With the First World War, we typically look at 4 MAIN underlying causes that helped create
those conditions that started the war.
Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism.
The First of the 4 Main Causes, looks at increased militarism in the years leading up to the
war.
The Arms Race clearly seen in competing naval power.
In 1889, with the signing of the Naval Defense Act, Great Britain adopted the policy of the
Two Power Standard.
This Meant their navy had to be as powerful as the next two powers combined.
Were the other great powers going to take this lightly?
Of course not.
In 1897, German Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz – man, this really was the age of great
beards, wasn’t it.
Wrote a memorandum where he stated: “For Germany the most dangerous naval enemy at
the present time is England Is is also the enemy against which we most urgently require
a certain measure of naval force as a political power factor... the Military situation against
England demands battleships in as great a number as possible.”
Under Kaiser Wilhelm II, however, and his imperialist desires there was a growing influence
of military leaders: General von Moltke at a German War Conference in 1912, two years
before the war: “I believe a war is unavoidable and the sooner the better.
We ought to do more through the press to prepare the popularity of a war against Russia.”
Oh and we can’t mention militarism without the development of massively destructive new
industrially produced weapons like this, and this, and this.
Once those are employed in combat, things get dangerous very quickly.
Alliances: The period before the First World War was characterized by a multipolar balance
of power system known as the concert of Europe established the Congress of Vienna in 1815
in the wake of Napoleon – resulting in a handful of great powers dominating Europe.
This balance of power was upset first by the unification of Germany, and then through a
defensive alliance known as the dual alliance between Germany and Austria formed in 1879
that became the Triple Alliance when Italy joined in 1882.
Now alliances definitely have a way of challenging a balance of power.
This led the other great powers, France, Britain, and Russia to try and figure something out.
By 1907, the three powers formed the Triple Entente.
Which, was a really big deal.
Consider how much Britain and France had fought each other for centuries, and how recently
France under Napoleon tried to conquer Europe.
These were states that historically either hated each other, or at best, kept their distance.
Now forming an alliance shows how much they were worried about the growing power of Germany
and the Triple Alliance.
These alliances all shared a common idea.
If one is attacked, the other alliance members pledge to defend it.
With this, I'm sure you guys can see how a minor skirmish can lead to an all-out war
pretty quickly... but wouldn’t this also be a pretty huge deterrent?
Third on the list of MAIN Causes is Imperialism:
It was said that the sun never set on the British Empire.
Great Britain had colonies all over the world, and was a lucrative source of much of Britain’s
wealth.
Now, Great Britain also didn’t want to share any of that sunlight.
As we’ve already seen, the Two Power Standard in their naval policy was in large part related
to their desire to protect their vast empire.
Germany, however, was late to the colonial game, due to becoming a unified nation state
quite recently.
Despite acquiring some African territory at the Berlin Conference of 1884-85 – Germany
still wanted their place in the sun and turned their ambitions to a Weltpolitik or ‘world
policy’ of expansionism.
These colonial contests led to a few crises that risked war.
Two of these involved Morocco, with Germany challenging France’s claims to rule in Morocco.
While in hindsight, colonialism led to some of the biggest global issues our world faces
today – but if you’re Germany at the time, don’t you feel you should get to play by
the same rules as the older colonial powers?
Nationalism: That belief that your nation is #1... or in some cases that your nation
should have sovereignty – a state to call their own.
I’m sure you can see some connections to nationalism in some previous examples.
Britain wanting the biggest, baddest navy, and Germany feeling like they deserve their
imperial place in the sun.
With France, nationalism played a role in some bad blood towards Germany.
As the final step in Unifying Germany, Otto von Bismarck waged war on France, winning
decisively in the Franco-Prussian war, declaring the German Empire in the Palace of Versailles,
and annexing the territories of Alsace and Lorraine were all humiliating in French eyes,
and the French wanted revenge, an idea coined revanchism.
But, are all these feelings enough to put the lives of millions on the line?
The Austro-Hungarian Empire was feeling nationalism in a different way.
They were the most multi cultural and multi ethnic state of the group.
The Austro-Hungarians officially recognized fourteen different languages in their borders,
and many of these ethnic groups were starting to question whether being led by the Austro-Hungarians
was the best path forward.
Throughout Europe, the drive for national sovereingty was growing, and nowhere was it
felt more than the region known as the balkans.
The nationalist movement in Serbia to unite the Balkans and split off from the Austro
Hungarian Empire grew rapidly at the turn of the century, with numerous organizations
citing the nationalist cause.
One such organization was called Unification or Death – or more commonly, the Black Hand,
whose member Gavrilo Princip pulled the trigger that killed the Archduke Franz Ferdinand,
leading to war.
It didn’t matter that the Archduke was sympathetic to the Serbs and their desire for autonomy.
He was a symbol of colonial oppression, was murdered, and the die was cast.
It’s important to remember that before the First World War, Europe had been at peace
for 100 years... something quite rare historically.
According to historian Margaret McMillian, the period before the war was not unlike our
own, with increasing globalization and cooperation between states.
Even among the leaders in the preceding years, there was still a desire to avoid war.
Even former German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who led the process of German Unification
in the 1870s, wrote in 1898 that, “It is in our interest to maintain peace, while without
exception our continental neighbours have wishes, either secret or officially avowed,
which cannot be fulfilled except by war... we must do our best to prevent war or limit
it.”
War wasn’t necessarily inevitable... so what went wrong?
Which cause was most significant?
Let us know in the comments below!