The Causes of WW1 - IB History HL Notes

The Causes of World War 1 *Austria-Hungary = AH

Franco Prussian War (1870-71)39 Separate German States after the Napoleonic war of 1815 Austria and Prussia were the Largest Prussian Leader - Otto von Bismarck Prussia Defeated 1. Denmark and Austria - 1864 2. France - January 1871 France was under siege since mid september of 1870 France lost the territory of Alsace-Lorraine had to pay 5,000 million marks King of Prussia became the German Emperor in Hall of Mirrors on January 1871 Germany was a new power in Europe Modern Warfare had to be rapid mobilisation and fast deployment Armies had to be well trained and well equipped

Key Characteristics of Great European Powers Germany Germany was a democratic monarchy authoritarian system - power held by Kaiser and Chancellor German Parliament - The Reichstag By 1900 Germany overtook Britain in Industrial output France France was a democratic republic Agriculture based economy France was a wealthy nation Large Empire and Sizeable Gold reserves Nation was divided between Pacifist Left Wing Revanchist Right Wing Great Britain Britain was a parliamentary democracy with monarchy retaining limited power First nation undergo Industrial Revolution Vast overseas Empire Britain had dropped since the 1800s In 19th Century Britain followed ‘Splendid Isolation’ - Not wanting to be drawn into conflicts Britain Navy was strong and depended on it to defend its colonies and attackers Austria Hungary Austria-Hungary was a dual monarchy An emperor presided over AH and with Austria and Hungary having own parliaments Slow Economic growth

Empire lacked military strength Russia Russia was a autocratic ‘divine monarchy’ Tsar was believed to be appointed by the God State was heavily bureaucratic and ineffective 1905 Russia defeated bib Japan and Revolution Defeat in Crimean War (1853 - 1856) Russia - Japanese War (1904 - 1905) Turkey Turkey was in decline Government was ineffective and corrupt Sultan was overthrown

Long Term Causes of WW1 Bismarck’s web of Alliances The Dreikaiserbund or Three Emperors League (1873) Germany Russia Austria - Hungary The Dual Alliance (1879) Austria - Hungary and Russia came in Conflict Bismark made separate treaty with Austria - Hungary The Three Emperors Alliance(1881) If Russia, Germany & Austria were at war the others would remain neutral The Triple Alliance (1882) Germany Austria - Hungary Italy Other would lend assistance in case of war The Reinsurance Treaty Germany Russia Avoid war on 2 Fronts New Course and Weltpolitik In 1888, Kaiser Wilhelm II Bismark replaced by Leo von Caprivi in 1890 New course of German foreign policy Treaties were allowed to lapse Weltpolitik - Make empire overseas Imperialism Europeans had increased their dominate over Africa and the Far East Economic motives - Raw materials, new market, Cheap labour Later they believed that it was ‘gods work’

The emergence of the alliance system 1897 Admiral von Tirpitz was appointed as secretary of Navy. he passed a law thorough The Reichstag to build 17 new ships over 7 years In 1900 another law came Britain was threatened by the law, their policy of ‘Splendid Isolation’ was not useful Clash with France in Sudan Clash Russia in Far east China in 1902 Britain made alliance with Japan followed by entente with France In 1907 Britain and Russia cooled tension in Afghanistan Britain, France, Russia made the Triple Entente Europe was divided by 2 alliances Triple Alliance Triple Entente The Naval Race

Germany challenged Britain for naval supremacy In 1906, Britain made a new class of Battleships - Dreadnought The ships speed, range and firepower were better than most at that time With the new ship, Britain took the race back to zero. Germany added dreadnoughts to their fleets Britain made 9 more in 1909 The Situation in Balkans

Unstable situation before 1914 3 Empires had interest in Balkans - Russia, Austria - Hungary, Turkey Turkey Turkey had once ruled the Balkans The Serbs, Greeks and Bulgars revolted and set up their own government Turkey was struggling to hold its remaining territories Austria Hungary By 1900, AH was losing its multi ethnic empire The Serbs, Croats and Slovens were forceful to gain independence They asked Serbia for help. Serbia was seen as threat Russia Russia sympathised with their fellow Slavs. The Balkans was strategically important for Russia Straits of Constantinople had to be kept open for Russian Ships Access to warm water ports was important. - North ports of Russia were frozen Both Russia and AH hoped to benefit from the declining Turkey Growing Tension in the Balkans in the 1900s In June 1903, Pro Austrian King Alexander of Serbia was murdered and replaced by Russophile King Peter who was ready to reduce AH influence Serbia turned to France for arms and finance

Baron von Aehrenthal became Austrian Foreign minister he believed that aggressive foreign policy would show AH as a power

Short-term causes: the crisis years (1905 - 1913) The Moroccan Crisis (1905) Germany was worried by the relationships between France and Great Britain Germany tried to break the entente by attacking France in Morocco Britain supported a French takeover in Morocco if France recognised British position in Egypt Germany supported the Moroccan Sultan to maintain his independence France attended the Conference at Algeciras, Spain, in 1906 Britain supported France to the German surprise Results of the first Moroccan Crisis Germany did not gain anything Germany undermined the Entente They helped strengthen it. Britain foreign policy was to support France Talks of military support initiated in the 1906 January Germany was a threat to British interest The Bosnian Crisis (1908) In 1907 the Anglo-Russian Entente was signed Germans thought they were being contained Caused a closer relation with Triple Alliance In 1908 a Turk Revolution happened. AH decided to annex province of Bosnia and Herzegovina This caused an outrage in Serbia Russia gave acceptance for this move by AH in the understanding that AH would support revision of the treatise AH went head with the move before Russia could gather any international support Russian PM and the Tsar were unhappy with the agreement This increased Tensions between Russia and AH Germany stood ‘Shoulder to Shoulder’ with AH Russia gained no support from Britain and France Russia overwhelmed were forced to recognise the AH annexation Serbia backed down from being overpowered by AH and Germany Results of the Bosnian Crisis Russia suffered international humiliation. It could not afford to back down from another crisis. Russia embarked on another massive rearmament programme Serbia was enraged and led to nationalist feelings Alliance between Germany and AH appeared stronger than that of Triple Entente Germany encouraged the AH expansion rather than restrain Ended an era of cooperation between Russia,AH and Serbia The Second Moroccan Crisis (1911) In May 1911 France sent troops to Fez,Morocco on the request of the Sultan to suppress a revolution Germans thought of it as a French takeover of Morocco Germans sent a gunboat, the Panther, to Adagir, a small port in Morocco Britain worried that Adagir would become a German Naval Base and cause disruption in its trade routes

David Llyod George gave a speech - allied the Mansion House of Speech - to warn off Germany The speech turned Franco - German Crisis in to an Anglo - German Crisis German got 2 strips of land in the French Congo as compensation Results of Second Moroccan Crisis German public opinion was hostile to the settlement and critical of their government’s handling of the crisis, which was another failure for the policy of Weltpolitik. Entente between France and Britain strengthened Increased tension between Germany and Britain Helped increase suspicion and hostility First Balkan War (1912) In 1912, encouraged by the Russians, the Balkan states of Serbia, Greece and Montenegro formed a Balkan alliance Their key objective was to force Turkey from the Balkans by taking Macedonia Turkey was already weakened by a war with Italy over Tripolitania the year before They were almost completely driven out of the Balkans in seven weeks British Foreign Secretary called a peace conference in London the land was divided amongst the Balkan states AH contained Serbia with creation of a new state of Albania. The Second Balkan War (1913) In 1913 Bulgaria went to war with Serbia and Greece over occupied territory Germany urged AH to restrain. Bulgaria went to war with Serbia, Greece and Turkey and lost all most all its land Treaty of Bucharest August 1913 Results of the Second Balkan War Serbian success brought nationalist feelings Serbia had doubled in size Serbia proved its military might Encouraged Russia to stand by stronger Serbia The International situation by 1913 The crises of 1905 - 1913 had seen a deterioration in international relations Increase division in Alliances Increased armament race/naval race Rising tension

Other Developments, 1900-1913 The will to make war War portrayed as short and heroic Nationalism was encouraged by press and media The Arms and Militarism Naval race was part of a general arms race Between 1870 and 1914 Increased military spending - 300% Large Armies and Conscription

War Plans Every European power had made a plan of attack in case of war German war plan - made by Field marshal Count Alfred von Schlieffen Intended to deal with implications of Triple Entente Difficulty of fighting a 2 front war 6 weeks for Russia to mobilise Crush France first Invade France through Belgium, Holland and Luxembourgh. (bypassing the French defences on the Franco-German Border) Move down to encircle Paris Move to Eastern Front to fight Russian Troops Helmuth von Moltke (modified plan) Changing number of neutral territory Germany would pass through Contained Miscalculations on impact of passing through Belgium Time taken for Russia to mobilise Britain help for France All other countries had their own plans France’s Plan 17 involved a high-speed mobilisation of troops Capture Alsace and Lorraine Cross Rhine into Germany Russia had plans to invade AH and Germany AH had 2 plans - Plan A & Plan B

The Immediate causes of War: July Crisis (1914) Starting was a calm period between European states Shooting dead of heir to the AH throne, and his wife, on 28 June 1914. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was on a visit to Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia 19 year old terrorist - Gavrilo Princip Armed by the Serbian Black Hand movement AH decided to attack Serbia but were hesitant to bring Russia in the war AH needed backing from the Germans On 5 July 1914 the Kaiser and his chancellor Theobald von BethmannHollewed, issued AH a blank cheque - meaning unconditional AH declared war on Serbia Russia mobilise troops Germany declare war on Russia Germany demanded French neutrality

Germany declared war on France on 3 August (French would “follow their own interest”) Germany following Schiffen Plan Britain and Belgium treaty - Britain declares war on Germany The Great War had begun

What was the contribution of each of the European Powers during the July Crisis to the outbreak of war? Germany Kaiser encouraged the AH to attack Serbia in ‘blank cheque’ Motives behind the risking a war It had to support its ally, AH It had to prevent itself and AH being crushed by the Entente Powers Russia Military modernisation could threaten the Schlieffen Plan Generals believed it was a great time to go to war Create a unifying effect for the German people War could improve the popularity of the Kaiser Germany responsibility for the war Urging AH on with the ‘blank cheque’ Declaring war on Russia (1 Aug) Violating Belgian neutrality Invading France Bringing Britain into the conflict Austria-Hungary AH contribution towards the war Exaggerated the potential threat of Serbia Delayed in responding to the assassination - contributed to the July Crisis Declared war on Serbia (28th July) Refused to stop military action Russia Determined to take a firm stand after previous weak standing Contribution of Russia Did not try to restrain Serb nationalism Supported the Serbians causing them to refuse the ultimatum Mobilised troops causing the war France Hesitant about getting involved in the war Russia mobilised without consulting the French Germany declares war on France France is swept in (they had not decided) Britain Violation of the neutrality of Belgium led to popular belief of war Foreign Secretary wanted to declare war