The causes of the first world war

Europe in 1900 There were five great powers in Europe at the start of the 20th century: Germany France Great Britain Austria-Hungary (the Habsburg Empire) Russia

Germany Germany had become much stronger at the end of the 19th century: Prussia had united all the German states into an Empire ruled by the Kaiser (emperor) Prussia had defeated France in a war in 1870-1 and taken the French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine Germany had become an important industrial nation whose production was now greater than Britain’s The Kaiser William II wanted Germany to have a great overseas empire like Britain

France Unlike Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary, France was a democratic Republic France was alarmed by the Kaiser’s military build up and his attempts to create an overseas empire The French were bitter about their defeat by Germany in the war of 1870-1 They wanted Alsace-Lorraine returned Alsace-Lorraine

Great Britain Britain had a vast overseas empire, which the Kaiser envied Britain needed a very large navy to protect the empire and trade Until the Boer War 1899-1902, Britain had felt very strong, not needing foreign allies But, when the Kaiser started to build a large German navy in 1900 the British government became very alarmed

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary was a large empire in the middle of Europe It was ruled by the Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph (since 1848!) It had once been very powerful, but since the creation of Germany in 1871, was much weaker It contained many different national groups, with their own languages. Who resented being part of Austria-Hungary The Serbs, in particular, wanted to break with the Empire and join the independent country of Serbia Austria was determined not to let them

Russia Russia was the largest of the Great Powers It was ruled, personally, by the Czar,Nicholas II, who was not a very clever ruler Russia was very backward and not industrialised Russia also contained many different national groups Russia was in constant dispute with Austria over Serbia and the rest of Balkans, where their two empires met.

By 1907 Europe was divided into two rival armed Alliances:- The Triple Alliance (1900): Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy The Triple Entente (1907): France, Russia and Britain Each alliance was formed because of fear of the other side, and resulted in both sides preparing for war The alliances meant that a dispute between two country would be likely to draw in the others

The Arms Race Between 1900 and 1914 both sides built up their armies and navies in a race to gain superiority:- The Naval Race -Britain’s navy was vital for the defence of the Empire and the island of Britain, but when the Kaiser began to build up the German navy Britain had to respond Both sides began a race to build more and more of the new class of battleship, the Dreadnought Armies –After 1871 all the great powers except Britain introduced conscription and created bigger and bigger armies All the powers drew up War Plans HMS Dreadnought, launched 1906

Rivalry Increases A number of disputes threatened to develop into war between 1900 and 1914. Each time one side or the other backed down:- Morocco In 1905 the Kaiser tried to stop the French expanding their Empire, but only Austria-Hungary supported him – GB, and Russia backed up the French Bosnia 1908-9 Austria seized Bosnia, angering Serbia. Russia backed Serbia, Germany backed Austria, but on this occasion Russia backed down – she would not back down again! Austria kept Bosnia The Agadir Crisis 1911 The Kaiser sent a gunboat to Agadir in Morocco to prevent a French takeover. Again Britain supported France.

The Assassination at Sarajevo 28th June 1914 This was the spark that finally ignited the war Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, was shot dead on a visit to Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital He was killed by a group of Serbians who thought Bosnia should be part of Serbia, not Austria Austria blamed Serbia and saw this as a chance to go to war with Serbia Serbia accepted Austria’s demands, but Austria still declared war on Serbia on 28th July 1914 Gavrilo Princip’s arrest after the Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

Steps to War 1914 The Alliance System meant that the other Great Powers were now drawn into this conflict, one, by one:- 28th July - Austria declared war on Serbia 30th July - Russia, wanting to defend Serbia, mobilised her army 1st August - Germany backed up Austria and declared war on Russia 3rd August - Germany put her war plan into operation and declared war on France 4th August – German troops entered Belgium, a neutral country, so Britain declared war on Germany Bravo Belgium- a British cartoon From August 1914, showing little Belgium defending against the German bully

The Schlieffen Plan Germany’s war plan had been drawn up years before by Count von Schlieffen Germany was frightened of having to fight a war on two fronts, against France and Russia, at the same time So the plan was to attack France first, by surprise, through Belgium, capture Paris and defeat France in 6 weeks. They could then move all their armies to the east to fight Russia The plan assumed that Russia would be very slow to organise an attack, that Belgium would not fight, and that Britain would not get involved The plan meant that as soon as Germany was at war with Russia her armies would enter Belgium and attack France!

Britain and the War Britain’s “Entente” with France and Russia did not force Britain into war if they were attacked No one in Britain really supported Russia Some thought we should help France But, Britain was committed to the protection of Belgium. This dated back to the Treaty of London 1839 The Kaiser called this “a scrap of paper” and could not believe that Britain would go to war over Belgium