1. Causes of World War I Part 1

2. Cause #1 – Alliances Why Alliances?
Maintain balance of power
Would be a deterrent to war
To benefit your country
Alliances were kept secret, so parliament wasn’t consulted
Diplomats came from the upper classes because they were expected to throw parties for other diplomats, so they weren’t necessarily the best people for the job

3. Cause #1 – Alliances
After Napoleon’s defeat in 1815, there was a balance of power in Europe
France was defeated by Germany in (Germany got Alsace-Lorraine); ended balance of power because Germany was united

4. Cause #1 – Alliances Germany was now:
First in military, education, and scientific discovery
67 million people – 2nd to Russia
Produced much coal, iron, and steel
Were catching up to Britain
Agricultural output doubled
Industry production quadrupled
Trade tripled

5. Cause #1 – Alliances: Dual Alliance (1879) (Germany & Austria)
Germany’s reasons
Austria-Hungary had many Germans living in them
Austria-Hungary could be more easily dominated
Their territory could be used as a path to the Middle East
Germany wanted to maintain a balance of power in their favor
It would alarm the Russians into making better relations with Germany
Austria’s reasons
It meant an additional guarantee of the empire’s stability
The maintenance of Austria-Hungary as a Great Power depended on the alliance

6. Cause #1 – Alliances: Dual Alliance (1879) (Germany & Austria)
The maintenance of Austria-Hungary as a Great Power became a major foreign policy goal for Germany because Austria was seen as Germany’s only reliable ally
The incorporation of Bosnia-Herzegovina was seen as a way to strengthen Austria-Hungary’s position as a Great Power, but it was a blow to Serbia’s objective of making a Greater Serbia
Map of Europe today

7. Cause #1 – Alliances: Triple Alliance (1882) (Germany, Austria, & Italy)
Italy switched from a policy of internal improvement to nationalism/imperialism when they united in 1866
France had acquired Tunisia before Italy could get it, so they hoped an alliance would help them get territory
They wanted – Trentino and Trieste, Nice and Savoy, Tunisia and Tripolis, Corsica, and Balkans
The alliance and territory would appeared to give Italy status as a Great Power

9. Cause #1 – Alliances: Dual Entente (1893) (France & Russia)
Bismarck closed the German money markets to Russian loans (for military and industrial development) in 1885 in order to discourage their engaging in a war in the Balkans, so the French replaced them. Bismarck was supporting Austria-Hungary by his actions
France was upset about losing Alsace Lorraine and wanted it back
This alliance would counter the threat of Dual Alliance

10. Cause #1 – Alliances: Entente Cordiale (1904) (France & Britain)
France couldn’t maintain both a fleet equal to Britain and an army equal to Germany (British navy would concentrate on the English Channel; French navy would concentrate on the Mediterranean)
Both were concerned over Germanys growing power
Britain felt that if they didn’t maintain a close relationship with France, they might turn to Germany (at the expense of the British Empire)

11. Cause #1 – Alliances: Triple Entente (1907) (Russia, Britain, France)
The Russian defeat by Japan made the Russian government anxious to improve relations with Britain
Britain and France could strengthen the fledgling parliamentary system in Russia
Gave the Russians hopes of British support for their aspirations in the Balkans
Settle imperial differences in the Middle East between Britain and Russia
Britain wanted to maintain their empire

13. Cause #1 – Alliances: False Beliefs
Bethmann Hollweg, Chancellor of Germany, believed that if Russia started the war, then Britain would not intervene
Franz Conrad, the Chief of Staff of Austria-Hungary, believed that Russian support for Serbia might turn out to be bluff
Russian officials believed that if they supported Serbia, Germany wouldn’t intervene

14. Cause #2 – Militarism Why Militarism?
Germany had biggest army, while Britain had biggest navy
Everyone wanted to catch up to each other to maintain balance of power and they also felt threatened by one another, so an arms race results
Mindset was that all great powers had a big military - The Influence of Sea Power in History (1905) by Thayer Mahan
The military was needed to maintain empire

15. Cause #2 – Militarism Why militarism?
All countries felt threatened by one another, so a large military would act as a deterrent
Industrialism – countries could produce weapons fast and that are more deadly (arms races)
Countries felt like war was eminent as it got closer and closer to 1914, so they all developed war plans

16. Cause #2 – Militarism: Germany
The Prussians formed the dominant element in the army and they had a tradition of strong military values
This affected the whole of German society after unification
In addition, Germany still had individual states (Landers), that possessed important powers over day-to-day life of their citizens, so foreign policy was seen as a way to unify the country

18. Cause #2 – Militarism: Germany
Weltpolitik was the German policy to find their “place in the sun” that was fitting to their rising power
Part of this policy was to maintain an empire. They would do that by making a navy which would rival, or even exceed, the UK’s Royal Navy in strength
This policy was sought by Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. He convinced the Reichstag that without the navy, German decline was certain

19. Dreadnoughts – early form of battleship
By 1914:
Britain – 32
Germany – 19

20. Cause #2 – Militarism: Germany
Arguments for the fleet:
Because of Britain’s many worldwide commitments, a battleship fleet only 2/3 the size would bring victory
Fleet would act as a deterrent, ensuring Britain’s neutrality in any future conflict
Other countries would only respect and deal with Germany fairly when Germany’s navy was built up that much

21. Cause #2 – Militarism: Germany
The results of Weltpolitik were:
It led to an Anglo-German naval race where each sought to outbuild the other in dreadnoughts
Led to Britain’s fear that they would lose the balance of power and their empire, so they began a naval building program in 1889
Britain and other countries refused to end warship construction because they were afraid they’d lose overseas markets and natural resources

22. Cause #2 – Militarism Germany’s Schlieffen Plan
Developed when Russia had been defeated by Japan in and Russia was in their first revolution
Dependent on quick mobilization and defeat of France, then defeat of Russia
They thought it would take Russia 40 days to mobilize
Wanted to go through neutral Belgium

23. Schlieffen Plan

24. Cause #2 – Militarism: Austria
Austrian Naval League (1905) – explained that Austria-Hungary ought to follow the path taken by Germany
By 1912, the largest budget in Austro-Hungarian history was approved
New military laws guaranteed their armed forces an annual contingent of 181,000 men, with increases over the next 5 years

25. Cause #2 – Militarism: Austria
Wanted to annex Bosnia-Herzegovina
Plan B (Balkans) - Planned a campaign to crush Serbia quickly before Russia could get involved
Plan R (Russia) - Another plan developed later that would attack Serbia, prevent Russian assistance to Serbia, deploy troops to Russia, and leave northern A-H up to Germany to protect