Introduction
There are a lot of reasons for the outbreak of the First World War. In this project I will be explaining the causes of the first world with such topics in the Long term section such as Germany’s defeat of France in the Franco – Prussian war, the development of the alliance system, naval rivalry, colonial rivalry and the rivalry of Russia and Austria in the Balkans. Also I will be explaining the short term causes which are The assaination at Sarajevo, Austria’s determination to punish Serbia, German support for Austria, how and why Germany declared war on France and Russia and the invasion of Belgium and Britain’s entry into the war.
The Short term causes
Germany’s defeat of France in the Franco – Prussian War and France’s desire for revenge
In July 1870, France declared war on Prussia in part over a disagreement about a Prussian prince accepting the crown of Spain. By September 1870, a French army had been defeated, Emperor Napoleon III captured at Sedan, France declared a republic, and Paris under siege. In January 1871, Wilhelm I of Prussia was crowned Kaiser Wilhelm I of a unified Germany at Versailles, Paris fell, and France surrendered, losing Alsace and Lorraine and forced to pay huge compensation. Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of Prussia since 1862, and now Germany, wanted to keep France isolated to prevent the recovery of Alsace and Lorraine.
The Development of the alliance system
The Triple Alliance was the treaty by which Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy pledged (May 20, 1882) to support each other militarily in the event of an attack against any of them by two or more great powers. Germany and Italy additionally agreed to support one another in the event of attack by France. In a extra statement, however, Italy specified that her undertakings could not be regarded as being directed against the United Kingdom. Shortly after renewing the Alliance in June 1902, Italy secretly extended a similar guarantee to France, effectively nullifying her part in the alliance.
The Essay on Why did France declare War on Austria in 1792
In April 1792, the French Legislative Assembly declared war against the King of Hungary and Bohemia, for plotting aggression. They declared war in the name of the French nation in defence of liberty; it began the first ‘War of the People’s’ in the Modern world. Only 7 deputies voted against the war, which was thought by the majority to be in France’s best interests. The ...
Italy’s partial adherence to the German-Austrian Dual Alliance was triggered partly by anger at France’s May 1881 seizure of Tunisia, which many Italians had seen as a potential colony. When Germany and Austria-Hungary found themselves at war in August 1914 with the rival Triple Entente of Britain, France and the latter’s ally Russia, Italy declared neutrality, subsequently entering the conflict on the side of the Entente against Austria-Hungary in May 1915 and Germany in August 1916 and gaining most of the Austrian territories she had coveted at the peace settlement of 1919.
Naval Rivalry
Britain and Germany were the chief rivals at sea. Under Admiral Tirpitz, State Secretary of the Imperial Naval Office from 1897, a long-term shipbuilding programme began. The German Navy Law of 1898 increased the German battleships from nine cruisers to twelve. In 1900 Germany passed a Navy Law which doubled the German battle fleet.
In the meantime, Britain produced her first Dreadnought (literally, the word means fear nothing).
Dreadnoughts were large, fast and heavily armed battleships with 12inch guns. They set a new standard in naval armaments and rendered all previous battleships obsolete. The naval race became intense. Between 1909 and 1911 Germany built nine Dreadnoughts while Britain completed 18 Dreadnoughts. In 1913, Germany widened the Kiel Canal to allow the easy passage of her Dreadnoughts from the Baltic to the North Sea while Britain built new naval bases for the Dreadnoughts in northern Scotland.
Colonial Rivalry
After 1870, the European nations began to acquire colonies in Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Their imperialistic activities accelerated from 1880 onwards. Between 1895 and 1905 imperialistic expansion reached its climax.
The Term Paper on European War Germany Austria Russia
... Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria and Italy) and the Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia. ) These alliances were the key that made European war possible, however, even ... between Russia, Britain and France. Therefore, the defensive alliances, which were certainly conducive to a hostile atmosphere, could certainly be blamed no Germany and ...
Colonial rivalry was a cause of the First World War. In Africa, all the European powers except Austria and Russia had colonies there. Thus there were many clashes among France, Britain, Germany and Italy. For example, France rivalled with Italy over Tunis and with Germany over Morocco. Italy turned to Germany and Austria when she lost Tunis to France in 1881. Russia and Britain could patch up their differences and form an entente in 1907 as a result of their mutual fear of Germany’s expansionist activities in the Balkans. Russia, Britain and France could become firm friends after 1907 partly because of aggressive attitude of Germany in both the first and the second Moroccan crises. Germany found that, without a navy, she could not send much military help to the Dutch. Shortly after the event, Admiral von Tirpitz, the German Minister of Marine, proclaimed the need of a strong navy. From 1898 onwards, Germany built more battleships. In the first and the second Moroccan crises, war nearly resulted. France and Britain nearly came to war over their rivalry in the Sudan in 1898.
Rivalry of Russia and Austria in the Balkans
Russia and Austria-Hungary resumed their Balkan rivalry, focusing on the Kingdom of Serbia and the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which Austria-Hungary had occupied since 1878. In 1881 Russia secretly had agreed in principle to Austria’s future annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. But in 1908, Izvol’skiy foolishly consented to support formal annexation in return for Austria’s support for revision of the agreement on the neutrality of the Bosporus and Dardanelles–a change that would give Russia special navigational rights of passage. Britain stymied the Russian gambit by blocking the revision, but Austria proceeded with the annexation. Then, backed by German threats of war, Austria-Hungary exposed Russia’s weakness by forcing Russia to disavow support for Serbia.
After Austria-Hungary’s annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia became a major part of the increased tension and conflict in the Balkans. In 1912 Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro defeated the Ottoman Empire in the First Balkan War, but the putative allies continued to quarrel among themselves. Then in 1913, the alliance split, and the Serbs, Greeks, and Romanians defeated Bulgaria in the Second Balkan War. Austria-Hungary became the patron of Bulgaria, which now was Serbia’s territorial rival in the region, and Germany remained the Ottoman Empire’s protector. Russia tied itself more closely to Serbia than it had previously. The complex system of alliances and Great Power support was extremely unstable; among the Balkan parties harboring resentments over past defeats, the Serbs maintained particular animosity toward the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Term Paper on Austro Hungarian War Russia Germany
... to move confidently against Serbia. Both Austria-Hungary and Germany believed they could do this ina limited way, and that Russia would stay out of ... a counter-offensive, the Austrian fronts in Italy and the Balkans collapsed. Rather than wait for total annihilation, the Germans sued ...
Short Term Causes
The Assassination at Sarajevo
In June 1914, a Serbian terrorist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, which then held the Serbian government responsible. Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to Serbia, believing that the terms were too humiliating to accept. Although Serbia submitted to the ultimatum, Austria-Hungary declared the response unsatisfactory and recalled its ambassador. Russia, fearing another humiliation in the Balkans, supported Serbia. Once the Serbian response was rejected, the system of alliances began to operate automatically, with Germany supporting Austria-Hungary and France backing Russia. When Germany invaded France through Belgium, the conflict escalated into a world war.
