Germany had tried to browbeat France to give up Morocco by a threat of war. To prepare for the eventuality of a Franco-German war, France began to hold secret military conversations with Britain, which finally led to the sending of British army to fight alongside the French army during the First World War. First Balkan War 1912 Exploiting the chaotic political situation following the Turkish defeat in 1912, the Balkan states -- Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro--formed the Balkan League and declared war on Turkey in October 1912. They aimed to partition the Turkish Empire. From October 1912 to May 1913, the League won series of battles and Turkey could only retain the areas around Constantinople. The powers watched the victory of the League with great anxiety. Austria wanted to stop Serbia from becoming too powerful and was determined not to allow Serbia to get a seaport on the Adriatic. The powers intervened and imposed their own settlement, the Treaty of London. The most important provision of the Treaty was that, on Austria's insistence, a new state, Albania, was created to prevent Serbia from getting a coastline on the Adriatic. To compensate for this, Serbia was given a large part of Macedonia. Second Balkan War 1913 Bulgaria had long regarded Macedonia as her possession. Her quarrels with Serbia soon developed into a war. In the second Balkan War, Bulgaria alone fought against Serbia, Montenegro, Rumania, Greece and Turkey. The war was soon over. Bulgaria was soundly defeated. The territorial settlement made after the First Balkan War was largely preserved except that Turkey and Rumania gained some valuable territory. Balkan Wars - Consequence The consequences of the Balkan Wars directly led to the outbreak of the First World War. Firstly, Serbia was twice victorious in the Balkan wars and was larger than ever--her area doubled as she got a large part of Macedonia. The desire to make herself larger by including all fellow nationals in a united Slav state was intensified. This brought her more sharply into collision with Austria which ruled eight million Serbs and Croats and which prevented Serbia from getting a coastline. Secondly, Austria found that the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina grew increasingly troublesome. She was determined to attack Serbia before it was too late. Thirdly, the Kaiser knew that Austria was her only dependable ally in Europe. He assured the Austrian Foreign Minister that ‘You can be certain I stand behind you and am ready to draw the sword whenever your action makes it necessary.’ Fourthly, the Russian Czar felt that Russia had suffered a diplomatic defeat because she could not obtain Albania for Serbia due to Austrian insistence. In order to recover her lost prestige in the Balkans, the Czar declared in February 1914, "For Serbia, we shall do everything." Economic Rivalries There were economic conflicts between Germany and Britain from 1890 onwards. Since 1871 Germany had been experiencing a period of rapid industrialization, and by 1890 the products of her industry were competing with British manufactures everywhere in the globe and German merchant ships threatened Britain's carrying trade. There were also economic struggles between Germany and France. In 1870 France had already lost two of her coal producing provinces--Alsace and Lorraine to Germany. From 1871 onwards, France had to import coal from other countries. Thus France had to compete with Germany in Morocco because the place was rich in mineral resources. Germany and Austria also rivaled with Russia in the Balkans for commercial privileges. As early as 1888 Germany began to build a railway in the area. Austria regarded the area as a field for profitable investment and as a big market for her manufactured goods. Russia also hoped to control the area because half of her exports passed through this area. WAR PLANS: In 1914, Germany believed war with Russia was extremely likely.  If war broke out, Germany assumed France would also attack as she was both an ally of Russia and keen for revenge for her defeat in the Franco-Prussian war. If this happened, Germany would face a war on two fronts.  Germany wanted to avoid this at all costs. Germany planned to defeat France rapidly and then turn to the eastern front for a major offensive on Russia.  This was the basis for the Schlieffen Plan. The Germany Army Chief of Staff, Alfred von Schlieffen was asked to plan a way of preventing a war on two fronts.  His initial plan was produced late in 1905. He believed that it was a priority to defeat France quickly, forcing them to surrender before Russia had a chance to mobilize her armed forces. In full knowledge of French defences, Schlieffen proposed attacking France through Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg – the Benelux countries.  Schlieffen planned to use 90% of German military forces to deliver a knock out blow to France.  The remaining 10% would defend the eastern border of Germany against Russian attack. Von Molkte replaced Von Schlieffen in 1906, and made some alterations to the plan.  His version avoided invading Holland, instead concentrating attack through Belgium.  According to Von Molke, the Belgium army would be unable to resist a powerful German military, and German forces would rapidly enter France. Assumptions: * Russia would take at least 6 weeks to mobilize. * France would be easily defeated in 6 weeks. * Belgium would not resist any German attack. * Britain would remain neutral. On 2nd August 1914, the German army invaded Luxembourg and Belgium according to the Schlieffen Plan. The Germans were held up by the Belgium army, backed up by the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) which arrived extremely quickly. Russia mobilized in just 10 days and Germany was forced to withdraw troops from the Schlieffen Plan to defend her eastern border. Germany did not take the chance to take Paris, instead decided to attack east of the capital.  They were met by French at the battle of the Marne (5-11 Sept) which halted the German advance. | | | |