The Causes of WW1 M ilitarism M ilitarism A lliances A lliances I mperialism I mperialism N ationalism N ationalism S ignificant individuals S ignificant individuals

The Causes of WW1 Militarism Militarism A lliances A lliances I mperialism I mperialism N ationalism N ationalism S ignificant individuals S ignificant individuals

Militarism Militarism is the prioritisation of the army and military forces by the government. The growing European divide around the turn of the 20 th century led to an arms race between the European powers.arms race The armies of both France and Germany had more than doubled between 1870 and 1914 and there was fierce competition between Britain and Germany for mastery of the seas. The British had introduced the 'Dreadnought', an effective battleship, in The Germans soon followed suit introducing their own battleships. The German strategist, Von Schlieffen also drew up a plan of action that involved attacking France through Belgium if Russia made an attack on Germany. The map below shows how the plan was to work.

Militarism - Schlieffen Plan

Comparative figures on army increase, : Russia 700,000 1,300,000 France 380, ,000 Germany 403, ,000 Austria-Hungary 247, ,000 Britain 302, ,000 Italy 334, ,000 Japan 70, ,000 U.S.A. 37,000 98,000

Militarism - Comparative figures on army increase, :

Militarism – Naval arms race Germany was competing with the UK to build battleships. The British feared an attack on their Empire Naval strength in 1914 CountryPersonnel Large Naval Vessels Tonnage Russia54, ,000 France68, ,000 Britain209,000292,205,000 TOTAL331,000433,264,000 Germany79,000171,019,000 Austria- Hungary 16, ,000 TOTAL95,000211,268,000

Militarism – Naval arms race

Militarism HMS DREADNOUGHT

The Causes of WW1 M ilitarism M ilitarism Alliances Alliances I mperialism I mperialism N ationalism N ationalism S ignificant individuals S ignificant individuals

Alliances -An Historian’s View- Robert Wolfsen “Countries sought and made allies for defensive purposes and the settlement of outstanding disputes between them…..they were not, openly formed for offensive purposes to harm or attack other countries.” Years of Change

1879 The Dual Alliance Germany and Austria- Hungary made an alliance to protect themselves from Russia 1881 Austro-Serbian Alliance Austria-Hungary made an alliance with Serbia to stop Russia gaining control of Serbia 1882 The Triple Alliance Germany and Austria- Hungary made an alliance with Italy to stop Italy from taking sides with Russia 1914 Triple Entente (no separate peace) Britain, Russia and France agreed not to sign for peace separately Franco-Russian Alliance Russia formed an alliance with France to protect herself against Germany and Austria- Hungary 1907 Triple Entente This was made between Russia, France and Britain to counter the increasing threat from Germany Anglo-Russian Entente This was an agreement between Britain and Russia 1904 Entente Cordiale This was an agreement, but not a formal alliance, between France and Britain.

Alliance System

Why did Britain get involved? Britain had Ententes with France and Russia. Only “friendly agreements” but French and Russians given impression Britain would fight. The Schlieffen Plan Sir Edward Grey British Foreign Secretary … “There’s some devilry going on in Berlin”

Allies Britain ( and its Empire ) France Russia Belgium Italy USA( JOINED IN 1917) Serbia, Portugal Japan and other minor participants Central Powers Germany Austria Hungary Ottoman-Turkey Bulgaria

Imperialism Lenin famously asserted that the worldwide system of imperialism was responsible for the war Leninimperialism Imperialism Imperialism is when a country takes over new lands or countries and makes them subject to their rule. By 1900 the British Empire extended over five continents and France had control of large areas of Africa. With the rise of industrialism countries needed new markets. The amount of lands 'owned' by Britain and France increased the rivalry with Germany who had entered the scramble to acquire colonies late and only had small areas of AfricaEmpireindustrialismcolonies

The Causes of WW1 M ilitarism M ilitarism A lliances A lliances Imperialism Imperialism N ationalism N ationalism S ignificant individuals S ignificant individuals

A Slice of the African Cake

Imperialism All the great powers were competing for colonies / territory. During the late 1800s, relations between Britain and France were strained by a series of disputes over African colonies. Both nations hoped to control Egypt and Morocco and this caused many bitter arguments. These were eventually settled in 1904 by the Entente Cordiale. This “friendly understanding” said that Britain should control Egypt and France should control Morocco. However, Germany strongly objected to this agreement…

Imperialism On two occasions, in 1905 and 1911, German claims over Morocco raised international tension. Indeed, the “Agadir Incident” of 1911 caused Britain to hint that war might result if Germany continued her claims. This crisis passed, but these disputes simply made international relations worse. The bad feeling they created (combined with other factors) made the possibility of war more likely.

The Causes of WW1 M ilitarism M ilitarism A lliances A lliances I mperialism I mperialism Nationalism Nationalism S ignificant individuals S ignificant individuals

Nationalism Nationalism is the strong support of the rights and interests of one's country. The Congress of Vienna, held after Napoleon's exile to Elba, aimed to sort out problems in Europe. Delegates from Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia (the winning allies) decided upon a new Europe that left both Germany and Italy as divided states.exile Strong nationalist elements led to the re-unification of Italy in 1861 and Germany in 1871.re-unification The settlement at the end of the Franco-Prussian war left France angry at the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany and keen to regain their lost territory. Large areas of both Austria-Hungary and Serbia were home to differing nationalist groups, all of whom wanted freedom from the states in which they lived.