Lecture 4: “The War to End all Wars” January 12, 2009

Causes of WWI Power differentials Power differentials Imperial rivalries Imperial rivalries Nationalism Nationalism Alliances Alliances

How the war started Assassination Assassination Alliances Alliances German war strategy (Schlieffen Plan) German war strategy (Schlieffen Plan)

Results of the war Death and destruction Death and destruction

Results of the war Death and destruction Death and destruction Crisis of confidence in European “civilization” Crisis of confidence in European “civilization”

Results of the war Death and destruction Death and destruction Crisis of confidence in European “civilization” Crisis of confidence in European “civilization” End of empires End of empires

Results of the war Death and destruction Death and destruction Crisis of confidence in European “civilization” Crisis of confidence in European “civilization” End of empires End of empires Ascendance of America Ascendance of America

Relative Share of World Manufacturing Output, Britain US Germany France Russia Austria- Hungary Italy

How to fix the world End militarism and autocracy End militarism and autocracy Punish and disarm Germany Punish and disarm Germany Self-determination Self-determination

Problems with Self-Determination Who’s a nation? Who’s a nation? Mixed demography Mixed demography Threatened more instability Threatened more instability Weak buffers between Germany and Russia Weak buffers between Germany and Russia Most new states not ready Most new states not ready

How to fix the world End militarism and autocracy End militarism and autocracy Punish and disarm Germany Punish and disarm Germany Self-determination Self-determination 14 Points 14 Points

(some of) Wilson’s 14 Points I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view. III. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance. XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike

Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928 The High Contracting Parties…condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, and renounce it, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another…The High Contracting Parties agree that the settlement or solution of all disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them, shall never be sought except by pacific means. The High Contracting Parties…condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, and renounce it, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another…The High Contracting Parties agree that the settlement or solution of all disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them, shall never be sought except by pacific means.

Why it didn’t work US isolationism US isolationism Diverging US and European Interests Diverging US and European Interests

Wilson’s idealism “We created this Nation, not to serve ourselves, but to serve mankind.” “We created this Nation, not to serve ourselves, but to serve mankind.” “The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secured as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them.” “The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secured as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them.”

Why it didn’t work US isolationism US isolationism Diverging European Interests Diverging European Interests