Germany Sided With Austria And Britain example essay topic

The causes of World War I have been discussed in great detail in many publications. Most agree that the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was the final piece of the complex puzzle, but there were other factors that contributed to the outbreak of war. James Joll uses the approach of starting from the assassination and building layers of other possible factors around it, while Joachim Remak gives us a timeline approach to the events leading up to the murder. Bismarck, the German Chancellor from 1871 to 1890, started the alliance system. After the Franco-Prussian War, Bismarck held that Germany was a satiated state that should give up ideas of further conquest.

Thus Bismarck organized a system of alliances designed to maintain Germany's hegemony on the European continent. France was determined to challenge the hegemony of Germany because France had been defeated by Germany in 1871 and had been forced to cede two provinces (Alsace-Lorraine) to Germany. Bismarck tried to befriend Austria, Russia, Italy and Britain in order to isolate France. Bismarck's succeeded in forming the League of the Three Emperors (1872) with partners of Kaiser William I of Germany, Czar Alexander II of Russia and Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria. These three rulers agreed to maintain the existing territorial arrangements in Europe, resist the spread of revolutionary (e.g. socialist) movements, and to consult one another if any international difficulties arose. France was being diplomatically isolated.

But the underlying weakness of this personal understanding between the three emperors was the rivalry between Austria and Russia over the Balkan Peninsula, both sought to dominate the Balkans. Rivalry between Austria and Russia in the Balkans came to a head in 1877-78. In 1875, five Balkan states revolted against the Turkish rule. Russia supported the Balkan states and defeated Turkey. The "Turks had little choice but to ask for peace"1 and on March 8, 1878, Turkey was forced to sign the Treaty of San Stefano, in which an independent, Big Bulgaria was created. Seeing that this Bulgaria would be a Russian puppet, Austria intervened, supported by Britain, the traditional rival of Russia in the eastern Mediterranean.

Bismarck volunteered to act as a mediator and called the Congress of Berlin to settle the Balkan problems. At this Congress, Germany sided with Austria and Britain. Russia had to give up the Treaty of San Stefano and sign the Treaty of Berlin. The Treaty split Bulgaria into three parts (Bulgarian Proper was to be independent, Eastern Rumelia and Macedonia were to be ruled under Turkish sovereignty) and brought Bosnia and Herzegovina under Austrian military occupation (but not annexation). Russia felt diplomatically humiliated.

The anger of Russia turned against Bismarck because he chaired the Congress. "Forced to make the next move"2 and unable to maintain friendly relations with both Austria and Russia, Bismarck chose Austria to be his ally because Germany preferred a weaker partner which could be more easily controlled an alliance with Austria would throw open the Danube valley to German trade, Austria had racial ties with Germany, such an alliance would enable Germany to exercise influence in the Balkans, and finally an alliance with Russia would antagonize Britain, as Britain did not like her colonial rival to be supported by a strong power. On October 7, 1879 Bismarck made the Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary. Both sides agreed to support the other militarily until the end of the war if attacked by Russia or by Russia and another power and to remain neutral if her ally was attacked by a power other than Russia.

The Dual Alliance gave Germany a firm military ally but committed her more to the support of Austrian interests in the Balkans. In the meantime, Bismarck still wanted to keep the friendship of Russia for fear that Russia would turn to the side of France, in which case Germany would face an enemy on both east and west. Bismarck still wanted to keep Russian friendship after the signing of Dual Alliance (1879) with Austria. The year 1881 was particularly favorable for the restoration of the League of the three conservative Emperors. In that year, Czar Alexander ascended the Russian throne after the assassination of Alexander II. The fate of his father made Alexander ready for a renewal of the Three Emperors' League of 1872, which promised to suppress the revolutionary movements.

The League agreed to the terms that the Balkans were to be divided into two spheres of influence, the western Balkans (Bosnia and Herzegovina) belonged to Austria and the eastern Balkans (Bulgaria) belonged to Russia, the three Emperors agreed to consult one another if there was another Balkan crisis, and the three Emperors agreed to preserve benevolent neutrality if any one of them were to "find itself at war with a fourth power"3. The League could not last long because Austria and Russia would soon rival over the Balkan Peninsula again. Bismarck had tactfully encouraged France to expand overseas in the hope of diverting her attention away from Alsace-Lorraine. French annexation of Tunis in northern Africa in 1881 alienated Italy, which was ambitious to build up an Italian empire in Africa. Italy was thus driven into Bismarck's camp in anger.

The terms of the alliance were if Italy or Germany was attacked by France, each would aid the other; if Austria was attacked by Russia, Italy would remain neutral, although Austria would aid Italy if she was attacked by France; if one of the parties was attacked by two or more powers, the other signatories were to come to her aid; and at Italy's request, both Austria and Germany agreed that in no case would the Treaty operate against Britain. The position of Italy in the Triple Alliance seemed to be rather dubious. It was because the reasons that had impelled Italy to join the Triple Alliance were no longer important. By 1900, the Italians had resigned themselves to the loss of Tunis. They wanted to conquer Tripoli with French support. Moreover, by 1900, Italy needed not fear any attempt by the French monarchist-clericals to intervene in her domestic politics on behalf of the Pope as the republicans had secured power in France.

Thus, in 1900, a secret arrangement was concluded between France and Italy: France was given a free hand in Morocco, Italy in Tripoli. In 1902, another secret agreement was made between France and Italy: each promised to be neutral if either was provoked into declaring war on a third power. This ran contrary to the terms of the Triple Alliance, by which Italy promised to aid Germany in case of a Franco-German war. By 1909 Italy made her Racconigi Agreement with Russia. By this Italy would remain neutral in any Russian attempt to regain the control of the Straits and Constantinople in return for Russian diplomatic support for the Italian conquest of Tripoli. These Italian agreements made the Triple Alliance almost null and void.

By this time, a powerful bloc had been formed in central Europe. Germany was now guaranteed against Russia by Austria, and against France by Italy. Bismarck had successfully kept the friendship of Russia, Austria and Italy and kept France completely isolated. He was a skilful diplomat who was able to handle the European powers for Germany's advantage and as he said "All politics reduces itself to this formula: Try to be a trios as long as the world is governed by the unstable equilibrium of five Great Powers"4. Yet Italy's commitment to the Triple Alliance was doubtful because the archenemy of Italian unity had been Austria, while France was the friend of Italian unity. Once Italy's anger over Tunis cooled off, she would prefer an alliance with France to that with Austria.

According to the terms of the Second Three Emperors' League, Bulgaria was recognized as a Russian sphere of influence The Bulgarians were experiencing an awakening of national self-consciousness and did not want to be dominated by the Russians. In 1885, in defiance of the Treaty of Berlin, the Bulgarians united Bulgaria with Eastern Rumelia. Russia objected to the emergence of a large anti-Russian state but Austria and Britain gave their recognition to the union of Bulgaria with Eastern Rumelia. Russia hated the Austrians for breaking the terms of the Second Three Emperors League and allowed the League to lapse in 1887.

Bismarck secretly made a treaty with Russia without informing Austria where Russia and Germany would observe neutrality towards each other if either became involved in war with a third power, except if Germany attacked France or if Russia attacked Austria-Hungary. By making this treaty, Bismarck had been able to prevent his nightmare, a two front war, from being realized. Bismarck was a skillful diplomat. For twenty years, he made Germany the center of the diplomatic stage. France was kept isolated, but Austria, Russia, Italy and Britain were on friendly terms with Germany.

Bismarck's alliances were non-aggressive and kept Europe at peace. Yet after 1890, Bismarck fell from power because the new Kaiser, William II, "found it understandably difficult to get along with a national monument for a chancellor"5. The new Kaiser took matters into his own hands rejecting the idea that Germany was a satisfied state; he wanted to make Germany not only a European power but also a world power. He advocated Drang nach Osten (the drive eastwards into the Balkans and Middle East), colonial expansion and naval expansion.

He was also influenced by Pan-German feelings to support Austria's expansionist policy in the Balkans and to pursue his ambitions, he often adopted blackmailing, threats and other unpopular methods. From 1890 to 1907, he succeeded in alienating Britain, France and Russia, and thus helped to create a rival bloc of anti-German alliances. When William II came to hold absolute power in Germany, he thought, "since war was inevitable sooner or later"6 with Russia, he allowed the Reinsurance Treaty to lapse. He stressed Germany's political and military ties with Austria instead.

Such a policy, together with the growing Pan-Germanism, aroused strong Russian suspicion. Russia naturally turned to the side of France, which was the irreconcilable enemy of Germany. Although at first there seemed little possibility for Czarist Russia to ally with Republican France, two factors made such an alliance possible, "the French government... impressed upon Russians the desirability of cooperating against the common enemy, Germany"7 and France had floated several huge loans to help Russia to industrialize. The terms of the alliance were if France was attacked by Germany or Germany and her ally (Italy), Russia would aid France, in return, if Russia was attacked by Germany or Germany and her ally (Austria), France would aid Russia, if one or more members of the Triple Alliance mobilized, they would mobilize to help one another automatically, and this agreement would continue as long as the Triple Alliance was in force.

The Dual Alliance ended the isolation of France, created a rival alliance to the Triple Alliance, and, most serious of all, faced Germany with the threat of a two front war. But William II failed to sense the danger at the time. He was contented to have Austria as an ally and continued his drive for power and prestige. After the formation of the Franco-Russian Alliance, Britain found herself diplomatically isolated. Throughout the 19th century, she had followed the policy of isolation and avoided all involvement in European affairs. But by the late 19th century, "some British leaders, notably Joseph Chamberlain, the Colonial Secretary, were beginning to think that Britain might have to abandon the policy of isolation"8, for she could no longer command respect in world politics.

This was illustrated by three incidents. In 1895, the Continental Group forced Japan to hand back Liaotung Peninsula to China. Britain was excluded was excluded from the decision making process and the Continental Group. In 1896, Dr. Jameson, encouraged and supported by the British Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, organized a raid into the Dutch Republic of Transvaal in South Africa. The raid failed, and Dr. Jameson and the raiders were captured by the Dutch (Boers). Public opinion in most of the European countries was strongly anti-British.

Kaiser William II approved of the Dutch efforts by sending the famous 'Kruger Telegram' to President Kruger of Transvaal. The European reactions to the Jameson Raid suggested that Britain had no diplomatic support in Europe. Finally, between 1893 and 1898, in Armenia, the Turkish Sultan slaughtered thousands of his Christian subjects; Britain's suggestion of sending a navy to the Armenian shore to rescue the Christians went unheeded. Britain at first sought to make some sort of alliance with Germany, but she failed for several reasons. Germany wanted Britain to join the Triple Alliance, but Britain refused for fear that it would involve her in European conflicts of no direct concern to Britain. Germany's naval expansion after 1898 threatened Britain's naval supremacy and with the Kaiser saying "our future lies on the water"9 it caused the British to increase their naval production.

Most importantly, Germany's colonial interests clashed with those of Britain in China and the Balkans. Germany wanted to divide China into spheres of influence but Britain wanted to keep an open door for trade for all nations in every part of China. In the Balkans, Germany wanted to bring Turkey under the economic and political control of Germany. But Britain tried to maintain the integrity of the Turkish Empire for fear that if Germany controlled Turkey; she would threaten the British naval and economic interests in the Mediterranean.

Consequently Britain concluded an alliance with Japan in 1902. The Alliance was important in European diplomatic relations in two ways Britain had abandoned her policy of isolation, and since Britain could make use of Japan to check Russian aggression in the Far East, her fear of Russian colonial expansion lessened and this helped to pave the way for their future cooperation. After concluding the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, Britain was still looking for a European ally. She naturally turned to France, the irreconcilable enemy of Germany. France also wanted Britain as her ally since she did not want to support Russia in a war in the Far East because it would mean a war with both Britain and Japan. Alliance with Britain might absolve France from supporting Russia and settle many conflicts between Britain and France in Africa.

In 1898, the conflict at Fashoda in North Africa nearly brought them into a war, but France realized that her greatest foe was Germany and wanted to settle many of her colonial disputes with Britain peacefully and gained the help of the latter in acquiring Morocco. (Morocco was rich in mineral and agricultural wealth, so France wanted to take over it as her colony.) The last obstacle to the formation of the British and French Entente was removed in 1901. In that year Queen Victoria died and was succeeded by her son Edward VII. Kaiser William II was Victoria's grandson, his mother having been the Queen's daughter. Thus Queen Victoria preferred an alliance of Germany to that of France. But Edward VII did not share his mother's sentiment towards Germany.

Consequently Britain reached a series of agreements with France in 1904. These agreements settled their old colonial disputes in Siam, West Africa, Madagascar, the remote New Hebrides and fishing rights in Newfoundland. The most important agreement was the one by which France recognized Egypt and the Sudan as British sphere of influence and Britain recognized Morocco as French sphere of influence; in addition, both would support each other if their respective spheres of influence were challenged by a third power. The Entente Cordiale (friendly agreement) was not an alliance in name, but it rapidly became something like it in fact. Kaiser William II was furious at it, both because it seemed to shut Germany out of Morocco and because it indicated that British influence would be used in the interests of France, rather than those of Germany.

France had a military alliance with Russia and a friendly agreement with Britain. It now became her concern to draw her two partners together. She finally succeeded in inducing Britain to settle her disputes with Russia in 1907. Britain and Russia had been long-timed rivals in colonial and trade questions in the Middle and Far East. But several factors made possible their agreement. First, both felt greatly threatened by Germany.

The rapid buildup of the German navy challenged Britain's position as the greatest naval power in the world. "In the pursuit of imperialism, Britain faced too many enemies" 10 and the construction of the Berlin-Baghdad railway meant an extension of German influence into the Balkans and the Turkish Empire, an area that Russia considered as her sphere of influence. Second, both Britain and Russia resented the aggressive nature of William II's diplomacy, as shown in the First Moroccan Crisis 1905-06. Third, Britain considered that now Germany was a more dangerous rival than Russia to her commercial interests in the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean.

Fourth, the growth of the Balkan states greatly reduced the Russian threat in the Balkans lessening Britain's fear of Russia. Finally, in the Far East Britain did not worry about Russian ambition any more as Russia was defeated by Japan in 1905. Therefore, in 1907, Britain and Russia agreed to settle their colonial disputes in the following manner; Persia was divided into three parts: the north kept by Russia as her sphere of influence, the south kept by Britain, and the central was to remain under Persian control as a buffer zone, Russia renounced her interests in Afghanistan; Russia and Britain were to enjoy equal trading rights in the country while Britain gained control of the foreign policy in Afghanistan (this agreement safeguarded the security of India, relieving one of the major concerns of Great Britain), and both Russia and Britain recognized China's suzerainty over Tibet. They treated Tibet as a neutral state between themselves. Thus England was bound to France and Russia by Entente and France and Russia were held together by a firm alliance.

This group of three great powers was usually called the Triple Entente. The European powers had now aligned themselves into two rival camps, the Triple Entente versus the Triple Alliance. After 1870, the European nations began to acquire colonies in Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Their imperialistic activities accelerated from 1880 onwards. Between 1895 and 1905 imperialistic expansion reached its climax. Colonial rivalry led to strained relations among the European powers.

In Africa, all the European powers except Austria and Russia had colonies there. Thus there were many clashes among France, Britain, Germany and Italy. For example, France rivaled with Italy over Tunis and with Germany over Morocco. The colonial rivalries led indirectly to the formation and strengthening of alliances and ententes, Italy turned to Germany and Austria when she lost Tunis to France in 1881. Russia and Britain could patch up their differences and form an entente in 1907 as a result of their mutual fear of Germany's expansionist activities in the Balkans. Russia, Britain and France could become firm friends after 1907 partly because of aggressive attitude of Germany in both the first and the second Moroccan crises.

Colonial rivalry also led to an intensification of the arms race. Germany found that, without a navy, she could not send much military help to the Dutch during the Boer War. Shortly after the event, Admiral von Tirpitz, the German Minister of Marine, proclaimed the need of a strong navy and from 1898 onwards, Germany built more battleships. Colonial rivalry led to much hostility among the powers. In the first and the second Moroccan crises, war nearly resulted, while France and Britain nearly came to war over their rivalry in the Sudan in 1898. But after 1905 colonial issues became less important as the powers turned back to Europe and Europe remained their center of rivalry.

From 1904 to 1907, Britain, France and Russia were able to settle their colonial disputes by the Anglo-French Entente and the Anglo-Russian Entente. By 1914 colonial disputes had greatly diminished. There were economic conflicts between Germany and Britain from 1890 onwards. Since 1871 Germany had been experiencing a period of rapid industrialization, and by 1890 the products of her industry were competing with British manufactures everywhere in the globe and German merchant ships threatened Britain's carrying trade. There were also economic struggles between Germany and France.

In 1870 France had already lost two of her coal producing provinces, Alsace and Lorraine to Germany. From 1871 onwards, France had to import coal from other countries. Thus France had to compete with Germany in Morocco because the place was rich in mineral resources. Germany and Austria also rivaled with Russia in the Balkans for commercial privileges.

As early as 1888 Germany began to build a railway in the area. Austria regarded the area as a field for profitable investment and as a big market for her manufactured goods. Russia also hoped to control the area because half of her exports passed through this area. Undoubtedly economic rivalries played a considerable part in creating international tensions in the 43 years before the First World War.

As a matter of fact, the economic rivalries have been much exaggerated. The commercial rivalry between Germany and Russia in the Balkans was not keen, for Russia was not yet a fully industrialized nation with a surplus of products to be sold abroad. The trade rivalry between Britain and Germany had also eased off in the ten years before the war because they developed their markets in different parts of the world, Britain within her own Empire, and Germany on the continent of Europe. Thus economic rivalries played a minor part in causing the First World War. Militarism denoted a rise in military expenditure, an increase in military and naval forces, more influence of the military men upon the policies of the civilian government, and a preference for force as a solution to problems. Militarism was one of the main causes of the First World War.

After 1907, there was an increase in military influence on policy making. This could be reflected particularly in Germany and Russia. The German Army at this period was called a "State within the State"11. The parliament and the politicians had to follow the General Staff and had no say in the army's design to preserve the Fatherland. Even though the Schlieffen Plan would incur the anger of Great Britain and bring the latter into a war, it was accepted by the German civilian government as the war plan. In 1914, the Russian generals were also able to force the Czar to accept full mobilization.

They threatened him with the danger of defeat if he acted contrarily. After 1871, the war atmosphere engendered by the secret alliances led to an armaments race among the powers. The race was particularly serious between 1900 and 1914, as the international situation became much worse than before. All the Continental European powers had adopted the conscription system since 1870. France had conscription since the Revolutionary Wars, Austria-Hungary since 1868, Germany since 1870, Italy since 1873 and Russia since 1874. Only Britain did not have conscription.

After 1890, the deteriorating diplomatic relations among the powers accelerated their military expansion program. From 1913 to July 1914, Germany increased her standing forces, France lengthened her period of military service from two to three years, and Russia lengthened her term of service from three to three and a half years. Britain did not introduce conscription but had prepared her armed forces for both European expedition and for home defense. In general, all the powers increased their stocks of arms, produced more modern weapons of war and built more strategic railways. Britain and Germany were the chief rivals at sea.

Under Admiral Tirpitz, State Secretary of the Imperial Naval Office from 1897, a long-term shipbuilding program began since his military plans were based "on the use of the fleet against England"12. The German Navy Law of 1898 increased the German battleships from nine cruisers to twelve. In 1900 Germany passed a Navy Law that doubled the German battle fleet. In the meantime, Britain produced her first Dreadnought (meaning fear nothing). Dreadnoughts were large, fast and heavily armed battleships with large guns.

They set a new standard in naval armaments and rendered all previous battleships obsolete. The naval race became intense, and between 1909 and 1911 Germany built nine Dreadnoughts while Britain completed eighteen. In 1913, Germany widened the Kiel Canal to allow the easy passage of her Dreadnoughts from the Baltic to the North Sea while Britain built new naval bases for the Dreadnoughts in northern Scotland. Increased military and naval rivalry led not only to the belief that war was coming, the German ruling group felt that only through a war could Germany become a world power, but an increase in military control of the civilian government (particularly in Germany and Russia) also increased cooperation among the military staff of the countries of the same camp.

For example, all the three Entente powers held secret military talks. The British and the French naval authorities agreed that the French navy should be concentrated in the Mediterranean and the British in the North Sea. Germany and Austria also had military agreements. When the First World War was fought, it was to be fought by all powers because they had made the military plan cooperatively and "very few people inside or outside government circles expected a long and destructive world war"13. As a result of the armaments race, all the European powers felt they were prepared for a war by 1914. There were two kinds of nationalism in 19th Century Europe, the desire of subject peoples for independence (which led to a series of national struggles for independence among the Balkan peoples) and the desire of independent nations for dominance and prestige, as the powers try to dominate each other in Europe.

Germany was united in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War, and she rapidly became the strongest economic and military power in Europe. From 1871 to 1890, Germany wanted to preserve her control in Europe by forming a series of peaceful alliances with other powers. After 1890, Germany was more aggressive. She wanted to build up her influence in every part of the world. German foreign policy in these years was best expressed by the term "Weltpolitik or imperialism in this very general sense... seemed to give a new purpose and a new mission to the German state"14.

Because German ambitions were extended to many parts of the globe, Germany came into serious conflicts with all other major powers of Europe (except Austria-Hungary) from 1890 to 1914. Italy was unified in 1870, but was barely powerful enough to be counted as a great power. Italy's parliamentary system was corrupt and inefficient and the industrial progress was slow. But Italy had great territorial ambitions; she wanted Tunis and Tripoli in northern Africa. This brought her into conflicts with France because Tunis was adjacent to the French colony, Algeria, and was long regarded by France as French sphere of influence. Italy also wanted Italia Irredenta -- Trieste, Trentino and Tyrol.

Although the majority of the people in these places were Italians, they were kept under the rule of the Dual Monarchy, thus Italy came into serious conflicts with Austria-Hungary. Austria-Hungary was established as the Dual Monarchy in 1867. The Dual Monarchy ruled over a large empire consisting of many nationalities, but only the Austrians (racially they were German) and the Hungarians had the right to rule. The other nationalities Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, Rumanians and Poles resented their loss of political freedom. They desired for political independence.

Thus the policy of the Dual Monarchy was to suppress the nationalist movements both inside and outside the empire. The particular object of the Dual Monarchy was to gain political control over the Balkan Peninsula, where nationalist movements were rife and were always giving encouragement to the nationalist movements within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The center of the nationalist movements in the Balkans was Serbia. Serbia always hoped to unite with the Serbs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire so as to create a large Serbian state. Therefore the first enemy of Austria-Hungary from 1871 to 1914 was Serbia.

Besides Serbia, Austria-Hungary also despised Russia because Russia, being a Slav country, always backed up Serbia in any Austro-Serbian disputes. Russia was the largest and most populous country in Europe. It extended from the shores of the Arctic Ocean to those of the Black Sea and from the Baltic Sea eastwards to the Pacific Ocean. Two thirds of her people were Slavs. She was still territorially ambitious. She wanted to expand in all directions.

In 1870, Russia broke the Treaty of Paris and renewed her aggression in the Balkans. Thus, her territorial ambitions clashed with the interests of Austria-Hungary and Britain. However, Russia did not retreat. Being a landlocked state, she wanted to acquire warm water ports in the Balkans.

Moreover, as most of the Balkan peoples were of the Slav race, Russia could claim to be the protector of her brother races in her expansion. France had been the dominant power in Europe for centuries, Napoleon I and Napoleon had attempted to dominate Europe until in 1871, when France was defeated by Germany. She had to lose two provinces: Alsace and Lorraine. She also needed to pay heavy indemnities. From 1871 onwards, France's greatest ambition was to recover Alsace and Lorraine from Germany.

She also wanted to prevent another defeat by Germany, to recover her national prestige by acquiring overseas colonies (such as Morocco) and to make diplomatic alliances with other important powers in Europe. In 1870 Britain was the most industrially advanced country in Europe. She also possessed the largest overseas empire and the largest navy in the world. She did not want to trouble herself with the continental affairs of Europe.

Her main concern was to preserve her overseas empire and her overseas trade by maintaining a large navy. Before 1890, her chief enemies were France and Russia. The colonial interests of France often clashed with those of Britain. Russia's interest in the Balkan area also alarmed Britain, as British naval interests in the Mediterranean Sea would be immediately threatened.

After 1890, as Germany went on increasing her naval strength and threatened British naval supremacy and the British overseas interests, she became Britain's chief enemy. Early in the twentieth century, the European powers had formed themselves into two rival groups: the Triple Entente versus the Triple Alliance. The policies of these groups began to clash in many parts of the world. Altogether there were four important clashes from 1905 to 1913: two arising out of the Moroccan question, and two concerning disputes in the Balkans. Whenever a clash arose, the two groups seemed to be on the point of war. Morocco on the northern coast of Africa was rich in mineral and agricultural wealth.

Both Germany and France coveted the place. Her entente with Britain in 1904 gave France a free hand in Morocco. Kaiser William II, angry at France's influence and at Germany's exclusion, decided to intervene. In March 1905, the Kaiser landed at Tangier where he made a speech greeting the Sultan of Morocco as an independent sovereign and promising him German protection if France attempted to colonize his state. The German government followed this up by demanding an international conference to clarify the status of Morocco. Germany's aim of calling a conference was to humiliate France and to split the Entente because from the point of view of international law, Morocco was an independent state and the French claim to Morocco was illegal.

France was prepared to fight but at last she agreed to settle her conflict with Germany at a conference. At the conference at Algeciras in 1906, Germany was supported by Austria while France was supported by Britain, Russia and the United States. In name, Morocco was preserved as an independent state whose trade was to be open to all nations; but in fact France was given two special privileges that in conjunction with Spain, she was given control over the Moroccan police and she was to control the customs and arms supply of Morocco. Thus the Entente powers scored a diplomatic victory over the Dual Alliance of Germany and Austria. The Algeciras Conference could only offer a temporary solution to the Franco-German conflict. Germany was dissatisfied with the resolutions of the Conference because they would benefit France more.

France also bore ill feeling towards Germany remembering that Germany had tried to browbeat France to give up Morocco by a threat of war. To prepare for the eventuality of a Franco-German war, France began to hold secret military conversations with Britain, which finally led to the sending of British army to fight alongside the French army during the First World War. The Balkan area was a trouble spot in Europe, it was ruled by the repressive Turks. By the late nineteenth century, many of the subject races of the Turks had gained independence and formed their national states, Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania and Bulgaria; but these national states were small and many of their fellow nationals still lived in the Turkish Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Thus the Balkan states were prepared to carry on a series of struggles against Turkey and Austria-Hungary in order to win back those territories that were still lived by their fellow nationals.

The national struggles of the Balkan peoples were complicated by the rivalry between the powers in the area. Of the five great powers, Russia, Austria and Germany were particularly interested in the area. Russia's interest in the area was based on economic and cultural reasons. Economically speaking, Russia wanted to find a warm weather port in the south because half of Russian total exports (including nearly all her exports of grains) passed through this area. Many historians have also pointed out that Russia might need a warm water port for the construction of naval base. Culturally speaking, Russia always regarded herself as a member of the Slav race.

As Russia was the powerful Slavic state, she took it as her duty to support her Slav brothers in their national struggles against Turkey and Austria. Pan Slavism (the union of all Slavs) was always espoused as the policy of the Russian government in the Balkans. Austria's interest in the Balkans was based on political reason. Austria wanted to suppress the nationalist movements in the Balkans, particularly that in Serbia. By the early twentieth century, Austria wanted to extend her rule over Serbia.

This brought her into conflicts with both Serbia and Russia. Germany's interest in the area was based on both economic and cultural reasons. Economically speaking, the control of the Balkans would provide industrial Germany with abundant supply of cheap raw materials, a populous market and a large field for profitable investment. From 1888 onwards, Germany began her economic penetration in the area by building the Baghdad railway, which was ultimately to connect Berlin with the Persian Gulf. Culturally speaking, the German government believed that the Germans were spiritually and culturally a superior race and so had a mission to dominate the Balkans, the Middle East, central Europe and Asia. The inferior races should be forced to accept the German culture.

Because of the complicated nationalistic movements and the conflicting interests of the powers in the Balkans, the area was prolific of crises from 1908 to 1914. Count von Aehrenthal, the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, always wanted to extend Austrian political control over the Serbs in the Balkans. In 1908, three events caused him to take action at once. First, a new king had ascended the throne in Serbia. The new king, Peter, was strongly anti-Austrian and he wanted to unite with his fellow nationals in Bosnia, which had been under Austrian administration since the Congress of Berlin in 1878.

Second, in 1908 a revolution, known as the Young Turk Revolution, broke out in the Ottoman Empire. The Young Turks were liberal reformers and young officers. They demanded the Sultan to grant a parliament and a modern constitution and to liberalize his despotic rule. In July 1908, they rose in rebellion and threatened to march to Constantinople. The Sultan Abdul Hamid II gave way at once and agreed to restore a constitution.

Taking advantage of the chaos at Constantinople, Ferdinand of Bulgaria threw off his last shreds of allegiance to the Sultan and proclaimed himself King of Bulgaria. Crete proclaimed herself united with Greece. Austria also wanted to take advantage of this chaotic situation. Third, Russia's defeats in the Far East had turned her attention back to the Balkans again. In September 1908, the Russian Foreign Minister, Alexander Isvolsky made a political bargain with Count von Aehrenthal: Russia agreed not to oppose Austrian annexation of Bosnia Herzegovina if Austria agreed to raise no objections against the opening of the Dardanelles to Russian warships. While Isvolsky was trying to gain approval from the other powers about the opening of the straits, Austria suddenly annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 6.

Thus Austria had strengthened her position in the Balkans without giving the Russians any compensation. "Isvolsky was extremely indignant"15 as was Serbia. The inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina were primarily South Slavs; Serbia had long cherished the dream of creating a Greater Serbia that should include Serbia proper and all the neighboring kindred people. The Austrian annexation dashed this dream to the ground. Serbia was ready for war and asked for support from Russia.

War seemed imminent but Russia was obliged to back down because England and France were unwilling to become involved in this issue and because Germany promised to give military support to Austria. The Bosnian crisis had harmful consequences for the peace of Europe. Russia felt humiliated and was determined that this must not come again. Immediately after the crisis, the Russian government intensified her armaments program and sent Isvolsky as ambassador in Paris in order to get more support from France. The annexation of Bosnia Herzegovina also made Serbia the irreconcilable enemy of Austria.

Without Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia could never become a united state and could not have an outlet to the sea. The Serbian nationalists foamed a secret society, the Black Hand, in 1911. The society aimed to provoke revolt in Bosnia and war with Austria. Young Bosnian were trained to assassinate Austrian officials in Bosnia. Finally, as a result of the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria had more Serbs than the Kingdom of Serbia itself, three fifths of the South Slavs were now under Austrian rule. The Slavs were opposed to the annexation, so Austria had great difficulties in ruling these two provinces.

Troubled by the restlessness of the Slavs and encouraged by the German promises of support, Austria wanted to crush Serbia if a new opportunity arose. The French were not satisfied with their partial control of Morocco since 1906. France wanted to have complete control of the country. After 1906 France steadily increased her influence in the country. In 1908, the French installed a pro-French Sultan on the throne.

In May 1911, the French forces occupied Fez, the capital of Morocco, in order to suppress a rising against the pro-French Sultan. The Germans responded by sending a gunboat Panther to Agadir, a strategic port on the Atlantic coast. The British feared that Germany would make Agadir as a German naval base on the British naval route. So Britain protested against Germany and backed up France to fight against Germany. War seemed to be inevitable, but because of British support of France, Germany gave in. In a negotiated settlement, France (together with Spain) gained most of Morocco, leaving a small portion opposite Gibraltar to Spain.

Germany was compensated with a strip of the French Congo as a consolation price to Germany. The Agadir crisis also had harmful consequences for the peace of Europe. On the one hand, as Germany had suffered a diplomatic defeat, she was unwilling to suffer another diplomatic defeat again. On the other hand, the British, French and Russian governments were alarmed by the aggressive attitude of the Germans. They remembered that Germany had tried to dictate the world by force for three times since 1905, firstly in the first Moroccan crisis of 19056, secondly, in the Bosnian crisis of 1909 and finally in the second Moroccan Crisis of 1911.

After the crisis, the Entente powers exchanged information about the conditions of their army and navy. In 1912, Britain and France made a naval agreement that in the event of a war, the British fleet should guard the North Sea and the English Channel, while the French fleet was to be deployed in the Mediterranean. After the Young Turk Revolution, the Turkish government remained weak and inefficient. In 1911 Italy attacked Tripoli. In 1912, by the Treaty of Lausanne, Italy received Tripoli from Turkey.

Exploiting the chaotic political situation following the Turkish defeat in 1912, the Balkan states, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro, formed the Balkan League and declared war on Turkey in October 1912. They aimed to partition the Turkish Empire. From October 1912 to May 1913, the League won series of battles and Turkey could only retain the areas around Constantinople. "The victory of the Balkan League states was welcomed by the Russians"16 while the other powers watched the victory of the League with great anxiety. Austria wanted to stop Serbia from becoming too powerful and was determined not to allow Serbia to get a seaport on the Adriatic. The powers intervened and imposed their own settlement, the Treaty of London.

The most important provision of the Treaty was that, on Austria's insistence, a new state, Albania, was created to prevent Serbia from getting a coastline on the Adriatic. To compensate for this, Serbia was given a large part of Macedonia. Bulgaria had long regarded Macedonia as her possession. Her quarrels with Serbia soon developed into a war. In the second Balkan War, Bulgaria alone fought against Serbia, Montenegro, Rumania, Greece and Turkey.

The war was soon over. Bulgaria was soundly defeated and the territorial settlement made after the First Balkan War was largely preserved except that Turkey and Rumania gained some valuable territory. The consequences of the Balkan Wars directly led to the outbreak of the First World War. Serbia was twice victorious in the Balkan wars and was larger than ever, her area doubled as she got a large part of Macedonia.

The desire to make herself larger by including all fellow nationals in a united Slav state was intensified. This brought her more sharply into collision with Austria that ruled eight million Serbs and Croats and which prevented Serbia from getting a coastline. Austria also found that the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina grew increasingly troublesome. She was determined to attack Serbia before it was too late and Germany knowing that Austria was her only dependable ally in Europe assured her of Germany's support. The Russian Czar felt that Russia had suffered a diplomatic defeat because she could not obtain Albania for Serbia due to Austrian insistence. In order to recover her lost prestige in the Balkans, the Czar declared in February 1914, "For Serbia, we shall do everything".

17 The climatic event that led to the outbreak of the First World War took place on June 28, 1914. On that day, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife were shot dead by a young Serbian nationalist, Gavril lo Princi p, of the Black Hand at Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital. The Serbian Black Hand had to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand because he wanted to convert the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (the Dual Monarchy) into a Triple Monarchy by the inclusion of Serbia. Although the Serbs might gain a certain degree of autonomy within the Triple Monarchy, their long cherished wish of creating a united Serbian state would be dashed to the ground. Francis Joseph, the reigning monarch was eighty-four years old and expected to die soon.

Ferdinand's ideas might have a chance for realization very soon. The Black Hand thought that they should kill Ferdinand before it was too late. Some members of the Serbian cabinet knew the assassination plot in advance but did nothing to stop it. Austria considered the murder of the heir to the throne an open Serbian attack on the existence of the Dual Monarchy because if Francis Joseph died Austria would be left without an heir. Although she could not find any evidence that the Serbian government was connected to the assassination, Austria consciously exploited the occasion to destroy Serbia as a state to put an end to the Serbian threat to the existence of the Dual Monarchy forever. Knowing a war with Serbia might lead to a war with Russia, Austria wanted to be assured of German support.

The German Kaiser decided to support Austria because he regarded Austria as the only ally of Germany and because he believed that the Russian Czar would not come to help Serbia in a war involving the death of a future monarch. On July 6, Germany assured Austria that should there be an Austro-Serbian war, Germany would stand by her (Austrian) side and give her unlimited support as an ally. This was called the Blank Cheque. Having received the wholehearted support from Germany, Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia on July 23, 1914.

The ultimatum was to be answered within 48 hours. "The note demanded that Serbia should agree to a number of Austrian conditions including the suppression of anti-Austrian propaganda in Serbia, the dissolution of the Serbian nationalist association N aronda Odb rana, the purging of officers and officials who were guilty of propaganda against Austria... demanded that representatives of the Austro-Hungarian government should participate in the enquiry which the Serbs were to carry out into the origins of the assassination plot". 18 These demands infringed Serbian sovereignty and Austria expected that Serbia would reject, thus giving her the excuse to declare war. Serbia accepted the first two demands but rejected the third.

Serbia suggested submitting it for arbitration by the Hague Tribunal. William II was satisfied with the Serbian reply and did not feel the need to punish Serbia with a war. He declared, "a brilliant performance for a time limit of only 48 hours! A great moral success for Vienna, but with it, all reason for war is gone... ". 19 Austria was still determined to destroy Serbia.

After declaring the Serbian reply unsatisfactory, the Austrian government declared war on July 28. The bombardment of Belgrade began on July 29. The Serbian ally, Russia, learnt of the ultimatum on July 24 and on July 26 the Czar reassured the Serbian crown prince that "if such a move were to appear useful, several Russian army corps be mobilized against Austria". 20 Russia certainly could not bear humiliations from Germany any more; if she failed to defend Serbia again and again, Russia could no longer set her foot on the Balkans as the leader of the Slav nations. The Russian Czar was encouraged by the French to take a firm stand against Germany, for France had learnt of the Schlieffen War Plan. France urged Russia to mobilize for fear of an immediate German attack.

After the bombardment of Belgrade on July 30, the Czar was persuaded by his ministers and Chief of staff to order full mobilization. Germany feared that she would face attacks from both Russia and France. Germany demanded Russia to stop her mobilization at once. Russia refused. Germany at once declared war on Russia on August 1. According to the Schlieffen Plan, Germany had to attack France at once.

Germany sent an ultimatum to France demanding her to be neutral. After receiving a French reply that France would side with Russia, Germany lost no time and declared war on France on August 3. On August 4, according to the Schlieffen Plan, the German troops crossed the Belgian frontier. On the same day the British government declared war on Germany.

There were two reasons that prompted Britain to take action at once. Firstly, German invasion of Belgium had aroused British opinion against Germany because the country had been guaranteed as a neutral state by all great powers in 1839 in the Treaty of London. Now the German invasion had treated the treaty as "a scrap of paper"21 and so committed a moral crime. Secondly, no British government would tolerate the domination of Belgium by any powerful continental nation because it directly endangered the security of Britain. (Belgium was separated from Britain by a narrow channel only.) The Origins of the First World War by James Joll and The Origins Of World War I 1871-1914 by Joachim Remak both describe the events and the political dealings of the European countries of the time. There is a wealth of more specific information on the historical developments in the areas of imperialism, nationalism, militarism and the alliance systems of the European powers.

However, Remak question the extent that any of these factors had on the start of World War I. As Remak says, "too much was right with the world of 1914: the nations, on the whole, had learned to live with the differences that divided them". 22 and "let us avoid the fallacy of saying that because the First World War's consequences were so momentous, its causes must of necessity have been equally significant". 23 Joll on the other hand believes that "each previous crisis had contributed to the decisions of 1914". 24 The only thing that Joll questions is the amount of influence that these factors played in the decision to go to war. The approach of a timeline history for the causes of World War I made Joachim Remak's book hard to follow. Each section has references to a factor that had been started earlier in the book which made it difficult to trace the full impact of each.

James Joll's book is based on concentric circles with the assassination starting of and each of the chapters dealing with only one of the factors he believes contributed to the cause of the war. The Origins of World War I, 1871-1914, by Remak is a good book for a person who would like a factual timeline of the causes, but The Origins of the First World War by Joll is essential source of information to study the causes of World War I. Notes Joachim Remak, The Origins of World War I, 1871-1914, (The Dryden Press) Hinsdale, Illinois (1967), page 8 James Joll, The Origins of the First World War, Second Edition, (Longman House) Essex, England (1992), page 45.