Austrias Intentions For War With Germanys example essay topic

To What Extent Is It Reasonable To Blame Germany For The Outbreak Of World War I To what extent is it reasonable to blame Germany for the outbreak of World War I. Germanys invasion of France via Belgium was the initial act of war that brought about the commencement of war. However, is it fair to say that it was Germany and Germany alone who acted to bring about this first step I would argue that a series of events led to the German invasion of Belgium, but to what extent could Germany be blamed for this series of events Germany was a new power in Europe; the unification of Germany under Prussian leadership in January 1871 was the result of the brilliant diplomacy of Otto von Bismarck who by skilful use of war, and his excellent methods of convincing others of his good intentions created the new empire. However, the emergence of the German empire had upset the balance of Central Europe maintained for centuries by the Holy Roman Empire and temporarily sustained by the German Confederation. Many people believe that the invoking of hatred within France by the creation of this new empire and the mistrust of the other surrounding empires over Prussian expansionist tendencies led inevitably to a European war. The fact that war was averted for nearly forty years was due to Bismarcks brilliant diplomacy. He managed to convince the other European powers that Russias only ambition was to consolidate its gains and not to expand further.

He also made a series of complex treaties with Russia, Austria and Italy. The basic outcome of this web of agreements was that Germany had a neutrality pact with Russia in the event of an Austro-Russian war, whilst promising support to Austria and Italy in the event of a war with another country. These treaties succeeded in isolating Franc a kept the peace for a considerable time, in this way what Bismarck achieved was momentous. Whether, had Bismarck continued as German Chancellor after 1890 on the accession of Wilhelm II, war may have been averted we will never know. It is unlikely that Bismarcks delay could have been sustained indefinitely even had Bismarck remained as Chancellor.

However, war, if inevitable, would have come about in a different way under Bismarck as he would have never allowed the alliance system of 1914 exist had he been in power. Caprivi's legacy was not perhaps as rosy as his predecessor had intended. Despite Frances still being isolated and treaties still existing between Germany and Russia, Italy and Austria, the situation was more complex. Problems had existed between Austria and Russia for many years over an area known as the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire was in a state of disintegration with both Austria and Russia vying for a greater influence in the area.

Both powers held a right to do so as Russia, predominantly a Slav country, felt that they should have an influence with their fellow Slavs. However, Austria felt that if she did not have an influence in the area, Russias policy would lead to a surge of Slav nationalist spirit with the inevitable result that Austrias Slavic peoples would rise up and overthrow Habsburg rule. Austria was a declining power by this time and had regions of the empire begun to break away, it was likely that a Slav nationalist uprising would result in the overthrow of the system and an end to Habsburg rule. For these reasons, Russia and Austria clashed frequently over the issue of the Balkans and indeed it was from this area that the spark for the First World War would come. The most important of the Balkan crises came in 1878. In 1876-77, full-scale Bulgarian uprising led to a confrontation between Turkey (The Ottoman empire) and Russia that led to a war from 1877-1878 over the future of Bulgaria resulted in a defeat for the Turks.

The Russians then forced the Turks to sign the Treaty of San Stefano. This treaty contained harsh terms that were felt by Britain and Austria-Hungary to give Russia too much power in the Balkans area. Bismarck, unwilling to upset either Austria or Russia decided to play the honest broker in the conference of Berlin in 1878. The result was that Russia was unhappy about the settlement over Bulgaria, as it appeared to them that the Germans, represented by Bismarck had sided with Austria. Even Bismarcks diplomacy had floundered over the difficult and complex situation in the Balkans. The result was a distinct cooling of relations between Russia and Germany, resulting in the effectual invalidation of the Reinsurance Treaty between the two powers that insured the neutrality of Russia in the event of a war with France.

When the Reinsurance Treaty was brought up in 1890, it could have been renewed through clever diplomacy, had Germany sought reconciliation with Russia. However, no such reconciliation was sought and the Treaty that effectively stopped European war through ensuring that France remained isolated was allowed to lapse. However, not only had this agreement been damaged by Bismarcks handling of the San Stefano treaty, but it had been further damaged by Wilhelm II who seemed increasingly in favour of Germany forging closer links with Austria and Italy and pursuing a more expansionist policy. The result was that Russia felt isolated and sought a treaty with France. It is perhaps surprising that no treaty of this kind was forged previously. However, Russia and France had had many differences in the past due to Frances revolutionary progressive history; in contrast Russia still maintained its autocratic Tsarist system.

However, bordered by potentially hostile powers each needed an ally in the event of war. France was showed immediate interest in this agreement as it resulted in not only an ally, but also a means through which to get even with Germany. France and Germany had become enemies through a series of wars during the 19th century. During the Napoleonic wars, Napoleon had not only beaten Prussia on several occasions, but Prussia had been humiliated. The result of this humiliation was that Prussia sought to get even, and the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 resulted in not only a humiliating defeat for France, but also the unification of Germany. France had been looking for revenge ever since, and the prospect of an alliance against Germany appealed to the nationalist feelings within France.

The later Entente Cordiale between Britain and France in 1904 and the Anglo-Russian Entente of 1907 effectively ensured that Europe was split by two opposing alliances, the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria and Italy) and the Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia.) These alliances were the key that made European war possible, however, even at this stage; war was far from inevitable and could have been avoided. The trigger factor was the successful assassination attempt by a Serbian terrorist organisation, The Black Hand on the life of the Austrian heir to the Habsburg throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This event took place in Sarajevo on Sunday 18th June 1914. It was originally a state visit by the Archduke to the capital whilst Austrian troops carried out mano vres close to the Serbia border through fear of a Slav attack on newly taken Bosnia, due to the revised San Stefano Treaty.

It was the wedding anniversary of the Archduke and his wife Sophie, and they celebrated by driving through the streets of Sarajevo in an open top car enjoying the warm weather. The bungled attempts by the Black Hand gang, a group of amateur assassins were initially unsuccessful as a hand grenade thrown at the car missed the intended target injuring some twenty onlookers. The officials in charge of the visit decided to change the route, however, a wrong turn was made by the first car and as the Archdukes driver tried in vain to reverse, a second assassin, Princi p, fired several shots at point blank range killing the Archduke and Sophie. This event seems to be relatively insignificant, except that the Austrians took the event as a deep affront on their national pride. They felt that in an age where an insult could not be left unavenged somebody must be to blame. It had been Archduke Franz Ferdinand who had time and again prevented war as a cool headed general; it seems ironic that his death caused the very thing he had been trying to avoid.

The Black Hand were certainly a Serbian terrorist organisation, whether the Serb government had any knowledge of their actions is unsure, but what is for sure is that Austria blamed Serbia for the attack. However, if Austria was to commence an attack on Serbia, it was almost inevitable that Russia would get involved. For this reason Austria refused to act without the prior promise of support from Germany. On July 5th, one week after the assassination, Austria sent an envoy to Germany requesting permission for a response. It was at this point that war could have been avoided. Had the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, refused the Austrian request for support, it is probable that war would have been avoided.

So why did the German Kaiser give the Austrians a blank cheque and promise unconditional support to Austria It is in this action that Germanys responsibility lies, were they planning war, or did they not expect Austria to actually go to war over the event Kaiser Wilhelm II was brought up in a liberal family, but a withered arm and having liberalism spoon fed into him from an early age caused him to blame his mother for his withered arm and rebel against her liberal ideas. The result is that we see Germany turning away from liberal ideas during his reign. He became obsessed with the military and surrounded himself with military advisors, indeed he only saw his Chancellor once weekly, though the Chief of the Military cabinet met with the Kaiser three times weekly. This led to policies such as naval expansion, which invoked the ill will of Britain. In December 1912, the Germans held a war council at Potsdam; the real question is were the Germans planning European war even in 1912 or were they simply preparing for the possibility that European war might occur It seems to me that the conference did not set a date for war, but simply discussed what Germany should do should the situation arise. However, the war conference shows that Germany was not reluctant to enter into a war, and the Kaiser and his advisors, yearning for expansion of the Empire saw the potential benefits of such a war.

The Blank Cheque given by Germany to Austria led to war. Is it possible that Austrias intentions for war with Germanys backing could have been mistaken However, this was an extremely difficult and precarious position for the Germans. If they refused to support Austria, they would be accused of leaving Austria in the lurch, and Austria might turn to the open arms of the Triple Entente, however, if Austria were encouraged to pursue a course of action, Germany could have been accused of pushing Europe towards war. The result was the non-committal, but essentially vital Blank Cheque.

The Austrians wanted revenge, and German backing allowed them to commence a war with Serbia. It was the ultimatum intentionally containing completely unacceptable terms that Austria offered Serbia that enabled war to commence. On 26th July 1914, Austria declared war on Serbia despite Serbia acceptance of all bar one of the conditions on the ultimatum. Even at this stage war could have been averted, but in fact mismanagement of the crisis led to war. It was predictable that Russia, supported by France, would get involved; however, Russia initially did not intend to engage Germany. Russia had two schemes for mobilisation, part mobilisation or full mobilisation, the two were not interchangeable, once part mobilisation was ordered, because of the rolling stock required etc. troops could end up stranded miles from the front being rendered utterly useless, the result was that troops were fully mobilise and placed along the entire front.

This again was not an act of war towards Germany, but simply a threat of war, however, Russias full mobilisation allowed Germany to blame the first move on Russia. Despite the entreaties of Tsar Nicholas II, Germanys entire plan hinged upon a Blitzkrieg to wipe out France followed by a concentration of forces on the Eastern Front. For centuries, due to geographical position, Germany had been petrified of a war on two fronts, Bismarck was obsessed by the possibility and hence the Reinsurance treaty with Russia. This had caused Germany to draw up a plan known as the Schlieffen plan, which basically involved an attack on France through Belgium, encircling Paris and thereby disabling France, causing her to seek peace, hence allowing Germany to concentrate on Russia. The plan assumed that it would take months for the Russian war machine to get moving, giving Germany enough time to achieve victory against France. The result of this plan was that as soon as Germany declared was on Russia, the trains went west, through Belgium to attack France.

So, to what extent was Germany responsible for the war of 1914 If one considers that the Alliance system rendered war inevitable, then it can be said that Germany was entirely to blame. It was Germanys Triple Alliance with Austria and Italy that began the system of Alliances under Bismarck. Germany can also be held responsible for the lapse of the Reinsurance treaty with the result of a Franco-Russian alliance followed closely by a Triple Entente between Russia, Britain and France. Therefore, the defensive alliances, which were certainly conducive to a hostile atmosphere, could certainly be blamed no Germany and indeed these were vital in the eventual European war. However, these alliances cannot be entirely blamed for the war. The war came about because of the mismanagement of a crisis.

In itself, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand should not have led to war. However, it was the spark that lit the fuse in an atmosphere of hostility. The communications breakdown between the two camps, led in many ways to the commencement of war. Again Germany played a role in the mismanagement of the Balkans crisis, although in this case I think that a large part of the blame can be laid on Austria. If Austria had not decided that the most appropriate form of revenge was war, then perhaps a full scale European war could have been averted. It was the unacceptable ultimatum, and consequent declaration of war on Serbia that led to the involvement of Russia and therefore a fight between the alliances.

In this way we can blame the fact that Austria was in the process of disintegration, and felt that it was vital to her survival that a war was fought to prove her major power status. However, Germany cannot be exemplified from blame, it was the promise of unconditional support that allowed Austria to act. It is difficult to comprehend why Germany did this, but it is reasonable to assume that either Germany wanted war or that she trusted Austria not to go to war. Either way it is reasonable to say that as a consequence of Germanys non-committal Blank Cheque, Austria was able to go to war with the full support of its powerful ally. The lack of communication was again seen in the almost accidental outbreak of war.

Russias full mobilisation caused Germany to feel threatened, and as their plan relied upon surprise attack on France before turning east to concentrate on Russia, war was brought about. However, Tsar Nicholas II was forced to mobilise fully right across the front because of the practicalities of mobilising the huge Russian army, had communication between Russia and Germany been better, perhaps the crisis could have been controlled by an explanation of actions on Russians part, as both Tsar Nicholas II and Kaiser Wilhelm II seemed intent on averting war. In conclusion, Germany can certainly be blamed for causing the hostile atmosphere that had developed by 1914 due to the alliance system, and also for giving Austria unconditional support in the Balkans crisis. However, to simply blame Germany for the outbreak of war would be not to consider all the facts. Austrias loss of status, and subsequent wish to restore itself as a great power through war led to a spark igniting, and indeed the actual outbreak of war could be blamed on Austrias desire for war and revenge on Serbia.

The unfortunate practicality of fully mobilising Russias troops was also important in the outbreak of war. Germany can certainly be blamed partially for contributing to the outbreak of war, but other factors and other countries perhaps played a more pivotal role in Germanys invasion of France in 1914.