Aim: Could World War I have been prevented?

Q: We will be discussing the long and short term causes ofWorld War I. How would you distinguish between a longterm cause and a short term cause?

CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I

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MILITARISM

• SOCIAL DARWINISM- “survival of the fittest.” “(War was a) biological necessity of the first importance,” according to German militarist Friedrich von Bernhardi.

• ARMS RACE- Britain and Germany built powerful navies

Connections to Today

The late-Victorian social theoristBenjamin Kidd was just one who sought to explain the expansion of the 'Anglo-Saxon'across the globe in terms of Darwinian theory, he argued that it was a natural law of

progress that overrode humanitarian concerns for the fate of 'weaker races'.

The Anglo-Saxon has exterminated the less developed peoples with which he has come into competition even more effectively than other races have done in like case; not necessarily indeed by fierce and cruel wars of extermination, but through the operation of laws not less deadly and even more certain in their result. The weaker races disappear before the stronger through the effects of mere contact... Wherever a superior race comes into close contact and competition with an inferior race, the result seems to be much the same, whether it is arrived at by the rude method of wars of conquest, or by the silent process which we see at work in Australia, New Zealand, and the North American Continent. . . .

http://cclleu.eu/cms02/fileadmin/daten/Dateien/teaching_material/Italien/Imperialism_advanced_level_student.pdf

FORMATION OF ALLIANCES

THE CENTRAL POWERS- After it defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War (1870), Germany formed an alliance with Austria-Hungary and Russia in 1881. The next year Germany formed an alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy (The Triple Alliance). After Bismarck resigned, Kaiser William II preserved the Triple Alliance but allowed its treaty with Russia to lapse. Russia was free to find new allies.

THE ALLIES

• In 1894 France and Russia signed an alliance. Then in 1904 France and Britain signed an “entente cordiale (friendly understanding)”

• Britain signed a similar agreement with Russia three years later. This alliance became known as the Allies when the War broke out.

IMPERIALISM (and other economic rivalries)

• Britain felt threatened by Germany’s rapid industrialization

• Germany did not believe the other world powers gave her enough respect

• Germany did not want France to impose a protectorate status on Morocco

Imperialism and the Balance of Power

Erols.com

NATIONALISM

• Jingoism- extreme expressions of patriotism• Alsace and Lorraine- France was bitter about

losing them to Germany during the Franco-Prussian War.

• Pan-Slavism- Russia felt it had a duty to lead and defend all Slavs (including Serbia) against any threat.

• The Balkans- The Ottoman Empire and Austria Hungary were concerned about growing nationalism in the Balkans.

I GET NO RESPECT!

yahoosearch

“All the long years of my reign, my colleagues, the monarchs of Europe, have paid no attention to what I have to say. Soon, with my great navy to endorse my words, they will be more respectful.”

Kaiser William II Connections

firstworldwar.com

AN EERIE WARNING

“I shall not live to see the Great War…but you will see it,

And it will start in the east.”

Otto von Bismarck

Q: Why do you think that even decades earlierOtto von Bismarck was able to predict that a World War would break out in Europe?

The Balkan Peninsula

Q: Why do you think the Balkans was known as the “Powder Keg of Europe?”

Q: Why was the Ottoman Empire known as the “sick man of Europeon the eve of World War I?

TROUBLE IN THE BALKANS• Archduke Francis Ferdinand planned a June 28,

1914 to visit Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia.• The secret Serbian group known as the Black

Hand (also called Unity or Death) was outraged and plotted to kill the Archduke. Their goal was to unite all South Slavs into a single nation.

• June 28 was the day that Serbia had been conquered by the Ottomans in 1389 and Serbia freed herself from the Turks on that day in 1912. Bosnia, home to many Serbs, remained under Austro-Hungarian control.

Connections

Archduke Francis Ferdinand& his family

worldwar1.com

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1-qpnH2Dzk

The Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand

THE CHAIN REACTION

• Austria sent Serbia an ultimatum: End all anti-Austrian activities and punish all involved in the assassination of the Archduke.

• Serbia refuses to agree to all terms of the ultimatum.

• July 28, 1914 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, with the encouragement of Germany who offered a “blank check.”

• Negotiations with Austria-Hungary failed; Russia mobilized its forces.

• Germany declared war on Russia.• Russia sought France as an ally, France

offered a similar “blank check.”• Germany demanded France remain neutral,

France refuses.• Germany declared war on France.

• Under the Schlieffen Plan, Germany had to quickly defeat France to avoid a two-front war. Then Germany could fight Russia.

• To ensure a quick victory the Plan called for German troops to march through neutral Belgium.

• Britain and other nations had previously signed a treaty to protect Belgium’s neutrality. Outraged by this violation, Britain declared war on Germany.

THE OUTBREAK OF WAR

June 28 Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austro-Hungarian empire, in Sarajevo, Bosnia

July 28 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

July 29 - December 9 Austria-Hungary repeatedly invades Serbia but is repeatedly repulsed

August 1 Outbreak of warGermany declares war on Russia

August 3 Germany declares war on France

August 4 Germany invades neutral Belgium

August 4 Britain declares war on Germany

firstworldwar.com

Q: Given the circumstances, do you think World War I have been prevented? How? If not, then why not?