Nationalism and the System of Alliances

Feelings of nationalism and a system ofalliances contributed to the start of World War I.

Reading Connection Have you ever stood up for afriend when he or she was being criticized? Read to find outhow a system of alliances led to the start of World War I.

Until about 1850, liberals believed that if Europeanstates were organized along national lines, thesestates could create a peaceful Europe. They werewrong. The system of nation-states that emerged inEurope led later in the century not to cooperation butto competition. Rivalries over colonies and tradegrew during an age of frenzied nationalism andimperialist expansion. It took only an assassin’s bul-let to ignite a world war.

Why did the archduke’s murder lead to war? Theanswer lies in the European alliance system. Forsome time, Europe’s great powers had been dividedinto two loose alliances. Germany, Austria-Hungary,and Italy formed the Triple Alliance in 1882. France,Great Britain, and Russia created the Triple Ententein 1907.

In the early years of the twentieth century, a seriesof crises tested these alliances. Especially trouble-some were the crises in the Balkans between 1908and 1913. Tensions rose in 1908 when Austriaannexed the Ottoman province of Bosnia—the Aus-

trians had already been administering it according tointernational treaty. Then in 1912 and 1913, differentBalkan groups—Serbs, Rumanians, Greeks, andTurks—fought one another for more territory andinfluence.

These events brought emotions to a boil. Europeanstates were angry at each other, especially Austriaand Russia. Each state was guided by its own self-interest and success. They were willing to usewar as a way to preserve the power of their nationalstates.

The growth of nationalism in the nineteenth cen-tury had yet another serious result. Not all ethnicgroups had become nations. Slavic minorities in theBalkans and the Hapsburg Empire, for example, stilldreamed of creating their own national states. TheIrish in the British Empire and the Poles in the Rus-sian Empire had similar dreams.

Internal Dissent National desires were not the onlysource of internal strife at the beginning of the twen-tieth century. Because of industrialization, societyhad changed. The working class and lower middleclass did not want to let wealthy people decide whatwas best for them. They also wanted a bigger share ofthe economic wealth they had helped create. Tradeunions were demanding better wages. Socialist par-ties wanted even more radical change—an end tocapitalism. Increasingly, both groups used strikes,even violent ones, to achieve their goals.

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On June 28, 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarianthrone, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, was assassi-nated in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo. One of the con-spirators described the scene:

“As the car came abreast, [the assassin]stepped forward from the curb, drew his auto-matic pistol from his coat and fired two shots. Thefirst struck the wife of the Archduke, the Arch-duchess Sophia, in the abdomen. She was anexpectant mother. She died instantly. The secondbullet struck the Archduke close to the heart. Heuttered only one word: ‘Sophia’—a call to hisstricken wife. Then his head fell back and he col-lapsed. He died almost instantly.”

Assassination at Sarajevo

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In the years before 1914, conscription, a militarydraft, had been established as a regular practice inthe West. Only the United States and Britain did nothave conscription when war broke out. Because ofconscription, armies expanded significantly between1890 and 1914. Many armies doubled in size.

With its 1.3 million men, the Russian army was thelargest in Europe. The French and German armieswere not far behind, with 900,000 each. The British,Italian, and Austro-Hungarian armies had between250,000 and 500,000 soldiers each.

Militarism—the aggressive preparation for war—was growing. As armies grew, so too did the influenceof military leaders. Generals drew up complex plans forquickly mobilizing millions of men and enormousquantities of supplies in case of war. Generals had spentyears planning how to win a war, not how to avoid one.

Military leaders feared that any changes in theirplans would cause chaos in the army. Thus theyinsisted that their plans could not be altered. In the1914 crises, this left European political leaders withlittle leeway. They were forced to make decisions formilitary instead of political reasons.

Examining What was the effect ofconscription on events leading up to World War I?

Reading Check

423CHAPTER 8 War and Revolution

Conservative leaders in a number of Europeannations were alarmed at this increase in labor conflictand class division. They feared that their nationswere on the verge of revolution. A number of histori-ans have argued that this desire to avoid revolutionencouraged the plunge into war in 1914. Accordingto this view, the fervent patriotic feeling of wartimewas supposed to join all social classes togetheragainst a foreign enemy and lessen the appeal ofsocialism.

Militarism The growth of mass armies after 1900heightened the existing tensions in Europe. The largesize of these armies also should have made it obviousthat if war did come, it would be highly destructive.There was a second reason that any coming warwould be more destructive. The Industrial Revolu-tion had given nations much more destructive gunsand weapons than ever before.

Nevertheless, many politicians and generalsexpected a war that would be like the last one foughtin Europe—Bismarck’s war against France when heunified Germany. That war was quick and decisive,and the casualties were relatively light. Thus the twosides thought they could take the offensive and wina quick victory.

Alliances in Europe, 1914

Triple AllianceTriple EntenteBalkans The alliance system was

one of the major causes of World War I.

1. Interpreting MapsWhat geographic factormade it unlikely thatWorld War I battleswould be fought in GreatBritain?

2. Applying GeographySkills Create a three-column chart with theheadings Triple Entente,Triple Alliance, and Other.Place all the countrieslabeled on the map inthe proper column.

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The Outbreak of War: Summer 1914

Serbia’s determination to become a large,independent state angered Austria-Hungary and startedhostilities.

Reading Connection What circumstances mightinfluence the United States to enter a war on behalf of an ally? Read to learn how an assassination led to a world war.

Militarism, nationalism, and the desire to stifleinternal dissent may all have played a role in thestarting of World War I. However, it was the deci-sions made by European leaders in response toanother crisis in the Balkans in the summer of 1914that led directly to the conflict.

The Serbian Problem As we have seen, states insoutheastern Europe had struggled for many years tofree themselves of Ottoman rule. Furthermore, therivalry between Austria-Hungary and Russia fordomination of these new states created serious ten-sions in the region.

By 1914, Serbia, supported by Russia, was deter-mined to create a large, independent Slavic state inthe Balkans. Austria-Hungary, which had its ownSlavic minorities to contend with, was equally deter-mined to prevent that from happening.

Many Europeans saw the potential danger in thisexplosive situation. The British ambassador toVienna anticipated war in 1913:

“Serbia will some day set Europe by the ears, andbring about a universal war on the Continent. . . . Icannot tell you how exasperated people are gettinghere at the continual worry which that little countrycauses to Austria under encouragement from Russia.. . . It will be lucky if Europe succeeds in avoiding waras a result of the present crisis.”

It was against this backdrop of mutual distrustand hatred that the events of the summer of 1914were played out.

Assassination in Sarajevo On June 28, 1914, Arch-duke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the throne ofAustria-Hungary, and his wife Sophia visited Sara-jevo (SAR•uh•YAY•voh) in Bosnia. A group of con-spirators waited there in the streets. The conspiratorswere members of the Black Hand, a Serbian terrorist

organization that wanted Bosnia to be free of Austria-Hungary and to become part of a large Serbian kingdom.

The conspirators planned to kill the archduke,along with his wife. That morning, one of the con-spirators threw a bomb at the archduke’s car, but itglanced off and exploded against the car behind him.Later in the day, however, Gavrilo Princip, a 19-year-old Bosnian Serb, succeeded in fatally shooting boththe archduke and his wife.

Austria-Hungary Responds The Austro-Hungariangovernment did not know whether or not the Serbiangovernment had been directly involved in the arch-duke’s assassination, but it did not care. It saw anopportunity to “render Serbia innocuous [harmless]once and for all by a display of force,” as the Austrianforeign minister put it.

Austrian leaders wanted to attack Serbia butfeared Russian intervention on Serbia’s behalf, sothey sought the backing of their German allies.Emperor William II of Germany and his chancellorresponded with a “blank check,” saying that Austria-Hungary could rely on Germany’s “full support,”even if “matters went to the length of a war betweenAustria-Hungary and Russia.”

Strengthened by German support, Austrian lead-ers sent an ultimatum to Serbia on July 23. In it, theymade such extreme demands that Serbia had littlechoice but to reject some of them in order to preserveits sovereignty. On July 28, Austria-Hungarydeclared war on Serbia.

Russia Mobilizes Russia was determined to sup-port Serbia’s cause. On July 28, Czar Nicholas IIordered partial mobilization of the Russian armyagainst Austria-Hungary. Mobilization is theprocess of assembling troops and supplies and mak-ing them ready for war. In 1914, mobilization wasconsidered an act of war.

Leaders of the Russian army informed the czar thatthey could not partially mobilize. Their mobilizationplans were based on a war against both Germany andAustria-Hungary. Mobilizing against only Austria-Hungary, they claimed, would create chaos in thearmy. Based on this claim, the czar ordered full mobi-lization of the Russian army on July 29, knowing thatGermany would consider this order an act of war.

The Conflict Broadens Indeed, Germany reactedquickly. The German government warned Russiathat it must halt its mobilization within 12 hours.

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When Russia ignored this warning, Germanydeclared war on Russia on August 1.

Like the Russians, the Germans had a militaryplan. It had been drawn up under the guidance ofGeneral Alfred von Schlieffen (SHLEE•fuhn), andso was known as the Schlieffen Plan. The plan calledfor a two-front war with France and Russia, who hadformed a military alliance in 1894.

According to the Schlieffen Plan, Germany wouldconduct a small holding action against Russia whilemost of the German army would carry out a rapidinvasion of France. This meant invading France bymoving quickly along the level coastal area throughBelgium. After France was defeated, the Germaninvaders would move to the east against Russia.

Under the Schlieffen Plan, Germany could notmobilize its troops solely against Russia. Therefore, itdeclared war on France on August 3. About the sametime, it issued an ultimatum to Belgium demandingthe right of German troops to pass through Belgianterritory. Belgium, however, was a neutral nation.

On August 4, Great Britain declared war on Ger-many, officially for violating Belgian neutrality. Infact, Britain was concerned about maintaining itsown world power. As one British diplomat put it, ifGermany and Austria-Hungary won the war, “whatwould be the position of a friendless England?” By August 4, all the Great Powers of Europe were at war.

Evaluating How did the SchlieffenPlan contribute to the outbreak of World War I?

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425CHAPTER 8 War and Revolution

German officer reading the declaration of war in the streetsof Berlin

Checking for Understanding1. Vocabulary Define: ethnic, conscrip-

tion, alter, anticipate, behalf, mobilization.

2. People and Events Identify: TripleAlliance, Triple Entente, Archduke Fran-cis Ferdinand, Gavrilo Princip, EmperorWilliam II, Czar Nicholas II, GeneralAlfred von Schlieffen.

3. Places Locate: Serbia, Bosnia.

Reviewing Big Ideas4. List the ethnic groups that were left

without nations after the nationalistmovements of the nineteenth century.

Critical Thinking5. Connecting

Events How did the creation of mili-tary plans help draw the nations ofEurope into World War I? In your opin-ion, what should today’s national andmilitary leaders have learned from themilitary plans that helped initiate WorldWar I? Explain.

6. Sequencing Information Using a dia-gram like the one below, identify theseries of decisions made by Europeanleaders in 1914 that led directly to theoutbreak of war.

Analyzing Visuals7. Examine the photo on this page of the

German officer on the streets of Berlin.Compare how German leaders commu-nicated this important event to how itmight happen in your own society. Whymight the 1914 situation contribute toimmediate excitement?

CA HI1

8. Expository Writing Some historiansbelieve that the desire to suppressinternal disorder may have encour-aged leaders to take the plunge intowar. As an adviser, write a memo toyour country’s leader explaininghow a war might benefit the nation.

CA 10WA2.4a

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