Discussion 11

Reading: HistoryDoctor.net: Dr. Larry E. Gates, Jr.’s

“The Outbreak of World War One”

 

The Outbreak of World War One

 

The end of the Franco-Prussian War marked the birth of the

German Empire in Europe. Germany, under the leadership of

Bismarck, had been transformed from the weakest European

power to the strongest. At the same time, France was

defeated and embittered over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine;

Russia together with Austria Hungary in the East was

volatile. Had Bismarck had territorial ambitions as did

Napoleon and later Hitler, it is likely that great European

coalitions in opposition to German expansion would have

arisen even sooner than they did; however Bismarck

continuously commented that Germany was "satisfied," had

no territorial ambitions, and wanted nothing more than

peace.

Bismarck was wise enough to see that other European

powers were not so satisfied, particularly France. He knew

that he must keep France diplomatically isolated and keep

the powers on his eastern front mollified. The situation was

aggravated because the Ottoman Empire, the "sick old man

of Europe" was on the verge of collapse. Russia and Austria-

Hungary had conflicting interests in that area, and if war

broke out, Germany would be sure to become entangled.

Bismarck’s first step to preserve the delicate balance in

Europe was the Three Emperors’ League of 1873. Under its

terms, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Germany all allied

together against "radical movements." Later, in the Berlin

Congress of 1878, Bismarck obtained the right for Austria to

"occupy and administer" Bosnia and Herzegovina. This

served to counterbalance Russian gains in Ottoman territory

in a recent war, but infuriated Russian nationalists. So,

Bismarck next signed a defensive military alliance with

Austria against Russia. Italy joined the alliance in 1882

because of tensions with France, thus giving birth to the

Triple Alliance. Ever the superb diplomat, Bismarck played

the fears of Austria and Russia off against each other and

signed secret alliances with each against the other. This was

known as the Alliance of the Three Emperors which

promised cooperation of the three in any further division of

Ottoman territory. They also promised to remain neutral

should any one of the three become involved in a war with

any fourth party other than the Ottoman Empire which they

were carving up between themselves.

At the same time, Bismarck worked to keep Britain and

France neutralized. He encouraged France to pursue its

interests in Africa (which kept it isolated in Europe) and

when Russia would not renew the Alliance of the Three

Emperors because of new problems in the Balkans,

Bismarck substituted a Russian German Reinsurance Treaty

by which both states promised neutrality if the other was

attacked. Bismarck was a master at diplomacy, and

managed to keep the delicate house of cards which was

Europe in tact. However he was fired by Wilhelm II who did

not like Bismarck’s pact with Russia, and himself refused to

renew the Russian-German Reinsurance Treaty, even though

Russia was willing to do so. This gave France an opportunity

to step in and court Russia, which it did by offering loans

and weapons as well as friendship. In 1894, France and

Russia became military allies with the understanding that

the alliance would remain in effect as long as the rival Triple

Alliance was in effect. Wilhelm’s actions had left Europe

divided into two camps.

In the meantime, Great Britain, which had enjoyed a period

of "splendid isolation" from European affairs with no

permanent alliances, became a player. Because of its

worldwide empire, Britain often was at odds with Russia; at

the same time, it often quarreled with Germany. Wilhelm II

was a master at tactless public statements, and Britain

found Germany’s involvement in world affairs discomforting.

Although many Germans and Britons felt a common bond as

they were members of the racially superior Anglo-Saxon

race, a bitter rivalry between the two powers soon emerged

for several reasons:

Commercial rivalry in world markets increased sharply in the

1890’s.

Germany expanded its military fleet in 1900, which

challenged British naval supremacy. Germany, under

Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, saw a large navy as the

legitimate sign of a world power. British leaders instead saw

it as a military challenge which forced them to spend "the

people’s money" on warships to meet the challenge.

Anti-British feeling in Europe was exacerbated by the Boer

War in South Africa.

The situation had become such that there was discussion of

a German, Austrian, French and Russian alliance against the

British Empire, which many considered bloated. British

leaders saw the threat, and began their own system of

alliances. In 1902, Britain concluded a formal alliance with

Japan and improved relations with the United States. In

1904, an Anglo-French Entente was signed which settled all

colonial disputes between the two countries.

German leaders were unhappy with the Anglo-French

alliance, and attempted to drive a wedge between the two

countries. Germany bullied France and insisted in 1905 on

an international conference to settle the issue of Morocco.

Their bullying forced Britain and France closer together

rather than separating them; the conference at Algeciras in

1906 left Germany isolated except for Austria-Hungary.

Britain, France, Russia, and even the U.S. began to see

Germany as a threat which might attempt to dominate all of

Europe; the very thing Bismarck had protested he would

never do. At the same time, German leaders grew paranoid,

imagining sinister plots to "encircle" Germany and prevent it

from becoming a world power. This situation was not helped

when Russia agreed to settle its disputes with Britain from

the Crimean War and signed the Anglo-Russian Agreement.

Europe was divided into two hostile blocs, ready for a spark

to ignite a tremendous explosion.

 

The Outbreak of War: The Balkan area, Greece, Turkey,

Yugoslavia, Serbia, Bosnia, etc. were one of the most

volatile areas in Europe, primarily because of the plethora of

nationalities in the region. By the Berlin Conference of 1878,

Austria-Hungary had gained the right to "occupy and

administer" Bosnia and Herzegovina; while Serbia and

Romania were independent and a portion of Bulgaria was

autonomous. Because Russia and Austria-Hungary did not

trust each other and feared the other would dominate the

Balkans, the Ottoman Empire still retained important

holdings. Imperialistic pursuits had diverted attention from

the Balkans but by 1903, Balkan nationalism was about to

boil over. Serbia, although independent, was openly hostile

to Austria-Hungary and looked to Russia for support,

inasmuch as the Russian people were Slavic, as were the

Serbs. To counter Serbian expansion and take advantage of

Russia’s weakness, Austria formally annexed Bosnia and

Herzegovina in 1905. Serbia was outraged, but could do

nothing. A series of Balkan wars broke out, and Austria

intervened, forcing Serbia to surrender Albania. Tensions

were great.

On June 28, 1914, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary,

Archduke Francis Ferdinand was assassinated together with

his wife by Serbian revolutionaries in Bosnia during a state

visit.

Franz Ferdinand and his wife were in Sarajevo for an official

state visit. Serbia at this time was a province of Austria-

Hungary. A Serbian independence movement known as the

Black Hand had made plans to assassinate Ferdinand while

in Sarajevo. Several assassins had been stationed at various

points along his route.

One assassin threw a bomb at the car; but Franz deflected it

with his arm. The bomb exploded and destroyed the car

next behind his in the procession. He became very angry at

this and asked the mayor "is this how you make your guests

feel welcome?" On his way back from his meeting with the

mayor, he told his driver to drive to the hospital so that he

could visit those wounded in the bomb attack. This

necessitated turning the car around in the middle of the

road. One assassin, Gavrilo Princeps, aged nineteen, had

already assumed he had missed his chance, and was on his

way home; but the car stopped immediately in front of him.

He ran out into the road, and shot Ferdinand and his wife at

point blank range. Ferdinand was shot in the throat, his wife

in the stomach. She died first; and his last words were,

"Sophie, please don’t die, think of the children." Princeps,

pursuant to plan, bit into a cyanide capsule and jumped into

a canal to drown himself. Neither worked, and he went to

prison, although he is normally considered a Serbian hero.

The Black Hand was secretly supported by the Serbian

government, but there is no way the German government

could have known this; however Austrian officials decided

that Serbia must be severely punished, and on July 23,

issued an unconditional ultimatum. Serbia had 48 hours to

agree to cease all subversion in Austria and all anti-Austrian

propaganda in Serbia. An investigation of the assassination

was to be led by a joint Austrian-Serbian commission. Serbia

was evasive, so on July 28, Austria mobilized and declared

war on Serbia. This was the Third Balkan War.

 

Austria would not have declared war were it not assured of

the unconditional support of Germany. Wilhelm II and his

chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, as much as

gave Austria a blank check, and egged them, even though

they had to have known that war between Austria and

Russia would result, since Russia saw itself as defender of

the southern Slavs. Bethmann-Hollweg had anticipated that

Russia (and its ally France) would probably enter the war on

behalf of Serbia, but gambled that Britain would not go to

war to support "Russian aggression."

Sadly, the diplomatic situation was already out of control.

Because of its vast size, Russia required a great deal of time

to mobilize its troops. Nicholas II ordered a general

mobilization on July 29, as Austrian guns bombarded

Belgrade. Russia could not mobilize against Austria without

also mobilizing against Germany, as the Russian general

staff had determined that war, if at all, would be against

both. The full mobilization was in effect a declaration of war.

In Germany, the general staff had long concluded that any

war must be a two front war against both France and Russia.

A brilliant German strategist, Count Alfred von Schliefen,

chief of the German general staff from 1891 to 1906, had

devised a plan for a two front war, the famous Schliefen

Plan. The plan called for a lightning attack against France by

marching through Belgium and capturing Paris, thus

knocking France out of the war. With France neutralized,

German troops would then turn east and attack Russia. The

plan had been von Schliefen’s masterwork, which he had

perfected over a period of years.

Germany sent an ultimatum to France, demanding to know

France’s intentions. France replied evasively that it would

protect its own interests, and the German response was a

formal declaration of War on August 4, 1914. Prior to the

formal declaration, the German chief of staff, General

Helmuth von Moltke, "acting under a dictate of self-

reservation" demanded that Belgium allow free passage for

German troops. Belgium’s neutrality had been guaranteed

by all concerned parties as early as 1839, and refused

permission. Germany then attacked Belgium, using it as a

thoroughfare to reach France on August 3, one day before

the formal declaration of war. Great Britain, agitated at the

violation of Belgian neutrality, declared war on Germany the

following day. Britain, France, and Russia constituted the

Triple Entente as of August, 1914. The Great War was

underway.

 

Reflections on Origins of the War; Although Austria-

Hungary’s motives may be somewhat understandable in

that it started the Third Balkan War as an attempt to survive

against nationalist ambitions in the Balkans, it was goaded

into doing so by the actions of Germany, which turned a

minor war into the Great War by its sledgehammer tactics

against Belgium and France.

Historian John Pl McKay offers the following analysis of the

causes of the war: "It has been argued by some historians

that German leaders lost control of the international system

after Bismarck’s resignation in 1890. They felt increasingly

that Germany’s status as a world power was declining, while

that of Britain, France, Russia, and the United States was

growing. The members of the Triple Entente were not only

checking Germany’s aspirations, they were strangling

Germany’s only ally, Austria-Hungary. Germany’s aggression

in 1914 reflected the failure of all European leaders, not just

those in Germany, to incorporate Bismarck’s might empire

permanently and peacefully into the international system."

Unquestionably, nationalism and nationalist ambitions were

a crucial underlying condition of the War. It was at the heart

of the Balkan wars, in Serbian attempts to overthrow

Austrian control of Bosnia, and grandiose pan-German vs.

pan-Slavic aspirations. The nationalist response of "my

country, right or wrong," fomented arms buildup and

weakened those who thought in international rather than

nationalist terms. Socialists, who called for an international

world view and believed the war was against capitalism at

home rather than foreign forces abroad; as well as

international bankers who feared the prospect of war, were

overwhelmed by the outcry of nationalist sentiments.

According to McKay, "In each country, people believed that

their country had been wronged, and they rallied to defend

it. Patriotic nationalism brought unity in the short run."