Germany And Austro Hungary example essay topic

The controversy, as to what extent Germany played in determining the outbreak of the First World War, is one that has caused debate amongst prominent historians. The First World War was started by many underlying factors such as imperialism, nationalism and the forming of diplomatic alliances, culminating in the outbreak of hostilities on the 28th July 1914. The question is were Germany the main instigators and purely to blame. Europe at the beginning of the 20th century was rapidly changing, there were also many wars and ongoing battles being fought between rival imperial countries.

An example of this is Russia expanding its country eastwards which led to the Russo-Japanese war in 1904-1905. There were also the two Moroccan crises of 1905 and 1911 respectively which helped sour relations between many of the imperial powers before 1914. As they all had a desire for a place in the sun, countries like Germany, Britain, France and Holland. Also there were the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913 which further demonstrated the weakness of the Ottoman Empire and how it could be exploited and which strengthened the position of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro the so called Balkan league within the Balkans. Austro-Hungary looked upon this with great uneasiness due to Serbia becoming more influential. Europe was also the centre of many new alliances being formed between former colonial rivals.

Such as the Franco-Russian alliance formed in 1893 which promised assistance of either power if being attacked by Germany. Similarly France and Britain settled their colonial differences in 1904 and signed a treaty pledging their military support if attacked from another country, Germany looked upon this as a nightmare coalition and started there fears of encirclement. Germany also had a coalition they were called the central powers, Germany and Austro-Hungary they also pledged military support and also had very nationalistic ideas. They had theories of Social Darwinism the idea of survival of the fittest.

Both countries were very expansionist and wanted a larger living space. Austro-Hungary at this point and the Hapsburg Empire were faltering and Serbia as a sovereign state was becoming more powerful. Especially after the Belgrade coup of 1903 which saw the leaders of Serbia become more militaristic as they aimed for a greater more powerful Serbia. Austro-Hungary feared that Serbia were becoming to strong and were looking to address the situation in the near future. Franz Duke Ferdinand the heir to the throne of Austro-Hungary however was very influential in stopping any military action towards Serbia or any other country in the Balkans. His assassination on the 28th June 1914 in Sarajevo by Gavril o Princi p of the Black Hand terrorist organisation is stated as being the main reason for the war starting.

However the incident is just the catalyst for a localised war being escalated into a world war, and it gave Austro-Hungary the excuse they needed to regain their controlling role over Serbia. After Ferdinand's assassination it took just six weeks for a localised dispute to turn into a world war. There were six countries and many reasons why this localised conflict turned into a world war within six weeks. Austro-Hungary could be apportioned for the blame for starting the war due to the fact that they invited Germany to join the war if Russia intervened on behalf of Serbia which was more than likely. Austro-Hungary also just used the assassination as an excuse really to create a war with Serbia they were also willing to start another Balkan war.

Since the begging of the 20th century Austria felt it necessary to eliminate Serbia as a political factor in the Balkans. They also sent an unacceptable ultimatum to Serbia stating that Austrian officials should be allowed onto Serbian soil they also declared war five days afterwards Austria were also the first country to declare war. However it has been stated that Austria used the war as a way to deflect attention from the faltering empire and the problems that they were facing within home soil. Serbia also could be labelled with some blame for the outbreak of hostilities. This is due to the fact that they had state sponsored terrorism and there are reports that the government knew about the assassination. The government also knew that their would be repercussions from this.

Jon Lowe an historian agrees with this fact, there is also the fact that Serbia could have been more amenable with the demands of a more powerful country Austria. Serbia had also fomented trouble with Austria for years this may have been for the fact that they knew that had a world power like Russia for military support. "In 1914 both Austria-Hungary and Serbia engaged in brinkmanship. Displaying great recklessness in a tense situation. In the view of some historians, the critical decisions were taken by the, rather than by Germany or Russia. In this sense, the 1914 might be considered as the 'Third Balkan War'1 Russia, France and Britain in their own way must shoulder some of the blame also for the First World War.

Russia in particular must take some of the blame. Due to the fact that they were the First of the great powers to mobilise even before Germany had declared war on them. This incensed the Germans and escalated the situation. The Russian leaders also failed and were unwilling to restrain the Slavs and told them to be defiant to Austrian demands which again dint help the situation. Russia also gave Serbia her military backing which gave Serbia confidence to reject parts of the ultimatum as Russia had the biggest army in the world.

France played their part to in the hostilities as the hard long term feelings for revenge after the loss of Alsace -Lorraine after the Franco Prussian war which they wanted to get back off Germany, they also re-armed their military and gave Russia her military backing and offer of renewed support during the July crisis. All of these reasons further destroyed already weak relations with Germany and helped to bring about the outbreak of war. After the alliance of Britain to France it was seemingly impossible that Britain would stay out of the war, but they didn't necessarily have to get involved. Britain also should shoulder some of the blame as they could have acted and tried to restrain Russia and her war aims, they also had a naval commitment to France which they said they would uphold. Britain also had naval meetings with Russia which made Germany fear that their encirclement was complete. It was also not at all in Britain interests to let Germany start a war and invade neutral countries thus they can be apportioned some of the blame due to they could have been firmer with Germany and declared their intentions earlier.

"A blunt statement to Germany on the 26th July that Britain would intervene on the side of France might have deterred Bethmann-Hollweg from pushing Austria into her suicidal declaration of war on Serbia, but no specific warning was forthcoming form Grey until the 29th July. 2 These five countries played a part in the immediate and long term causes of the Great war, however their was one major underlying factor which escalated the war from a localised affair into a world one and that was Germany. After the visit of Count Huy os on the 5th July 1914 to Berlin seeking assurances of German support for military action the Kaiser told him that they could count on their full support, even if it meant that there was a probability of 90 per cent of a European war if Austro-Hungary took action against Serbia. Germany made many deliberate decisions which led to a world war. An example of this was the introduction of the Schlieffen plan which was endorsed in 1905. A plan which states that the fight a war on two fronts always attacking France first and then Russia as it takes them longer to mobilise due to the size of the country.

A plan of which they followed in 1914, nine years after the plan had been introduced. Germany wanted war in 1914 due to her fears of encirclement by the Triple Entente and the rising power of the Russian army which would have been at its strongest in 1917. Germany also had problems on the home front fears of the rise of socialism which led the government to contemplate a war as a diversion. Germany also issued the blank cheque to Austro-Hungary and increasingly told Vienna to make her demands to Serbia strong so that there was no way that they could accept the terms.

It has been argued by historians such as Beckett, Geist and Wilson that Germany knew exactly what they were doing when it came to war, Germany wanted more colonial gains and there is evidence in the archives that a deliberate decision on war was taken in 1914. "A moment so favourable from a military point of view might never occur again"3. German leaderships were intent on war and had no intention of keeping it localised and embarked on war with determination. German historians however argue that the war was a preventative war due to their encirclement even though there was no direct threat to Germany at that time. Germany also blocked many mediation attempts from the British foreign minister Lord Grey pleading with the German ambassador not to go to war. Arguably Germany could have stopped the war by not issuing support for Austria.

It has also been stated that maybe Germany made many miscalculations where the war was concerned. The backing of Austria backfired on them it could be argued and also they had hope the Britain and Russia would stay neutral. It was also evident that there was panic throughout Berlin when conflict became inevitable, which may lead one to believe they weren't as intent on war as first thought. Germany and her leaders also had the idea of trying to make everybody else look like they were to blame for the war so they could get support from the people within Germany. They were constantly trying to blame Russia for the war starting. As they did not declare war on Russia, France and Britain until Russia began to mobilise on the 29th July.

Germany also were led to believe that Britain would not enter the war due to the problems they had with the Irish home rule crisis.