Journal/Do Now

List Reasons you would fight and die in a war!

WWI: Causes WWI: Causes WWI: Causes WWI: Causes

Aim: Why did Europe descend into Aim: Why did Europe descend into World War I? World War I? Aim: Why did Europe descend into Aim: Why did Europe descend into World War I? World War I?

Causes of WWI

Militarism

Alliances

Imperialism

Nationalism

I. Imperialism (review)

All the great powers were competing for colonies / territory.

The British feared Germany in Africa. The Austrians feared Serbia / Russia in the

Balkans

ColonialRivalries:

Africain

1914

ColonialRivalries:

Africain

1914

Colonial Rivalries: Asia in 1914Colonial Rivalries: Asia in 1914

The British Empire in 1914The British Empire in 1914

The Balkans in 1878The Balkans in 1878

Economic & Imperial Rivalries

Economic & Imperial Rivalries

Essential Background

IMPERIALISM led to an militarism … in 1900, Kaiser Wilhelm said that GERMANY wanted ‘a place in the sun’ – i.e., that Germany wanted an empire as big as Britain’s. This TERRIFIED the British.

This British postcard interprets Kaiser Wilhelm’s statement about wanting ‘a place in the sun’ – it shows him making everybody in the world bow down to him.

II. Militarism

Militarism: continual buildup of armies and navies.

The hunger for empires lead to militarism and an arms race between the powerful European nations.

Germany was competing with the Brits to build battleships.

The British feared an attack on their Empire

Arms Race and the First World War:

Essential Background

The Arms Race was as much about nations’ INSECURITY as about their NATIONALISM and EXPANSIONISM.

e.g. the Daily Mail ran MANY stories (such as this one by William Le Queux) imagining German invasions.

c.f. also John Buchan, The Thirty-Nine Steps (about German spies).

Arms Race and the First World War:

Attitude towards war

But note that militarism is also a government's attitude of mind, seeing war as a valid means of foreign policy.

(GERMANY was especially militaristic.)

Arms Race and the First World War:

Armies - 1

GERMANY, worried because it was in-between France and Russia, built up the largest land army. The German army was accepted as being the biggest and the best in the world.

Arms Race and the First World War:

Armies - 2

But other countries built up their land armies too – in 1914, the fastest growing army was that of RUSSIA. This worried GERMANY a lot.

This Russian postcard of 1914 shows Russia (symbolised by a woman) nailing the German eagle to a pillory after a war.

Arms Race and the First World War:

Armies - 3

As well as their STANDING ARMIES, the nations introduced CONSCRIPTION, so they also had large numbers of trained RESERVES. All the nations except Britain had HUGE armies.

Arms Race and the First World War:

Navies - 1

If GERMANY was to have an empire, it needed a navy, so in 1900 Admiral Tirpitz introduced the German Navy Law, which announced a huge program of building warships.

Arms Race and the First World War:

Navies - 2

Both BRITAIN and GERMANY started building Dreadnoughts – the most advanced class of warship in the world. The Dreadnought essentially reduced everybody else’s number of warships to zero.

Arms Race and the First World War:

Navies - 3

There was a race between Germany and Britain to build the most Dreadnoughts. The graph shows the number built each year.

Building Dreadnoughts, 1906-1914

0

2

4

6

8

Germany 0 0 4 3 1 3 2 3 1

Great Britain 1 3 2 2 3 5 3 7 3

1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914

Arms Race and the First World War:

Navies - 4

The British government planned to build four Dreadnoughts in 1909, but the British public panicked, demanding: 'We want eight and we won't wait'.

Reginald McKenna, First Lord of the Admiralty 1908-11.

In 1909 he told Parliament that the German navy was just about to become more powerful than the Royal Navy, and he instigated the press scare-campaign that forced Parliament to build more Dreadnoughts.

Arms Race and the First World War:

Navies - 5

In the end, Britain’s built many more Dreadnoughts than Germany.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Total Dreadnoughts

Germany 0 0 4 7 8 11 13 16 17

Britain 1 4 6 8 11 16 19 26 29

1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914

Arms Race and the First World War:

Increase in Spending

There was a four-fold increase in defence spending of the great powers, 1870-1914.

Defence Spending, 1870-1914

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

£m 94 130 154 268 289 398

1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1914

III. Nationalism 1. Nationalism: (noun) patriotic feeling,

principles, or efforts.– an extreme form of this, esp. marked by a feeling of

superiority over other countries. Strong nationalistic competition developed

among France, Britain, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Germany.

Aggressive NationalismAggressive Nationalism

Alliances and the First World War:

Essential Background

France and Germany hated each other! When Germany became united country in 1870-1, France went to war to try to stop it … but got WHOPPED!

IV. Alliances

The Alliance System: Several nations pledged to help each other if fighting broke out. (entangled alliances)

1. Triple Alliance (central powers): Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy

2. Triple Entente (allies): France, Russia, Great Britain

Alliances and the First World War:

Germany in the Middle

Germany’s BIG problem was that it was IN THE MIDDLE.

That made it VULNERABLE if it came to a war.

Alliances and the First World War:

Three Emperors’ League, 1881

In the 19th century, Germany’s brilliant Chancellor, Bismarck, solved this problem by keeping friends with RUSSIA and AUSTRIA-HUNGARY (the Dreikaiserbund).

Alliances and the First World War:

Germany encircled

But when Kaiser Wilhelm became Emperor, he dumped the Russian alliance. He kept the Triple Alliance, but this did NOT solve the problem of Germany’s encirclement.

Alliances and the First World War:

Triple Alliance, 1882

Then Bismarck allied with Italy and Austria-Hungary (the TRIPLE ALLIANCE, 1882). Together with his friendship with Russia, this kept Germany safe.

Alliances and the First World War:

Franco-Russian Alliance, 1892

Instead, in 1892, Russia made an alliance with FRANCE.Although it was only a DEFENSIVE alliance, it was Germany’s worst nightmare!

Alliances and the First World War:

Triple Entente, 1907

In 1907 Russia joined Britain and France to make the Triple Entente. So by 1914 Europe had divided into two massive superpower blocs. People thought this BALANCE OF POWER would keep the peace.

Alliances and the First World War:

The Balkans

But Russia was also allied to Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. When trouble erupted in the Balkans in 1914, the nations found their alliances dragged them into war…

Alliances and the First World War:

How the Alliances caused war

… like mountain climbers tied to the same rope.(i.e. it is arguable that THE SYSTEM OF ALLIANCES CAUSED WORLD WAR ONE.)

Alliances and the First World War:

Webs of Alliances

There were many more alliances.

The Alliance SystemThe Alliance System

Triple EntenteTriple Entente::Triple EntenteTriple Entente:: Triple AllianceTriple Alliance::Triple AllianceTriple Alliance::

Two Armed Camps!Two Armed Camps!Allied PowersAllied Powers::Allied PowersAllied Powers:: Central PowersCentral Powers::Central PowersCentral Powers::

Europe in 1914Europe in 1914

Activity

Archduke catches a bullet…